~o~O~o~

** Chapter 5 **

 

I manage to avoid having to demonstrate my previously mentioned “ninja like” reflexes.  Not because the jocks suddenly decide to leave me alone, but because after home room, it was time to report to Mr. Anderson’s class for the field trip. 

 

This trip is going to be so cool!

 

We are visiting one of the University of New Mexico’s nanotechnology research labs located in nearby Los Alamos.  The lab is associated with the Los Alamos National Lab and it specializes in the research and manufacture of super tiny robots called nanites.  The biggest use that most people see for nanites is in the medical field.  The idea there is that a doctor could program a host of these super tiny robots to kill cancer.  The doctor then injects a few thousand of these things into the patient with a regular needle.  The bots move throughout the patient’s body and zap any cancer cells that they find. They could also be programmed to repair damaged cells. How cool would it be if doctors could program the bots to repair the nerve damage caused by a broken spinal column? Wheel chairs could become a thing of the past! 

 

You could also use these magic nanites to build things too.  Give them some CAD/CAM plans and pour them onto a bar of steel.  Stand back and presto!  You’ve got a nano assembled pistol. Okay, so it currently takes over a thousand dollars to build each nanite and it would take thousands of these bots all working together to assemble this now multi-million dollar pistol.  Hey, one can dream can’t they?

 

Of course, there are the alarmists out there that worry about an out of control nanite plague of hungry self replicating eaters of everything.  If that were really possible don’t you think that some super-villain would have already done something like that? I mean, think about it for a second.  What super-villain worth his salt wouldn’t threaten to unleash their super steel eating nanite plague on some high dollar target like the Golden Gate Bridge?  I can see the stereotypical bald headed super villain with cat transmitting his demands to the panicked city leaders.

 

“Greetings,  Leaders of San Francisco!  I have deposited steel eating nanites on your famed Golden Gate Bridge. You have two hours to pay me one meellion dollars or my nefarious nanites will turn it into dust!  Muh Haha! Muh Haha! Muh Haha!”  Maybe Hollywood could make a movie about it?

 

So, here I am on another school bus.  This time I get to sit with John since Lisa isn’t in our class.  We end up talking about GEO.  Yes, He plays GEO too.  Not as much as I do, but I guess that is the price you have to pay when you have a girlfriend.

 

“Hey, how’s your thief coming?  Have you scored any good loot lately?” He asks.

 

I am so tempted to spill my guts right then and there, but for some reason, I hold back.

 

“Nope, nothing good lately.  I did just get a good quest, but hard to say if it is going to be worth the hassle.  How about you?  How’s your paladin?” I vaguely reply with a redirect. 

 

Yes. He’s playing a paladin.  He’s so goody goody when he plays his pally.  It’s almost sickening listening to him talk with all the “thees” and “thous” like he thinks that a pally should talk like.

 

I am so glad that he’s not on my server.  I’d have to switch to the dark side just to get the chance to get rid of him.

 

I guess it is kind of ironic that he was offered the paladin class while I was only offered thief or mage for my first class.  I wonder what GEO’s arch-type matching wizard is really trying to tell me?

 

So, I get to hear how he led the assault on some Evil strong hold and all the awards his pally received. It is pretty sickening and it kinda makes me a little jealous.  So jealous, that I cave under the peer pressure.

 

“I kind of stole Lord Vincint’s griffon last night.” I say in a low voice while looking around to see if anyone else was listening.  You could never be too careful. GEO players are everywhere.

 

“You what?  Who’s Lord Vincint?”

 

“Lord Vincint is my guild leader and also the leader of the Alliance of Light on my server.”

 

“Oh yeah, now I remember you saying something about how that guild you joined last year was lead by that dude.” John says as he turns to look out the window when the bus turns into an area enclosed with one of those high security chain link fences.

 

“Hey!  I think we’re here dude.  Check out that!” He points to an Army guy manning the guard post. “The guards are packing some serious heat!” The GEO talk is completely tossed out the bus window.

 

They do look pretty bad ass and are packing some serious firepower. The guards look like they stepped out of some first person shooter video game box.  They are wearing desert camo outfits with some cool looking armor and other tech stuff attached.  Their weapons look like M-16’s, but they have those commando stocks and short stubby barrels.  This field trip is so cool!

 

Before they let the school bus through the gates, one of the guards enters the bus and walks down the aisle all the way back to the rear of the bus.  He looks so serious.  No one on the bus says a single a word.  As he turns to head back to the front, some electronic gadget attached to his belt brushes up against my shoulder.  He stops for a second or two as he speaks into his throat mic, “Alpha One, Student transport clear. Bravo Ten, Out.”

 

I feel a little tingle or something in my head.  It’s hard to describe really, but I suddenly hear the reply.

“Roger, Bravo Ten. Assist Bravo Nine with…”

 

The voice stops as he steps away from me.  I shudder and wonder what the heck just happened.  There is no way that I should have been able to hear what Bravo Ten heard.  His Communication Network Radio Subsystem (CNRS) system uses a bone conduction headphone system to allow him to hear radio calls without interfering with his regular hearing.

 

How did I know all that?  The closest I have ever come to that kind of gear is playing Ghost Recon on John’s PS3. I hardly think that would suddenly make me an expert on military technology.   

 

“Yo dude, are you okay?  You look like you just saw a ghost.” John asks me as I start to recover from my shock.

 

“Umm, yeah I guess so.” I don’t think that I sound very convincing. 

 

“Was that dude cool or what!?  Did you see that wicked looking M16 he was carrying?” John asks me with an excited whisper.

 

“What?” I start to reply still feeling a little woozy.  “That wasn’t a M16, it was a M4A1.”

 

“Whatever dude, it was still pretty wicked looking.” John says as the bus starts to move again.

 

Now I’m really starting to scare myself.  Did Ghost Recon have one of those weapons?  Even if the game had the weapon, how did I know that that it was equipped with a MFL (Multi-Function Laser) that feeds target information back to his Computer Subsystem (CSS)?

 

The remaining half mile or so to the facility doesn’t take too long.  The bus pulls up to the main entrance and Mr. Anderson exits to meet some scientist looking dude standing just outside the door.  I can’t hear what they say, but Mr. Anderson seems real happy to see him as they shake hands.  They speak for about thirty seconds or so after that and then Mr. Anderson pokes his head back into the bus and yells, “Okay, you all.  Dr. Edmundson is a friend of mine from college and he’s the one that was nice enough to get us permission to visit the labs here.  As you might have noticed, this place is very secure and the research being conducted here is very bleeding edge. I expect you all to be on your very best behavior and to listen to all instructions you are given.”

 

We all kind of sorta mumble sounds that might translate as, “Yes” as we stand to exit the bus and are greeted by Dr. Edmundson.

 

 “Okay, children.” 

 

Who does this egg head think he is?

 

“Please follow me inside were we will get you all signed in and issued visitor badges. After that, you will be guided to the auditorium for a short presentation and safety briefing.” Dr. Edmundson says as he motions us all inside and led us to the security desk.

 

We all have to print and sign our name on some pale green log book.  As I sign my name, the security officer hands me a bright red numbered badge with VISITOR plainly visible on its surface.  “Visitors must be escorted at all times.”, is also printed on the badge.  They seem pretty serious about this security stuff!

 

After we were all issued badges, Dr. Edmundson escorts us all down a short hallway towards the only open set of doors in the place.  All of the doors are protected by a badge reader gadget, even the door labeled “Human Resources”.

 

“Hi Brenda.” I hear Dr. Edmundson say.

 

“Oh, Hello Dr. Edmundson.  Your presentation is all setup and ready to go.” I hear a cheerful sounding female voice reply.

 

It’s a little hard to see through all the other kids. So, I’m not really paying too much attention to what is going on up front until John pokes my side.

 

“Dude!  Check out the robo-babe talking to the Doc!” He whispers.

 

I make the effort to find a clear line of sight and I’m rewarded by the sight of a very beautiful red headed woman wearing a bland gray and conservatively cut dress and blouse.  Her long red hair is pulled up off her shoulders with a strategically placed stray strand of hair to the side of her face.  I think that I’m now not the only guy that is now hoping that this Brenda person is going to be our tour guide.

 

“Thank you Brenda.” Dr. Edmundson says. “Ms. Koshnick is not only a wizard with PowerPoint, but she is also our Human Resources specialist.  So we all like to make sure that she has plenty of chocolate come payday!” He laughs at his joke.  Everyone else just humors him with a smile.

 

She smiles at him. “Oh, you’re too kind Dr. Edmundson.”  The crowd parts to let her past as she heads towards the door that I’m standing next too.  Her smile turns mischievous as turns to look back at Dr. Edmundson.. “But, I need to get back to my office to make sure your check will clear the bank this time.” 

 

Since it looks like she is going to want to enter the door and I’m standing next to it, I attempt to open it for her,  but fail miserably as I try to twist the locked door handle.

 

She smiles at me and I almost melt into a pile of goo right there.

 

“Oh, you’re so sweet.  Thanks for the gesture, but I need to swipe my badge to unlock the door first.”

 

As she approaches the badge reader next to the door, I feel a tingle in my hand just before the door handle clicks and opens under my weight.

 

She looks with confusion at the door and her badge for a second before she shrugs and moves to pass me to enter her office.  She smiles and mouths a silent thanks as she passes.  Suddenly, she stops and bends over to peer curiously at my face.   With her face inches from mine, a hint of some floral scent hits my nose. “Wow, you have the most beautiful green eyes.” 

 

I’m shocked that she notices my eyes and even more shocked that she would say something to me.

 

“Oh, sorry, handsome green eyes.” She says with a smile as all the blood in my body attempts to rush to my head in an attempt to make me die from embarrassment.  I feel like a deer caught in the headlights of a semi-truck.

 

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to embarrass you in front of all your friends.” She apologizes as she touches my arm.   “Well, back to the salt mines for me.” She mutters as she straightens and continues her way into her office.

 

The door can’t close fast enough for me!  Finally, I can breathe again.

 

“Dude! Score!” John whispers to me.

 

I’m all smiles as I follow John into the auditorium with weak knees.

 

Green eyes?  My eyes are brown.  She must have been messing with me.

 

**

 

I won’t bore you with too much of the presentation.  Dr. Edmundson’s presentation was pretty dry, but it did have a few decent videos of “hypothetical” nanite uses.  He did bring up the world ending “GreyGoo” fear about out of control and self replicating nanites.  He made a pretty convincing case on why it would be impossible for someone to make happen.  First, the person trying to do that would have to be crazy.  Secondly, the bots themselves would need access to a lot of very rare earth compounds in order to replicate themselves.  You don’t get stuff like palladium, chromium and gold from thin air.  Power is also an issue to this crazy scheme.  Maybe it could happen someday, but not today is what he told us.

 

The only thing that I didn’t already know was that the labs we were going to see today are the University’s part of the complex.  The “non-secure research” part is what Dr. Edmundson called it. 

 

His team just analyzes some of the projects that come out of the secure parts of the complex and they attempt to identify how things can be improved or why they failed.  So, basically we are just going to get to see the rejected, old or broken down stuff.  It’s still some pretty cool stuff though.

 

So, we finished the presentation part of the tour.  Next on the list is a look at the lab where they perform the design and 3D modeling of the nanites, then we will do lunch.  After we survive research lab food we will visit a lab that has some real live nanite samples, than we take the bus home.

 

I must admit, the computer modeling demonstration was pretty cool.  Dr. Greenway, a colleague of Dr. Edmundson, showed us how he would create a nanite design.  We got to make some suggestions on what it might do and that effected how it looked on the screen.  He then printed our design out on a huge printer that made a poster size printout of our nanite.  He and Dr. Edmundson signed it, and then asked us all to sign our names to the printout too.  Then he said that he was going to get it laminated so we could take it back to school with us.  I think that it will look pretty cool on the wall of our classroom.

 

**

 

Lunch is, well, lunch.  There are a lot more people there due to the lunchroom serving the entire facility.  I see a few folks dressed in the guard uniforms mixed among the scientist types.  Sadly, I do not see Ms. Koshnick, but John notices me looking around.

 

“Dude, looks like your new girlfriend dumped you.”

 

I feign heartbreak.  “Oh well, It wouldn’t have worked out anyway. She was only interested in me for my body.”

 

I time my comeback perfectly.  He is caught drinking his milk and snorts some out his nose as he chokes on it.

 

“That was sooo not right man!” He says while grabbing for a napkin to wipe his face.

 

“Yeah, but it was funny, right?”

 

“Okay, yeah, it was pretty funny.  Good one dude.  So, why did you steal your guild leader’s griffon?”

 

Oh crap.  I was hoping that he had forgotten about that little detail.

 

“Well, I more kind of borrowed it without his permission.”

 

“Umm, you mean you stole it, right?”

 

“Ummm, I guess so, but I did let it fly back to him when I was done.  I think.”  I’m not feeling too confident that it made it back to him.

 

“I really don’t think that will help.  What is so important that you needed to go outlaw?” He asks with a tone of voice that sounds like he is starting to channel the spirit of his goodie goodie paladin. 

 

“I really can’t say right now.  I’m still kind of confused by the whole deal myself.”

 

“Uhh?”

 

“Okay, what if you could go back in time and kill Hitler before he started World War two?” I ask him in an attempt to frame my actions in a better light.  I mean, who doesn’t think that Hitler was a real evil guy?

 

“What does that have to do with a video game?”

 

“Well, I’ve been given a quest by what I think are the GM’s to assassinate another player’s character.”   I say, feeling like a huge weight is lifted off my shoulders.

 

“Whoa!  Dude!  Are you sure?  How could a good player be given an evil quest?”

 

“That is what I am worried about.  How could the GM’s of GEO give a good player an evil quest?”

 

“Hey, are you two talking about GEO?” A female voice distracts us.  We both turn and are shocked to see Ms. Koshnick standing there with a bagged lunch in her hands.

 

“Umm…yes?” I brilliantly reply.

 

She smiles and actually looks excited. “Cool!  I play too.  Mind if I sit with you two?”

I’m beyond flustered, but John is much faster on the uptake then I am.  The jerk!

 

“Sure thing Ms. Koshnick.  What class do you play?” John asks.

 

“Brenda, please call me Brenda.  Ms. Koshnick makes me feel so old. I just play a Warrior on the side of Light on the [third] server.”

 

I’m starting to panic now.  She plays on my server and on the side of light.  Please, please, please don’t say anything John.  I furiously try to develop mental telepathy to get John to change the topic somehow.  It doesn’t work.

 

“Wow, that’s the same server that Brian plays on.  Maybe you two know each other?”

 

“I don’t think so, John.  My Mage is only fifth level and I don’t know any beautiful female warriors.” I deliberately down play my real class in an attempt to clue John into my non-existent telepathic commands.  I am beginning to think that he is really out to get me. 

 

“Your low level Mage alt?  No, I’m talking about your thief, Whisper.” 

 

It’s Game Over man! Game Over! As Brenda’s eyes practically pop out of her head.

 

“No freaking way!  You’re Whisper?  Wow, I thought you were really a girl.”

 

“Can it get any worse?” I mutter as I lay my forehead on the table and pretend to try and knock myself out.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry Brian.  I didn’t mean to embarrass you like that. That was pretty stupid of me to say that.” She apologizes by grabbing my hand.  That part short circuits my brain and I forget all about GEO as the sensation of her holding my hand overrides everything else.

 

She’s so beautiful and even worse, she plays GEO.  Just kill me now, please.

 

“How do you know about Whisper?” I ask, fearing her answer.

 

“Oh, I play Lady Kalisa.”

 

Oh crap.  I’ve actually grouped with her a few times. Even worse, she’s even in my guild. 

 

“Haven’t you checked the forums this morning?” She asks.

 

“No, I have not had the chance.  Why?” I concerned. What have I missed?  Is my mission blown?

 

“Oh my god!” She gasps. “So, you don’t know?”

 

“Know what?” John and I chorus in stereo as I start to panic.

 

“Well, for starters, Lord Vincint has removed you from the guild.  You are also wanted for questioning by the Constable and the Font guards have orders to capture or kill you if you show up anywhere near the Font of Light.”

 

My eyes pop out of my head and John looks at me like my eyes really did pop out their sockets.

 

“On top of that, Lord Vincint is just a tad upset that you stole his griffon.”

 

John just pokes my side. “Told you so.”

 

I ignore that. “Why would he have the Font of Light guards after me?”

 

“Huh?  You mean that you’re not trying to steal the Font for the forces of Evil?” She asks as she takes a healthy looking sandwich out of her bag and starts to unwrap it.

 

At this point, even John is starting to look at me like I might be the person who told him that Santa wasn’t real.

 

I try to reassure them. “Nope, I am not on a quest to steal the Font of Light.” I hope that John doesn’t decide to volunteer more information. 

 

He does. “Naw, He’s been given a quest to assassinate someone.”

 

He’s so helpful, not.

 

“Really?  I thought Whisper was a Master Thief, not an assassin.” Brenda says just before she takes a bite out of her sandwich.

 

“I’m not, I mean, she’s not an assassin.  I don’t know why the GM’s gave me the quest, but it must be important and for the greater good.”

 

“Well, who are you supposed to assassinate?” She asks. 

 

“Promise you won’t tell anyone until tomorrow?”

 

“Ummm, I don’t know if I can do that.  I mean, I have to tell the guild what I know. I have a responsibility to the guild and the forces of Light, just like you do.” She looks and sounds so serious about the game.

 

“Well, if you really get into the role-play.  Would your character really know what you know about something that happened off-line?”

 

That causes her to think for a bit. Maybe I won’t have to tell her.  I can keep it a secret and not have to worry about anyone finding out before I get a chance to give it a try tonight. 

 

She crushes that idea. “Okay, I promise to not say a word about it until tomorrow.”

 

“You too John.  Promise not tell anyone about it, not even Lisa.”      

 

“All right already.  Geez.  You make it sound like it’s the president or something.” He grumbles.

 

I look back and forth to both of them.  They look like they are being honest with me. “Okay,  My quest is to assassinate Lady Seramis, the Bandit Queen of the West.” I then proceed to tell them everything I know as their faces express more disbelieve with every revelation. 

 

“So, that is why I had to steal Lord Vincint’s griffon last night.  It was the only way I could get to Lady Seramis’ territory in the time limit.” I finish.

 

They are both incredulous.  Brenda’s starts to say something, but remembers that she still has a bite of her sandwich to chew. She quickly finishes her bite. “Okay, so how do you know that killing her won’t help the forces of evil somehow?”

 

“I don’t, but like I was telling John.  What if this is like being given the chance to go back in time and kill Hitler before he starts World War II and kills millions of people?”

 

She ponders that rationalization.  “I see how you’re thinking there, but what if it is more like what caused World War I instead?”

 

“What?”

 

“Okay.  What if, killing Seramis is what triggers an assault by the forces of Evil and they capture her Font?  Then, the forces of Good would have to try and stop them.  We would have an all out war.”

 

Her doomsday scenario sounds so plausible. “Oh man, I just don’t know.  I’m only in High School.  Isn’t GEO just a game?”

 

Brenda looks past us. “Oops, it looks like your tour is about to start again.” She hesitates with an idea.  Reaching a conclusion, she reaches into her purse and pulls out her business card and writes a number on the back of it.

 

“Here is my cell.  Call me if you want to talk about this some more tonight.” She says as she offers me her card. 

 

As I take her card and put it in my wallet, I see that John is smiling at me.  How much do you want to bet that he says “Score!” sometime within the next five minutes?

 

We don’t even make it out of the cafeteria before he slaps me on my back. “Dude!  You. Are. The. Man!” 

 

Okay, so he doesn’t actually say, “Score!”, but I still think it counts.