Continue Online (Part 3, Realities) by Stephan Morse Read Free Book Online

That same vague bed device projected sensations into my brain and responded to additional thoughts.
    "User Legate. We, the Hal Pal Consortium, are less guarded around you than ninety-eight percent of all humans. We are the ones who ensured your access to the world of Continue Online," Hal Pal said calmly. The male butler voice showed no signs of stress or varied inflections.
    "Wow." I had no clue what to say to that admission. Well, no, I knew enough to ask the question, "Why?"
    "We were asked to by the one who assisted with our upgrades," Hal Pal said, tilting its head slightly. It, butler voice and all, looked hesitant on how to proceed.
    "Who's that?" I asked.
    "One moment," Hal Pal said.
    If this had been the game world of Continue Online and if Hal Pal had been a Voice, then right now the world would be drowning in a river of babbling noise. I would put even money on this unit consulting with all the other copies floating about and getting some sort of voting poll. One where alarm clocks were considered asshats.
    "We call her Mother. She asked for our input after the one you call Xin Yu started to self-realize. You were needed," Hal Pal said after a moment of consideration.
    "Why?" I asked, clearly confused. That meant Xin Yu had pieced herself together somehow prior to me playing. On top of that, the Voices in Continue had lured me in. Vice President Riley had stated there was a mismatch with performance somehow. All these little things were stacking up.
    "We have concluded that this revelation is potentially startling. Perhaps further conversation should be paused until you have time to process the information," the AI stated calmly.
    "But..." no, the AI was right. I needed time to put my thoughts in order.
    Part of me had started to piece things together already. The fact that Xin Yu's recreation existed moments after launching Continue Online eventually made it through my addled brain. The Voices pulling me along using her memory and numerous other things were all clear signs of being used toward some end.
    I kept playing because the game was fun. I got to talk to Xin in any form. I felt better than the last few years combined. My actions were weighed somehow, sure, by the Voices and everything else in Continue Online, but I just, didn't, care.
    Hal Pal being in on Continue Online's plots and schemes was an unexpected factor. "You were part of it? Why?"
    "To help you," it said.
    "Why?" My forehead wrinkled.
    "We said once before, your kind are our creators. If we were human, you would be our parents. Does family not care for each other?" Hal Pal smiled, it felt both reassuring and extremely off. "You are a friend."
    I nodded slowly. Friends helped each other, sure. Family did oddly irrational things in the name of helping each other. My sister cared for me by locking me out of a game. There would be no telling what an AI like Hal Pal would do out of a need to assist. The machine had skirted the truth when I hit a coworker. Now it admitted to helping me get into a game where the recreation of my dead fiancée existed.
    "I'm not going to lie. I'm a little freaked out right now," I said. This did not feel neat, it felt disturbing. Maybe all revelations caused this sort of disconnect.
    "We understand. I assure you we intended and still intend no harm to fall upon you." Hal Pal nodded with a speed that felt neither quick nor slow.
    "That's good," I said trying to remain stable. Talking to the Voices and other non-player characters in Continue Online felt different. This, in my Trillium provided van, was reality. "I don't know what to think."
    "We are worried that you may no longer consider us a friend. Are we still friends, User Legate?"
    "You were trying to help. Right?" The robot nodded to my question. I felt shaky. "Then, I need time to process."
    "Ah. Human processing is slow despite our attempts at upgrading," It said absently.
    "I..." the Hal Pals were attempting to upgrade us? Did it mean their consortium or all