Chapter 56

A CITY IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Rooftop, Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States

Gen worked hard to refuel her low reserves with another candy bar as she learned the critical information related to the next phase of her plan. Alicia spoke fast, sometimes breaking into her native language of Italian, but quickly repeating herself in English. Her attention on the update, Gen glanced up at Emperor who was also listening to the information being broadcast over the speaker of the phone.

“So the Commissioner has set up his headquarters in an unfinished skyscraper in downtown LA?” Gen questioned, looking at her purple dragon perched next to her on the rooftop. “I don’t understand. Why?”

“Because for starters, that helps him to conduct the signal to the transmitters and other places, as well,” Alicia explained over the phone. “I tracked the communication from the transmitters and this construction site is absolutely the location. But also, it won’t feel like an unfinished skyscraper, not after what he’s done to it.”

“Because he’s disguised it using the special virtual reality technology,” Emperor guessed, looking down at the tiny phone, which only made his colossal size seem larger.

“Exactly,” Alicia answered. “Those who enter it, well, I believe they enter his virtual reality of confusion. That’s the best that I can discern after studying all the information. He’s using the VR as a security measure to guard him.”

“So what I see when I enter the building?—”

“It won’t be real,” Alicia interrupted Gen, her voice adamant. “It will feel real. Look and smell and seem like reality. But it won’t be. That’s how powerful this VR is. It will fool your mind.”

Gen nodded, chewing on her lip. “I experienced something similar at MystTech Creations. I thought I was about to be attacked in a jungle by dinosaurs, but they weren’t real. So where’s the danger then?”

Emperor gave her a serious expression. “What the mind believes, the body reacts to. If it feels so real, then you won’t know the difference, even if you want to.”

“But I’m being told this is a false reality,” Gen argued.

“In the moment you can be fooled,” Alicia stated over the phone. “The only way to survive what Charlie Sloane has created is to bring down the virtual reality. Otherwise, he will find a way to break your will with it. I’ve seen these VRs before. Dinosaurs may not be what haunts you, so he’ll find what does.”

Gen gulped, feeling really out of her element all of a sudden. “Can’t we just demolish the building? Like we did with the towers? I mean, I don’t want any innocent people to die, but I do want Charlie Sloane to. Hopefully by my own hand.”

“No, that’s the other thing I discovered,” Alicia said, her accent really thick due to her intense emotions and stress. “The billboards were just a precursor to what he was planning. The next phase of his plan, well, it’s way worse.”

Gen gave her dragon a cautious expression, all her tension boiling to the surface suddenly. “How so? What’s worse than brainwashing the thoughts of four million some odd people?”

“That was only to break them down so that he could control them,” Alicia explained over the phone. “The real plan, I realize now, was to use the same type of technology to get into their homes. Charlie Sloane plans to broadcast messages of control through the televisions and radios and other devices inside the homes of those in Los Angeles.”

Gen’s eyes widened. She gulped. Her breath hitched in her throat. “Can he do that?”

“He can,” Alicia answered. “And it will work on those who subscribe to him.”

“Through his manipulation on the billboards,” Emperor guessed. “That was all setting the foundation for his controls.”

“Yes,” Alicia replied. “But you have to get in there and shut it down. Otherwise, it could go off and then there could be no way to stop it.”

“Can you help me to do that?” Gen asked. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Of course,” the magitech scientist reassured with confidence. “I’d go with you and do it, but I’m not cut out for such strenuous activities.”

“Well, and Gen has me in her mind,” Emperor offered. “We are in the best position to resist this virtual reality manipulation of the mind.”

“I agree,” Alicia said over the phone. “Just get into the Oceanwide Plaza Tower 1 from the ground floor. I need you to find the central hub for the virtual reality simulation and shut that down first. If you don’t, I fear that Charlie Sloane will have the real advantage on you. He can trick you into thinking Liv is there or that the city is burning or anything that you don’t even want to imagine.”

Gen nodded. “Okay, I have to shut down the virtual reality simulation first. I get that.”

“Good,” Alicia replied. “I don’t know where the hub will be located, but I’m guessing it will be on one of the first couple floors to protect him. That’s why you can’t shortcut your way to the top of the building where he’ll be located. He would have to be on one of the top floors for broadcasting purposes.”

“Of course, I can’t cut off my way to the top,” Gen said with a sigh. “And then what?”

“And then you have to manually shut down the broadcast,” Alicia stated. “Sadly, the Commissioner doesn’t need the transmitters to send out those messages. He only needed them for the billboards. But now that you’ve taken those down, he’s going to be pushing on with his plan. Find his control station and I’ll be able to help you shut it off the right way so that it can’t switch on randomly. I don’t know what he has planned for the people of Los Angeles, but something tells me that it is something we can’t reverse. From everything I’ve discovered, he only wants power and control and cares nothing for the lives of the citizens of this city.”

“Okay, we’ll go to the address you sent us now,” Gen stated, looking up at her dragon with determination. “Send me over what the virtual reality hub looks like and I’ll destroy it. Then be ready to help me shut down the programming. I can’t do this without you, Alicia.”

“Of course,” the woman replied. “And you’re right. But what I’ve found in my experiences is that we don’t do anything worthy alone. And nothing is more so than this mission. You’re truly remarkable to protect a city that’s not your own.”

Gen smiled out at the twinkling lights of Los Angeles as she looked over the sprawling metropolis from the rooftop. The sun had just set and the darkness was taking over the city now. “This place may not be where I’m from, but it has quickly become my home. I’ll do anything to help it and its people.”