MetaWars: Fight For The Future

Chapter 43

It was the biggest news story in years:

One quarter of the Metasphere lost. Hundreds of avatars missing, presumed deleted. Matthew Granger blames Guardians for Metasphere crash.

Granger was, in fact, appearing on countless news programmes, ensuring that his version of events reached the widest possible audience.

A different story emerged from Mr Chang, however – or rather, from his spokespeople; as the young entrepreneur remained hidden in the shadows as usual.

Chang Corp’s take on the crash was that it proved the folly of giving one man too much power. They said it was Matthew Granger’s hubris that had led to this disaster. Chang Corp claimed the credit for the saving of the Uploaded, and invited everyone to join them in their new and more efficient Changsphere.

Granger was furious, of course. He accused Mr Chang of stealing his proprietary software, and of wanting nothing less than total power for himself.

Meanwhile, reports of casualties were still coming in. Fortunately, they were few in number, thanks to Sam’s evacuation of the affected zones. Still, a lot of people had lost a lot of meta-dollars in the crash. They wanted compensation from someone.

Some were saying they were afraid to go back into the Metasphere now. What if more servers failed, they asked? What if there was no warning next time?

Many took up Chang Corp on their offer. Settlers began to move their families, their businesses, their whole online lives to the Changsphere.

At the edge of the Metasphere – its new edge – there was an aching grey void. But, in the heart of that void, visible for miles around, a window of pure white light shone. In increasing numbers, avatars were flying across the void, into that light. They were seeking a new world of safety and security. And the Changsphere was ready to accommodate them.

Jonah followed these events on a monitor, in his bunkroom, inside Ayers Rock. Sometimes, he had to pinch himself to be sure he wasn’t dreaming.

Everyone was talking about what he had done. Oh, sure, they hadn’t mentioned him by name. They didn’t know what he looked like.

But Jonah knew. He knew the part he had played in recent events.

When he had filtered his father’s avatar, those few short weeks ago in the gift shop cellar, he couldn’t have imagined it would lead to this.

Jonah was just a poor nobody from a Clapham Common bus-flat. He had just been trying to stay alive – and yet somehow, in the process, he had changed the world.

It was a very odd feeling.

Three days after the taking of the Southern Corner, amid the clean up at Uluru, Sam got a lead from a Guardian contact, and she and Jonah plugged themselves into the Metasphere to visit a virtual fairground.

The fairground boasted re-creations of the world’s greatest rollercoasters. It all seemed a little old hat to Jonah, who was used to greater thrills. Still, the rides were popular with the older generation.

At the end of a long pier, beside a candyfloss stand, they found two familiar avatars: a gryphon and a Clydesdale horse.

‘There they are,’ said Sam.

Axel and Bradbury were hovering aimlessly, mindlessly, gazing out to sea. Sam ran up to her father, threw her front legs around him in relief. He looked right through her.

‘Dad, it’s me, Sam,’ she said. Jonah could sense the tears behind her trembling voice. ‘We found you.’

They led the disconnected avatars away from the pier. Axel and Bradbury came willingly, but Jonah and Sam had to keep a close eye on them to keep them from forgetting where they were and wandering off again.