Chapter 58

THE PIRATE’S VIRTUAL AMBUSH

Oceanwide Plaza Tower 1, Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States

When Gen had climbed several stories, not finding anything but abandoned tools and unfinished walls, she started to wonder if Alicia had been wrong. Maybe this wasn’t where Charlie Sloane was stationed, protected by virtual reality magitech and ready to broadcast a controlling signal into the homes of the people of the city.

Any ideas about this place? Gen asked her dragon in her head, knowing he was close by, keeping watch for her. Do you think that we could be in the wrong location?

Absolutely not, Emperor answered at once. I sense Charlie Sloane’s thoughts and something very sinister. Just remember who you are dealing with.

Gen nodded, reaching another abandoned floor of the unfinished skyscraper. She was getting so high that she could see out at the city around her since most of the exterior walls were absent and mostly just a framework.

The bare concrete and exposed beams were a stark contrast to the bustling city beyond the perimeter of the building. On each level, Gen was forced to break away from the stairwell and inspect, looking for the hub. Alicia thought that it would be somewhere between the first and twenty-fifth level in order to serve as a security guard to keep out invaders.

Cautiously, Gen moved further into the space of the tenth floor just as she’d done on the others below. However, this time, something was different. The air around her shimmered and shifted, the hard edges of reality softening into something altogether different. This was it and she reminded herself that what she saw next would not be real. But more importantly, she had to break free from the illusion. Gen had to wake herself up, seeing with her own eyes and shaking away the false dream of the virtual reality.

As swift as dusk falls, the construction site vanished around Gen. The cluttered unfinished floor below her fell away. It was instantly replaced by the weathered deck of a great sailing ship, its planks worn smooth by countless years of wind and waves. The ship where she’d found herself was cutting through rough seas and what she experienced next felt like the realest thing ever.

The salt spray stung Gen’s face as it shot off the choppy waters and over the side of the ship. The briny scent of the ocean filled her lungs with each breath which she was sucking in fast, her heart palpitating suddenly. The sun beat down from a cloudless sky, its heat softened by the cool breeze that snapped at the ship’s sails.

However, the tranquility of the moment was shattered by a shout from the crow’s nest of the rocking ship. Gen stiffened herself, trying to keep her balance as she glanced up to where the lookout was stationed. His voice was high and urgent against the crash of the waves. Gen spun, her eyes widening as she saw the pirate ship bearing down on them, its hull painted a deep, menacing black and its flag snapping in the wind like a serpent’s tongue.

Even though Gen knew in the back of her mind that this wasn’t real, it was hard to convince herself of that entirely. Everything in that moment felt exactly as it should. The smells, the sights, the way the ship moved under her, the urgency beating in her veins. And before she knew it, she was swept into a scene she couldn’t find a way out of.

The deck beneath her feet shuddered as the first volley of cannonballs struck the ship’s side. She was on a boat and it was under attack! The impact sent a shower of splinters and debris flying through the air. Gen hit the deck hard, her chin taking the brunt of the impact. She wondered instantly how it hurt so badly if this wasn’t real.

Her mind reached out to Emperor, her lifeline to reality, but he wasn’t there. She felt his absence as much as she sensed the realness of the wood underneath her. Panic raced through Gen’s mind as she worried for her connection to her dragon. But then she had other, more immediate concerns.

The force of the impact made Gen roll across the deck. She took cover behind a stack of crates as musket balls whizzed overhead, their passage marked by the painful thuds and the cries of wounded men. Not only did Gen not know what to do in this situation, she didn’t know what she was fighting.

From her vantage point, she spied the enemy ship draw closer. Ropes were thrown over the banisters of the rocking boat where Gen stood. They were being commandeered.

The pirate ship’s crew swarmed over the railings hungrily, their eyes blazing with the fierce joy of battle. Grappling hooks arced through the air, biting into the splintered wood of the mizzenmast and brought the ships more firmly together with a bone-jarring crunch. Swords clashed against swords as the air grew thick with smoke and blood, the noise almost deafening in its intensity.

Gen crouched behind the sparse, dwindling cover of the quickly-crumbling crates, her heart pounding in her ears. The enemy were already thundering across the deck, barking orders and apprehending men to walk the plank. She knew she had only moments before they’d be upon her, and there was no talking her way out of this, like the last time she was apprehended by pirates. Instead, Gen had to do the one thing that felt the most unnatural in that moment.

She closed her eyes and focused, using her breath to try and calm her nerves. Then she tuned out the cries of men and the sounds of fighting. Instead, she remembered where she was. Gen focused on the noises and smells and feels of the skeletal building where she’d been. That was her actual reality. This was a fa?ade. And all she had to do was believe with true conviction to make this nightmare stop.

Suddenly, the rocking under her feet halted. The salty air was absent from her nostrils. And the noise of the sea and the attackers were replaced by traffic in the distance and the flapping of plastic tarps.

Gen opened her eyes to find herself crouched on the ground of the tenth floor of the Oceanwide Plaza building. To her horror, she was inches from the unprotected edge of the framework of the tower. Clambering back, Gen realized how deadly this game had just gotten. If the virtual reality didn’t scare her to death, then it might trick her into jumping to it.