Play to Live 2 - The Clan.pdf

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Play to Live
by D. Rus
Book 2
The Clan
Copyright © D.Rus 2014
Cover Art © Kadziro
Editors: Irene Woodhead, Neil P. Mayhew
All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents
Chapter One ...........................................................................................................4
Chapter Two .........................................................................................................14
Chapter Three .......................................................................................................24
Chapter Four ........................................................................................................33
Chapter Five .........................................................................................................45
Chapter Six ...........................................................................................................56
Chapter Seven ......................................................................................................65
Chapter Eight .......................................................................................................76
Chapter Nine ........................................................................................................86
Chapter Ten ..........................................................................................................98
Chapter Eleven ...................................................................................................110
Chapter Twelve ..................................................................................................123
Chapter Thirteen ................................................................................................132
Chapter Fourteen ................................................................................................144
Chapter Fifteen ...................................................................................................154
Chapter Sixteen ..................................................................................................165
Chapter Seventeen..............................................................................................175
Chapter Eighteen ................................................................................................185
Chapter Nineteen................................................................................................198
Chapter Twenty ..................................................................................................207
Chapter Twenty-One ..........................................................................................217
Chapter Twenty-Two .........................................................................................228
Chapter Twenty-Three .......................................................................................237
MMORPG Glossary ...........................................................................................252
Chapter One
From the Analytics Department report made at the AlterWorld Corporation
Emergency board meeting.
Subject: The surge of violence among the digital population.
The psychologists' reports show that after only three or four months, the
digital population (later referred to as perma players) complete their adaptation
period and cease to view the virtual world as a game. The memories of their past
lives fade, the rich colors of their adopted environment forming an entirely new
outlook. So how do the perma players see their new home? For them, it holds a
wealth of virtually unlimited opportunities—a promise of an eternal life devoid of
the concept of criminal punishment. In other words, it's a world of brute force in
the absence of authority.
But this is only one side of the coin. Ask yourself for a moment: who are the
people who come to populate those virgin virtual lands? I would like you to turn
your attention to the chart included in the report.
Unstable teenagers, troubled war veterans, handicapped persons with all
kinds of disabilities, the elderly and terminally ill, criminal elements and escapists
attempting to flee reality.
We can only wonder why the once-isolated cases of enslavement and violence
have taken all this time to swell out of control. In the last three months, our
Customer Service has reported over fifteen hundred documented cases of personal
violence. We do understand that until the legal status of perma players is finally
recognized, all our attempts to help them will remain a gesture of good will and
by no means our obligation. Following earlier instructions, we ignored most of the
inquiries received from perma players, burying them in red tape. That made sense
when such incidents were isolated because every such case demanded type A or
A+ intervention whose consequences would be hard to predict.
Now, however, the situation careens completely out of control. The
Informational Intervention Department works against the clock but still we find it
increasingly difficult to influence public opinion and minimize the damage done
by the independent media.
The cases involving minors are especially harmful for the image of our
corporation. Technically, none of this is our fault as parental and age control
functions are the responsibility of capsule manufacturers. Still, if some of the
incidents were to be made public, the company's reputation and financial stability
would receive an enormous blow.
In view of the above, we recommend the following measures:
To begin lobbying for new standards of software protection as well as
hardware security and physical protection of the FIVR capsules;
To condition public opinion in favor of introducing the retina recognition
login system as the basic player authentication tool. To ensure the Department of
State's interest by suggesting the possibility of extending this function to cover
cyberspace in its entirety;
To introduce the Voluntary Death ability that would allow the player's
transportation to a safe zone;
To stall the ratification of the law confirming perma players' legal status if,
or when, it is passed;
To arrange for a media campaign with the slogan
The Law is Not
Retrospective!
under the pretext of shielding the digitized individuals from any
financial claims of their past lives. Its real purpose would be to free the
corporation from the responsibility of any repercussions involving perma players
prior to the passing of the law.
J. Howards, Director of the Analytics Department
***
"Murderous scumbags," these were Dan's exact words as I told him the story
of my imprisonment in the Forest Cats Castle. "That's it, then. No more Mr. Nice
Guy."
They had thrown together an emergency meeting in the Small Hall of the
East Castle gathering, by the looks of it, nearly all of the Vets' officer cadre. People
kept coming. I could hear teleports pop open behind the open windows as new
groups of personnel arrived. They had announced Code Orange—one below Red
which stood for imminent military action.
In my house clothes, I looked pretty foreign within a crowd glittering with
armor and artifact gear. I hadn't yet had time to do a corpse run. Another person
who looked out of place was Taali. Tearful, she had refused to leave and was now
sleeping by the fireplace cuddling the white Winnie the Pooh, shuddering in her
sleep and clinging to the creature's silky hair. The others cast occasional glances
in her direction, lowering their voices. They'd already had Cryl healed, fed and
questioned; their debriefers had picked the best of his brains. Now he was fast
asleep in a guest apartment next door, recovering before a new interrogation

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