…a tale of Blood and Agony
i
When the door finally opened he froze. He didn’t mean to, he just reacted. A deer in headlights, he watched as Agony entered. He was immediately struck by the size of the man. Towering, it was a wonder he got through the door without ducking. And muscle. Not that grotesque body-builder bulk, but lean, hard girth. Solid mass like a Mack truck. He moved with a nonchalant swagger, as if he’d just returned from some errand instead of walking in for the first time. Within a moment Agony’s long strides had him directly in front of G-Wiz. Wide eyed, he couldn’t help but stare.
Agony gave him a curious look; mocking, but in a way, friendly. It was a look that said he’d seen this reaction before and was a little amused by it. He seemed to consider the kid briefly; eyebrow’s rising, “Ri-ight.” His demeanor shifted as he turned toward the large TV screen, pointing at the cyber fighters still waging their epic battle, “So, what game you playing?”
The question caught G-Wiz off guard. This wasn’t at all what he’d expected. Agony turned his head with a questioning glance, willing the dumbfounded G-Wiz to snap out of it. A micron of composure returned to him. “Technically none,” he managed to say as he began to remember the controller in his hand. He tuned back to the screen, and instantly felt more confident, now in his element, “I’m testing environments for the fight club.”
Agony watched as the kid performed impressive and complicated combat maneuvers inside a virtual environment that looked almost real. He glanced over at him, “You’re doing what now?”
“Testing environments. It’s my Illusion Generator. It lets us—“
“Wiz,” Slo’s voice interrupting him. He appeared out of nowhere, but G-Wiz was used to it. No one ever saw Slo unless he wanted them to. “You gonna introduce me to your friend?”
The kid could tell Agony hadn’t seen him coming. His appearance had either scared or impressed him because he wasn’t friendly or curious anymore. Now he was cautious, watching Slo carefully. “Agony, this is Slo. Slo, Agony.” Agony took his eyes off Slo long enough only to give him a questioning scowl. G-Wiz shrugged, “I saw your file.”
“Wiz.” Slo said the name mildly, but G-Wiz could feel the warning in it.
“What?” It hadn’t occurred to him that the information was secret.
“What kind of name is Slo?” Agony interrupted, attention back on him.
“What kind of name is Agony?” Slo responded now returning the favor, attention locked on the larger man.
“Hell, what kind of name is G-Wiz” him attempting to break the tension. The two men broke their stare to give him a disapproving look. “I’m not helping am I?” G-Wiz turned in his chair, sitting in it properly for the first time and tried to appear invisible as he mashed slowly at his controller buttons.
Agony and Slo turned back, eyes locked, each measuring the other with a fierce intensity. Slo broke the expanding silence first, “What do you say Wiz, shall we show Agony what the Illusion Generator is in person?”
The kid turned slowly, looking to see if Slo was serious. Agony seemed to understand the implications though. He spoke before G-Wiz could reply, “You gonna show me personally, Slo?”
“That’s the idea.”
Like everything, Slo spilled the words like they were no big deal, but G-Wiz knew otherwise. He was picking a fight with Agony. Didn’t seem like a good idea to him, but then again he wasn’t the one getting in the ring, so who was he to bitch?
ii
Even on a Saturday afternoon the Dead Zone was alive with activity, though it was of a different sort. As the three moved toward the arena entrance they had to weave in and out of tables now occupying half the concert floor. The stage was empty but music still pumped through the speakers, driven by the old style jukebox in the corner. The crowd, as it often was, was a blend of adepts and norms, and nearly all of their eyes followed the trio on their march, as if they could feel the implied tension. Slo and Agony ignored the stares, focused on their goal, but G-Wiz nodded and waved at people he knew.
They crossed through the arena doors unabated. As G-Wiz closed them behind him he could hear the noise of conversation rise beyond the heavy frame. “So much for being subtle.”
“I didn’t know we were trying to be,” Agony said, not focused on G-Wiz, but instead studying what appeared to be nothing more then a normal wrestling ring. His attention lifted and settled on the strange projector like device nestled nearly hidden in the rafters above the ring. He nodded, indicating the units nesting place, “What’s that?”
Slo stepped forward, glancing at the centerpiece to G-Wiz’s Illusion Generator. “Why couldn’t it just be lighting equipment?” Slo’s words were more a test then a question. Agony turned his head and just looked at him. Slo couldn’t help but smile slightly. The look said he would have to be crazy to think Agony would buy that. He turned to G-Wiz, still by the door no doubt trying not to get caught in the crossfire, “Show him.”
Despite himself, G-Wiz was giddy at the words. He found immense pleasure in showing off his creations, and when dealing with them he felt more confident, strong. He pushed away from his diminished stance and strode to the edge of the ring. He remained gravely aware of Agony’s intense scrutiny as he activated a hidden console and began loading the OS for his Illusion Generator.
Agony stepped forward, looking inquisitively over G-Wiz’s shoulder as unfamiliar lines of code blurred across the small screen. “What’s that?”
G-Wiz hesitated for a second, casting a questioning glance to Slo. Slo gave a brief nod, sending renewed waves of elation through him. “This is my FLI OS. It runs the Illusion Generator.”
“Fly?”
“No, FLI. F-L-I. Fabricated Life-like Intelligence.”
“Oh, like AI?”
G-Wiz shook his head, a disappointed sigh escaping his lips, “No, no. Not at all. AI is…well you’ve seen the movies. Man gives computer a brain. Computer becomes self-aware. Computer kills everyone. This isn’t like that. FLI has no real cognizant ability. Instead it’s programmed with pre-designed responses to nearly every possible situation.”
Agony took a step back far enough for G-Wiz to see his quizzical expression, “What? How could you possibly be able to predict every possible situation?”
G-Wiz just smiled, “If I told you that everyone would have one.”
Agony looked to Slo. He spread his hands deflecting the insinuation, “Don’t look at me. He won’t tell me either.”
Agony seemed to accept the answer and turned back to the kid. “Okay, so then what’s the Illusion Generator? I mean I can guess part of it. It projects images into the ring right?”
“Um, yes and no. It creates a duel environment, so completely realistic you won’t be able to tell the difference.” The scrolling code stopped, the system beeping to let G-Wiz know it was fully booted and ready to go. He tapped a few keys and the screen changed. He scooted over a bit and motioned for Agony to come closer as he explained; “On the inside of the ring we project one of nearly 1000 environments.” The screen flashed a slide show with varying vistas. “Each one perfectly real, functioning and reacting just like the real world. It even feels real.” He clicked another key and two figures appeared on the screen. They immediately engaged and began filling the view with an epic battle much like the one Agony had watched the kid perform at the Rooms.
Agony straightened and regarded the kid with a look of wonderment, “Impressive.”
G-Wiz tapped another key and the screen changed again. The figures were still present, but now they were in just the ring. And instead of the large-scale onslaught they were just wrestling. Excitedly and rather competently, but still just regular old wrestling. “On the outside we project a regular wrestling match. Its outcome and direction is determined by the FLI system based on what’s going on inside. So, a devastating blow might translate into a power bomb or something.” He clicked again and the images began to blur, blending into the real battle waging behind it. “Adepts can see in, past the illusion, but norms can’t. That means we can have all-out, full-scale adept brawls right in front of the ignorant public.” He smiled, standing straight, arms crossed like a proud schoolboy. He turned to see if Slo was as impressed with his lesson as Agony seemed to be, only to find his undivided attention was firmly on Agony. G-Wiz tapped a few more keys and the console folded and slid back out of view. He tried to shrink as he backed out of the place he least wanted to be, the crossfire.
When G-Wiz cleared Slo motioned to the small set of steps leading to the ring, “After you.”
iii
For a moment there was nothing but white. Agony stood lost in a void of light. Then Slo appeared before him. Without taking his eyes off Agony he said into the void, “Wiz, load the street.” The world began to shift around Agony. The distance between him and Slo stretched as a street appeared between them. On either side of the street buildings and cars manifested. Within seconds he was standing on one end of what appeared to be a regular city street with Slo on the other end.
He judged the distances to be about 100 yards give or take. Behind Slo was a building signifying the end of the fight zone. A quick glance behind showed the same behind him. Agony was struck by the reality of it. Just as G-Wiz had said, the setting seemed real. Except of course that the street was isolated with no roads crossing it. To the sides through the buildings he could see a large brick wall; another boundary he supposed. From across the distance he could see a sly smile play on Slo’s face as he slowly backed up and disappeared into the building behind him.
He felt the shot cutting through the air seconds before he heard the crack of the rifle. Agony quickly sidestepped and dove behind a nearby car. Another shot screamed through the windshield and out through a side window, shattering both. He cautioned a glance in the direction he thought the shot had come from; there, in the 3rd floor window of a building just down and to his left, a pale figure silhouetted the frame. It resembled Slo, but Agony knew it wasn’t him exactly. Location and physical presence could be fuzzy sometimes.
Cautiously Agony moved along the right side of the car, making his way to the shattered side window. Another shot rang out, but it hit somewhere nearer to where he was. Good, he didn’t see me move. Reaching through the bullet opened window, Agony tore a piece of upholstery from the car’s front seat. Sitting now against the car in what he figured for the moment was a safe spot, he tore the cloth into one long strip. He moved back toward the gas cap, removed it and started feeding his makeshift fuse into the tank. He lit the other end with his Zippo and moved back to the open window. With a hope and a prayer he quickly reached into the car, shifted it to neutral and began pushing it toward the building. Shots rained down on the car as it moved, but Agony’s position was covered. He knew in reality what he was doing was probably impossible, but that’s what he loved most about being an adept. It didn’t matter so much what was real, only what you wanted to be real.
With one final shove he sent the car careening on its own momentum toward the building. Agony rolled to his right as flame struck gasoline sending a spectacular explosion of smoke and fire into Slo’s shadow-sniper’s hideout. He wasn’t so sure the impromptu bomb would actually take out the sniper, but that wasn’t really the point. Now hidden in the cover a smoke Agony sped across the street, through an alley to the back of the side buildings.
The alley was fairly typical of what he expected to see, except for the towering brick wall to his right, but along the buildings were an array of fire escapes, cardboard boxes and dumpsters. Great place for an ambush, he thought, and almost as if he manifested it himself, his thought came true. From behind a nearby dumpster another shadow version of Slo rolled out with an M-16 trained on Agony’s position. As the muzzle flash burst a hail of bullets, Agony stepped left, using a fire escape as shoddy cover. Next to him on the wall he saw a ‘No Parking’ sign; Perfect. With one fluid motion he ripped the sign off the wall and sent it sailing through the air at his pseudo-opponent. The spray of blood and the humorous way the head flew into the air was probably a bit much, but he enjoyed the theatrics of it. He didn’t have much time to enjoy the scene before a door he hadn’t noticed opened next to him.
The first thing he saw was the knife, but hand-to-hand was more his specialty. He locked the arm attached to the blade and swung yet another Slo Soldier out into the alley, slamming him hard against the towering brick wall. The knife went flying as Agony brought up his knee, driving the figure’s midsection into the wall yet again. As he doubled over from the strike, Agony, still holding the arm, twisted him down and around so he was kneeling with Agony behind him. A quick twist of the neck and the figure went still.
As fun as this all was, Agony could tell neither man was gaining ground. Slo could sit in that building at the end of the street all day, sending wave after wave of hit men and nothing would be accomplished. He had to get to that building; he had to get to the real Slo. Slo must have noticed too, because as Agony continued down the side alley, no more shadow-puppets attacked.
Still on alert Agony peered around the corner of the last building. He could see that the wall continued, forming a rectangle of brick around their playground. The building Slo had entered was only one story, so the threat of another sniper was small, but there didn’t appear to be a side entrance. The only way in was the double glass doors at the front. Not the easiest thing to sneak through, but then Agony wasn’t much for stealth in general.
He moved along the front of Slo’s stronghold and inched his way to the doors. Trying to stay as covered as possible, Agony looked through into the building into what appeared to be a reception area. The lights were off, but he didn’t sense any movement directly on the other side. He figured the door would be locked, but to his amazement it wasn’t, as he opened the doors and went in.
The room was typical of many office front desks; a large desk along the opposite wall, chairs and small tables aligned along the other walls and throughout the open floor. To the right of the desk was a door, the only one he could see. As he approached the door he saw a small device bridging the gap between door and doorframe. A bomb? Really? Agony sighed to himself and inspected the devise. All and all it was a pretty impressive set up, but he still made short work defusing it. He appreciated its presence though, as it meant there wasn’t likely to be anyone too close on the other side. Of course not knowing what was on the other side still made going through risky, but what choice did he have?
He cracked the door enough to peer through. Laid out beyond the door was a maze of cubicles. Great, a call center. He pushed through and rolled to the nearest partition. A barrage of pistol fire bit into the door swinging automatically closed behind him. He hadn’t actually seen Slo, but he knew it was him this time. Agony could tell by the repetitive blasts that Slo was using two handguns, firing them alternately like they do in the movies. He stayed low and moved along the cubicle walls trying to find a path to the back of the room where the shots were coming from.
As he came to an open cubicle he heard something clang onto the desk and fall to the floor: a grenade. Quickly and almost without thought, Agony grabbed a paper clip, bent it out straight and inserted it in like a pin. Again he was struck by the lunacy of the move. He slipped the now diffused grenade into his pocket and tried to keep moving, but Slo was doing a good job of keeping him pinned down. When a bullet grazed his arm, Agony decided he’d had enough.
In one fluid motion he stood, grabbed a nearby monitor and lobbed in the direction of the gun fire. He saw Slo duck the flying screen as he began making his way over and through the cubical maze. As he moved, Agony continued with a barrage of office equipment, throwing anything that wasn’t bolted down; chairs, keyboards, monitors, a stress ball. Anything and everything to keep Slo from getting any more shots off.
As he got closer to his goal, he couldn’t help but notice the stoic calm that Slo possessed. Even as he ducked and dodged the onslaught, his expression never changed. He gave no hint of frustration or concern. He simply avoided the projectiles, moving in an attempt to regain the high ground. Even as Agony made his final leap, tackling Slo to the ground, his face never betrayed him.
Everything seemed to change in an instant. What was before almost a friendly exchange turned into an all out brawl. The two crashed into each other with force enough to shatter the windows around them. Each landed devastating blows to the other as their dance continued across the floor. Agony was pouring everything he had into the fight and still Slo matched him, still eerily calm as if this were just another day at the beach. But he could feel him weakening; feel his resolve start to slip. He just hoped it was enough.
He left nothing behind now, trying to capitalize on his opening, funneling all his focus into subduing the other man. But his rally didn’t last. It wasn’t so much that Slo rebounded as he began to lose his own resolve. He felt Slo’s will crash into him repeatedly, parallel to the blows he produced, and felt himself slip. Felt Slo gain the advantage. Felt it all begin to slip away.
For a moment there was nothing but white. Agony stood lost in a void of light. Then Slo appeared before him, panting and out of steam. He stood, hands on his knees trying to relearn how to breathe. Agony was on the ground, leaning against a cubicle partition, but he couldn’t remember how he got there. Slo’s head slowly rose as the men’s eyes met. Agony could almost feel Slo’s apprehension, but his face still seemed at home. With a burst of energy the forces of nature charged at each other again. What was left didn’t even have windows to shatter.
As the two titans continued, all semblance of G-Wiz’s reality began to melt away; reduced to rubble and ash. Agony was beyond exhaustion, operating off pure nerve. He couldn’t imagine Slo had much left either, but still they fought. When the piercing sound cut through his mind he thought it was over for sure this time. He was almost relived as he clutched at his ears, trying to keep his brain from leaking out. He saw Slo too now on his knees in much the same manner. He only had a second to wonder what was happening before it all disappeared.
When his vision finally cleared he was kneeling in the wrestling ring across from Slo. G-Wiz was franticly clicking away at his ringside console, an expression of pure terror plainly playing across his face. Slo stirred and tried to speak, but his voice didn’t seem to be working at that moment. Agony could relate. He was pretty sure he couldn’t scream even if he was stabbed with a hot poker. Slo managed to clear his throat enough to get out in a rasp, “Wiz…what happened?”
The kid looked up from his console with an expression of pure shock as if the dead had just spoken, but the shock quickly faded under waves of relief. “Holy shit, I thought I lost you.”
Slo tried to regain composure as he used the ring’s ropes to help him to his feet. “What happened,” he repeated.
“You guys crashed the system.”
“What?” Slo nearly collapsed again with surprise, “How the hell did we do that?”
Mimicking Slo’s ascent, Agony pulled himself to his own feet, “See, I told you there was no way to predict everything.”
G-Wiz gave Agony a quizzical glance, “Well, yea, I guess. I just never imagined that happening.”
“Never imagined what happening?” Slo asked.
“A tie.”
Slo and Agony turned to each other, both now with shocked expressions, the first indication Agony had seen that Slo could be shocked. Agony watched as Slo’s eyes became bright and shiny and he could imagine his looked much the same. G-Wiz could do nothing but stare, mouth hung open, as both men burst into laughter.
End
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