Trepidation | Trepidation Trilogy | The Empty World Sequence

Seven

None of these people she had met in person but Claudia knew them all, by name, handle or reputation. They were with her now, in this virtual place. Each represented by various avatars or sometimes plain text as they chose. This was Claudia's Paris salon, a location that did not exist except for series of scripted commands and graphics files shared between online machines. To those looking at their display, the salon appeared a real three dimensional place which they could move throughout and manipulate. Quick, as Claudia was called, appeared as a hovering cluster of radiant green letters in languageless font that periodically shifted itself to reveal a coherent string of text.

      Victoria was present as a bright cartoon girl with dark braided hair dressed in a sari, and often word balloons appeared to relay her messages to Quick about art or English literature. Now, a balloon popped up to say that in Cairo she heard rumours come out of Alexandria. Next, it was to say that the latest rumor was that America and Japan were sending representatives to Alexandria to talk with the High Lord about the war.

      Uadjet, a user that had Claudia had watched and allowed to forge permission to cloak itself in her salon, appeared at times as a stylised gold eye that cried letters and hieroglyphics. The letters fell, "t h e y w i l l s e n d a i d n o t t r o o p s." It disappeared again, but on Claudia's machine there was a floating red ankh that showed its continued presence.

      "Uadjet is a troll?" Robot whispered to Claudia, so that only she would see his message, a warrior robot like the sort in anime that leapt about the salon. He was actually a kid, presumeably in Warsaw, and even younger than Claudia.

      "In time," Claudia typed a whisper to Robot. She looked over the salon. Victoria appeared to sit in a chair. Robot was standing with his arm about the virtual copy of Michelangelo's David. Uadjet was in the corner, hidden. An american Secret Service agent pretending not to be appeared from all angles as a still photo of a man in a black suit with the word agent written across his chest. A German hacker of some infamy appeared as a rolling string of numbers that, if studied closely, listed the digits of Pi, and at other times as a busty, redheaded, centerfold girl fully rendered in three dimensions. Another user entered the room.

      Claudia sighed. Another obvious disguise.  This was a animated, white lab rat, scurrying about the floor of the salon, and who sometimes stood up and appeared to dress in trench and fedora before speaking in French. It was her father.

      "L e s t a t t h e R a t," Uadjet cried.

      "This guy again?" Robot whispered.

      Claudia laughed. Her green font shifted into the message, "How's yer father?"

      "L A U G H T E R!" Uadjet cried.

      Her letters stoped again to spell a message, "I know that in Warsaw, and other cities of Russian occupied Poland Darkling are being murdered by Russian soldiers." She continued, "There are people who try to help."

      A message came from CiPi's nude's mouth, "All of you in Poland should watch it! the SCB and Rowan are telling their peeps there will be plenty of DG asses to stake and burn." Again the scrolling numbers but it was binary code this time and meant for Claudia. A date. Again the busty nude. "The true numbers are hidden. Don't delay. Ghetto out! BCG RULES!"

      She wasn't talking about the hidden message, Claudia suspected, but some method the Russians had used to hide their number from Union spy satellites. The scam was to send a small police force to secure the path, and while the Poles were still choosing sides, enter en mass and march straight through to southern Germany to meet up with the Swiss, Spanish and Gauls of the Estates Liberte. They would amass there, then make their move, perhaps into Italy toward Vampire City. But, of course, the military had to be aware of all this.