Pixel took hold of the other sticker. "I hope you realise that the reason we came to you is because you are the best person in the virtual reality sector. Snow Globe wants you to maintain and improve Byzantium."
"Byzantium? That's what it's called?" said Grace.
Pixel confirmed her question. "People these days are technology addicts, without something in controlled form like Byzanitum, they will continue to fall prey to the whims of indulgence. But it only works on a small scale and his vision is that it is bigger than the real world."
"Why?"
"Snow Globe will explain," said Pixel. She stuck the sticker on Grace's forehead without Grace having the chance to say no.
Before Grace could even consider removing it, Pixel pressed a button on the console and Grace felt a tingle down the back of her neck.
I can't feel anything.
At then, Grace experienced an eternal void, falling into darkness.
***
Fuzzy buildings appeared in front of Grace, the landscape glitching as if she viewed unclear images on a computer monitor, except it's in three dimensions and all around her. She heard a voice.
"It's just picking up your consciousness frequency, give it a moment." The voice of Snow Globe.
The visuals stabilise and Grace sees the new world around her for the first time. An incredible, scintillating, futuristic metropolis. A sprawling super city, with hundreds of skyscrapers, many taller than the tallest building in London and there appeared to be flying cars passing through the sky. The type of city you see in a sci-fi movie.
"Impossible," Grace said, almost imperceptibly as if she swallowed air at the same time she spoke.
It felt so real. The cool breeze passed over her face, heightening her awareness. She stood on a roof a skyscraper of moderate height but not alone.
"It still takes long for the simulation to materialise and stabilise," Snow Globe said.
His clothes changed, he wore a periwinkle blue coloured suit with a white collarless shirt. She could see his eyes now, very tiny and deep set, expressive and yet focused.
"Am I still in your car?" said Grace.
"Yes, you are though you are unconscious in that plane of existence. Your conscious has reconnected with our quantum servers in Tokyo."
Grace walked to the edge of the roof and peered over the edge. At ground level it was empty, no people walking, driving cars or riding bikes; she darted a glance back to Snow Globe.
"There are no one else here," she said.
"Of course," Snow Globe said. Now peering over the edge himself, standing beside her. "It hasn't been released to the public yet, so there are no other consciousnesses sharing this volume space with us."
"It's overwhelming."
"I know and I am aware I shouldn't take up too much of your time but I want to make sure you understand my vision. One hour in here, is equivalent to one minute in the real world." Grace immediately understood the implications, of such time telescoping in a simulation, to all intensive purposes, indistinguishable from reality.
"It gives you more time," she said. "You can live out far more experiences than you can in the real world."
"It's a game changer," said Snow Globe. "Gravity and distance work the same here though if you know how to manipulate codes…"
They exchanged a glance and Grace couldn't tell why Snow Globe revealed the secret to her. What is his true motive?
"Let's take the elevator," he said.
Internal walls of the elevator were completely mirrored. Grace found herself staring uncomfortably at the reflection of both of them standing in it. Snow Globe appeared taller than he did in real life, his hands in the trouser pockets of what she now realised was a slightly oversized suit.
"I made a deal with Byron Grimm," said Snow Globe. Grace got a chilling feeling in her bones. I'm in a lift alone with a man who works with Byron Grimm? This is it. He's going to capture me. Maybe Grimm is even here! I can't escape. When these elevator doors open I better run for it. But to where? And in any case my real body is asleep in his car. Maybe I'm already tied up to a chair or something.
"I promised him access to monastery where monks have learnt how to perform astral projection using only their minds. He wanted his scientists to use their knowledge for the purposes of creating stable Avatara. You see Avatara was part of a worldwide 'sustainable development' initiative for life extension and space travel. The idea of transmitting consciousness and releasing human beings from the limits of their bodies. Our planet continues to experience the full impact of our consumption. And we cannot help it because our economic and cultural systems are hinged on the idea of continual growth. You can only grow or die. People have children. Industries spawn new ones. This year the world will create over 220 zettabytes of data."
The lift seemed to be moving downwards forever and ever without any limit. Surely, we must have reached ground level by now?
Snow Globe's monologue continued. "We simply cannot cope with the speed of data proliferation and the human carbon footprint, without reorganising society itself. The development of artificial learning algorithms and precise machine tools means we need less and less humans for work, even though we have more than ever, with elderly folk like me still bounding around as well. People find themselves without the right skills, with nothing to do and governments who have no plans for them.
"Avatara was meant to be part of our plans to go to Mars and expand life beyond Earth. To save humanity. But Byron Grimm thought too small and after his death it came to our attention that he wanted to use Avatara to build personalised armies using avatara spirits to control weapon systems, android robots and the recovered bodies of dead soldiers."
The elevator came to an abrupt halt.
"I should correct myself," he said. "Grimm wants to do that."
The doors of the elevator opened and they stepped out into an empty casino. The red carpeted floors, a roulette wheel, black jack table and a bar, all empty. However, music played. "The Entertainer," by Scott Joplin.
"I made a mistake by ever dealing with Grimm and now even people very dear to me are at risk." Snow Globe let himself in behind the counter of the bar. He appeared weary as he ran his left hand along the selection of spirits available for consumption. He settled his choice on a fine looking bourbon bottle.
"The sensations of eating and drinking are maintained in Byzantium. Everything here has identical effects as in the real world. Indeed, if you drink enough you may feel the need to go to the toilet. Our experiments on Byzantium have shown though that most people will not urinate themselves in the real world if they go to toilet here."
Grace sidestepped the detour of his conversation. She found Snow Globe difficult to trust and follow due to his nature of making indirect statements and superfluous monologues.
"Who is at risk?" said Grace. Recent events made her hypervigilant and attuned to risk.
"You've met Yi," said Snow Globe, a statement not a question.
"Yes."
"Grimm knows the location of the monastery where he lives. It's meant to be a secret location. I trained there myself when I was a boy. And now Snow Globe knows where he lives and it's because of me."
Snow Globe took a swig of the glass of bourbon he'd measured. After the mild gurgle, he brought the glass back down to chest level, swirled it whilst looking into it. Then he looked up at Grace.
"Don't make business deals under the influence of alcohol," he said. He laughed, probably because the irony of his statement had not escaped him.
"Is he safe?" said Grace. "Can't he just fly away?"
"I suppose he could but where would he leave his real body and then there are the other monks? But from my estimations, Grimm has been back for at least the past six months, given the abrupt change in Sheldrake's activity, since his return. I told him about the existence of Yi and the monastery about eighteen months ago. Since Grimm's return nothing has happened to them, so they are probably safe, though as long as he exists they are at risk. He knows Yi and possibly one or two others who can do astral projection. With Grimm back anyone directly or indirectly related to Avatara or other modes of astral projection is at risk. He needs to do high powered projections on mass to execute his plans."
Grace developed an excruciating uncomfortable feeling in response to Snow Globe's mention of 'indirectly.'
"He might go after my mum," said Grace trembling.
"Where is she now?" said Snow Globe.
"She's gone on a surprise holiday," said Grace. "The type when you go to the airport and don't find out your destination until you get there."
"Don't worry, she is probably safe," said Snow Globe. Something about the way he spoke made Grace feel more worried rather than less. "I have sent some men to check on her house and also check where she is now."
"No, leave her alone," said Grace.
"As you wish," said Snow Globe. "I only have one more thing to show you."
"We've been here so long already," Grace said.
Snow Globe checked his watch. "Actually only for fifteen minutes here, and in the real world that is fifteen seconds. He clapped his hands and the state of the environment changed. They were now outside at street level with skyscrapers all around them towering like prehistoric trees into the sky.
A smooth streamlined car with a fin on either flank waited for them on the sidewalk. It looked like a stingray and was a blue colour. The word Kawakami was written on its left fin in white.
"Open," said Snow Globe. Doors opened on each fin, either side of the central spine of the car. Snow Globe went to the other side of the car to sit in its left seat. "Please join me for this last tour," Snow Globe said. "Then you can go home."
Grace got in. Snow Globe asked the vehicle to drive and it's control panel lit up.
"Hello, Snow Globe," a voice from the machine said. "Where do you want to go?"
"Let's go to shitamachi," he replied.
"Safety check administered," said the voice. "Three metre declare threshold covered, no vulnerable body detected. Lifting off."
A huge surge of pressured air flows around the foils of the craft made the vehicle rise fast. At least that what Grace thought. The force pulled her back in her seat and up the car went, very much like an aircraft would.
The car buzzed like a helicopter briefly, then became silent. Within seconds they were flying between skyscrapers. Any initial turbulence stopped and the flight was smooth. The front windscreen had a semi transparent computer display showing the immediate the flight path with arrows ahead. Passing skyscrapers were labelled by the display as they moved past. An accurate description of it would be that the windscreen projected a close up web mapping service.
"This sector of Byzantium is a futuristic representation of the world," said Snow Globe. "The type of world we would want to see that can truly co-ordinate the lives of billions of people. But there are thousands of sectors, many unfinished, and we need your help to finish and secure them."
"Why me?"
"Because you know how to stabilise high grade virtual technology so that it doesn't harm the individual. Even this sector is not finished. You saw there was a glitch on loading of this sector. That is a vulnerability that can be exploited."
Grace hadn't said much to Snow Globe in all the time she'd spent now in Byzantium but not without reason. She listened to form a picture, and generate in her mind an axis about what the problems were and how things related to each other. She identified one of Snow Globe's major concerns.
"What if an avatara entered Byzantium?" she said.
"It would enhance the nature of that avatara, as long as the avatara is able to maintain itself in the real world."
"That's what you meant earlier about being able to manipulate codes, to subvert the laws of gravity here," said Grace.
"An avatara in Byzantium would be able to perform the feats of a superhero and Grimm's avatara is bonded with the Avatara system, so in Byzantium he would be like a God and completely take it over."
Grace realised Snow Globe's concern. Indeed she concluded that if Grimm and Knightmare died but their combination avatara survived, then indeed they were bonded with the Avatara system. Knightmare-Grimm is a spirit living in Avatara and the existence of Avatara meant the continuing existence of Knightmare-Grimm.
"Avatara has to be destroyed," said Grace. It was a simple conclusion. But that would mean facing something or someone that she didn't want to.