Page 30 of Control

Growing up in Beverly Hills, Giff had all the advantages most people could only dream of. Still, he chose to go his own way unlike his siblings who he says often sponge off of his parents to this day. Instead, Giff moved out and went to college, opting for a far more affordable community college instead of going to his other options such as The University of Southern California or UCLA. After a couple of years, he transferred to California State in Long Beach where he completed his degree in Communications. Giff told me he was about to get a well paying job while still taking courses, but instead began to DJ at local bars and clubs. He’d started DJing occasionally in high school and continued through his college years. While his strict Asian parents weren’t too happy with his job, they let it slide since he was going to college and doing quite well. Once his degree was secured, he felt he’d completed any sort of obligation he had to his parents. Having already weened himself off his their money through college, he was able to pay all his own bills and even get a decent position with a local company in Los Angeles while he continued his DJ jobs on the weekends.

The fifth and final member of our “therapy” group was Spell Caster or simply Caster. He was the “nerd” of our group, having grown up in the United Kingdom and went to what he called a “Prestigious University” although he has never told us which university it was. Caster was very secretive of his identity which was understandable. Most people on the game often were, given part of the idea was to be someone in the game that they couldn’t out in the real world. The same could be said for all of us in some way and to different degrees.

Cris probably couldn’t hope to be a madam in real life and I certainly wouldn’t consider escorting with all the dangers that would entail. Giff could DJ here full time instead of just on the weekends. Mustafa just liked hanging out with his friends and having a few ladies over when he felt like it. Caster was someone that loved conversation but would grow upset at times when he felt the other party didn’t have the knowledge with which to properly discuss whatever the topic of choice was. Given his higher than average level of intelligence, Caster took to being a professor in Aurora, choosing to teach others willing to learn about things like Cosmology and Astrophysics. When we first met, I noticed that he would challenge me at times on these topics and while I was no Cosmologist, I could still hold a conversation with him which I think either intrigued him or frightened him given my background and what I’d told him about me. Maybe both. Still, he was good to have around when we needed to look at things from a more logical perspective.

“Ana,” Caster said as he finally stood up from his chair. He and I respected each other, but we weren’t close the same way I was with the others. “Glad you could make it on such short notice.”

“It’s fine,” I said, letting out a big breathe. “I’m all for talking about rumors and fear mongering.” Cris and the others looked at each other after my comment and then back over to me, a look of concern on their face. “What? Was my joke that bad?”

“That’s why I wanted us all here,” Cris said. I was confused for a moment.

“To discuss my sense of humor?” I asked, half joking.

“No,” said Giff. “That thing about a hack.”

“It’s real,” said Cris. “All the rumors about it being real were actually a rumor, but we think the person who started it either actually did the hack or they know who did.” I was caught very much by surprised.

“Wait,” I said, looking at each of them and letting my mind work. “You’re telling me this is real?” Cris nodded her head as did the others. “The developer was really hacked then.”

“It’s true,” said Caster in his posh, English accent as he walked behind his chair and set his hands on the back of it. “All that talk about there being a hack and turns out it really happened.” The five of us stood there for as moment, silent, thinking about what this could mean for all of us.

“Jesus Christ,” I said, putting my hands on my hips and exhaling. After a moment of thinking, something had occurred to me. “Cris, wait. Who told you?” Cris looked at me and then looked at the others, all of them apparently withholding a secret from me. I looked back to Cris. “Seriously, who told you? I know you have connections all over, but only someone like an employee would know for certain that there was an actual hack.” All of them looked at each other again, unsure of how to answer me. “Wait. Did all of you know?” Mustafa was the first to speak up.

“The 4 of us were told at the same time,” he said in his thick, intimidating voice similar to that of Michael Clarke Duncan from The Green Mile.

“What?” I said, getting seriously irritated and wondering why I was the only one left out of the loop. “What the…what the hell is going on here?” Cris jumped in as she noticed I was not taking this vital piece of information being withheld from me very well.

“Ana wait,” she said, putting her hand up as if asking me to keep my cool. “Please, let us explain. We have good reason.”

“Oh,” I said with a sarcastic tone. “Well then! Let’s hear it!” I folded my arms in front of me, sincerely wondering why I was the odd one out.

“I’ll tell her,” I heard a familiar voice say from behind me. I turned back to see a small spark of light floating in the air. After a second, it flew forward and streaked by my arm and ended up in the middle of the room where all of us could see it. It looked more like a spherical incandescent light that took on a life of its own than anything else in Aurora. It was Jazz, the GM that occasionally visited me when I was dressing…which in itself sounds creepy now that I think about it.

“Jazz,” I said as I followed his sprite as he zoomed past me.

“Ana,” Jazz said in his light British accent as he bobbed up and down in front of us all. “I contacted the others before you because we didn’t know how good or bad you might take the news of this.” Jazz went on. “You see, Ana. The amount of data that is thought to have been taken in the hack was substantial. It includes names, addresses, and avatars connected to those names.”

“That’s what I figured,” I said back to him. “I get it. We all have something to lose here if this data gets out. That still doesn’t answer why I wasn’t told.”

“Two reasons,” Jazz said to me. “The first being Reyna’s return.”

“What about it?” I asked.

“We’re all very aware of how hard you took her leaving the game when things between you fell apart,” Jazz said. Even though he was simply a floating ball of light, I got the distinct feeling he was “looking” at me. “Because of her return and the hack happening at virtually the same time, we didn’t know if it was a good idea to hit you with both of these events simultaneously. We didn’t know if she would try to contact you or not and we wanted to, if possible, space out those events. However, we realized you two had run into each other so the possibility of that reunion being staved off for the time being was rendered moot.”

“We were just worried about you,” Giff said to me. “You see Jazz came to us and mentioned both of these things and Mustafa and I remembered how broken up you were over Reyna so….”

“None of us really knew how you’d react,” Mustafa said, interjecting and stepping closer to me. “I’m sure you understand why we did this. You know me, Ana. I’d never keep shit like this from you unless there was a good reason.”

“I wouldn’t either,” Cris added. “Giff and I went back and forth over it and as much as I wanted to say something, we thought it best to stay quiet to see if we could space them out. We didn’t want it to be too much for you.”

As much as I hated to admit it to myself, they were right. I’d taken Reyna’s departure incredibly hard. During the nights after she left, I’d found myself wandering into places I’d never been before. Once word had spread to Cris and the others, they did reach out to me and even insisted on coming to see me. Except Caster. He felt it was better to let me handle it on my own and figured if I wanted or needed help I would ask. He was both right and wrong.

The very next night after Reyna left, Cris, Giff, and Mustafa came to see me in a particularity seedy location where after them asking about Reyna, I quickly fell apart. I remember trying like hell to keep it together, but I broke down sobbing and screaming for her. I remember Cris holding me and Giff and Mustafa telling people around me to leave, not wanting them to see me in such a state. Cris and the others eventually rushed me away to a private area where I went on and was inconsolable. Never in my time in Aurora had I become so emotional.

“You’re right,” I said with a deep sigh. I knew they were right. I had to own up to the fact that I’d let something eat me alive for a time and they had every right to be concerned. In fact, as I stood there and looked back over their faces, I began to feel an even deeper appreciation for them. They’d considered my emotional state and how I might handle two potentially huge events being dumped on me so close together.

“We had to do it,” Giff said with concern in his voice.

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