Chapter 25
Life Hack Republic, Virtual Reality
In the stone chapel on the coast, Zona told John and Mawuli, “It was all my fault. Here we were, right in front of Brandon and his queenie, and I lost my mind when she opened her stupid mouth. Oh, she made me so mad! Anyways, I know we can never win going in there after him. Sorry you had to go through all that and get killed again. I appreciate all you did. I’m really not sorry that stupid goblin got it though. Is that bad?”
Then Joe’s avatar spawned in the chapel.
Feeling resentful, Zona said, “What are you doing here? I thought you had forgotten all about us. You left right when we needed you. You could have flown us out of that situation.”
“That was a waste of time,” Joe replied.
“I can’t believe you said that. How can you say that?” Zona asked.
Joe pulled the red rock out of his pocket that he picked up in Slobbovania. “Behold.”
Zona shrugged her shoulders and asked, “Is that supposed to make it better? There is something seriously wrong with you.”
“Wait a second,” Mawuli said. “That same rock was in the VR world of Slobbovania.”
“Huh?” John said.
Mawuli said, “Joe transferred an item from one VR world into another.” He smiled. “I don’t know how he did it, but they won’t expect him to be able to do it. That could be extremely useful.”
Joe asked Zona, “Do one of you have an account in some other world?”
“Why?” Zona asked, “So you can abandon us again?”
“That was a waste of time in Slobbovania.”
“I wish you’d quit saying that. I don’t consider my son’s addictive problems as a waste of time.”
Joe said, “You have the wrong inference, Zona. In order to solve this problem, I seek to go into a more modern VR setting within a military conflict. A science fiction VR would work. There we can acquire assets useful in Slobbovania.”
John asked, “You propose we cheat the game?”
Joe said, “I propose we win a total victory.”
Mawuli said, “I started out in a World War Two game, but that one runs on limited term cycles. Once either the Axis or the Allies wins the war, it starts all over again. I thought that some other continually running VR would be better, so I came here to Life Hack, then we started to go to Slobbovania as a group, because of Brandon.”
Joe said, “As a possible alternative, I would like to know the name of the World War Two world you were in.”
“VRWW2.”
“Accessing . . .” Joe froze for a moment. “Mawuli; please login to VRWW2 as an American. Then Army Air Corps, European Theatre, and select ‘Joe’ which will appear as an object you can select for your avatar.”
“What about Brandon?” Zona pleaded.
“My actions will affect your Brandon indirectly.”
Zona looked hopeful.
“Okay, I’m logging on,” Mawuli said. “I can’t be in two VR worlds at the same time though, so I gotta run.” Then Mawuli vanished from the chapel.”
*******
Mawuli’s avatar spawned into the WW2 VR world wearing a US Army Air Corps flight jacket, appearing at an air field with Joe at his side. Bombers and fighters were lined up in rows along an air strip. He said, “At least you look more like you belong here than in Slobbovania.”
Joe still had the same look with the long coat and sunglasses. Joe looked down at the red rock it pulled out of its pocket, checking to see if it would still appear in WW2VR. “What is the status of this war?”
“You mean you don’t know?”
“No, I’m trying to remain inconspicuous as possible.”
“Not sure what that means, but Lemme see . . .” Mawuli checked the game progress information. “The Germans have wiped out the Soviets. Japan has expanded all the way into India and linked up with the Germans. It says the Americans and Germans have both developed nuclear weapons. From the map, it looks like both sides are using them as fast as they can make them. The UK is mostly flattened and so are a lot of the occupied German cities. It is hard to say from this who is more likely to win. I’d go with Axis right now.”
Joe followed some airmen who were getting onto a US B-17 G flying fortress bomber. The plane bristled with 13 machine guns on all sides and both ends. There was some sloppy artwork on the outside of the plane, unlike the real planes during the real war. It had a rudimentary dog on it and the name “Snoopy”, after a comic which did not come along until well after the real war.
“Who are you?” one of the Americans asked Joe.
Joe stood frozen with no expression.
Mawuli said, “We are spies. Um . . . we need you to take us into Germany, um . . . I guess.”
Joe asked, “Is this aircraft armed with nuclear weapons?”
“It can be. I just need the general to approve.”
“Yes,” Joe said. “Our mission requires them.”
The crew got onto the bomber. The pilot said through the plane’s radio, “Okay boys, we got the word that we’re going nuclear on this mission with a spook and his assistant.”
“Assistant?” Mawuli said.
“You guys outta see this bomb we got back here!” the bombardier said to the rest of the crew. “This is going to be epic!”
One of the crewmen said, “We need to get this war over with. I want to start over again as something else. Maybe German.”
“Cut the chatter,” the pilot said as the plane ran down the runway and lifted off.