Wheels Within Wheels
When I slid the keycard labelled "CEO's Office" into the slot by the elevator, the door opened almost instantly, and the ding sounded more respectful than before, somehow.
The ride was longer this time, as the elevator wooshed past several floors enroute to the top. I took the opportunity to straighten my tie and brush off my hat (which turned out to have a broken tooth lodged in the hatband).
The elevator dinged again, and the doors slid open, revealing a spacious and elegant office. Behind the huge mahogany desk, a wine-colored leather armchair faced the windows overlooking the streets of Chinatown. My feet sank into the plush carpeting as I stepped forward, and the chair swiveled around to reveal the CEO of Shiawase-Mitsuhama Zaibatsu.
It was, I was not particularly surprised to discover, a robot. The head of the yakuza doesn't do his own paperwork, after all. The machine rose politely to greet me, its red electronic eyes glowing. Its torso had been meticulously painted in the style of a dark business suit, and colorful "tattoos" ran up and down its arms.
"So," it buzzed. "You're the one who's been giving me so much trouble. Tony Sierpinski told me about you."
"Give him my love, next time you see him," I said. I flipped open a cigar-box on the desk, and was disappointed to see that they were plastic, and just for display. I lit a cigarette instead. The robot pushed an ashtray across the desk at me. I ignored it.
"I suppose you think you're a real tough wang ba dan, waltzing in here like you own the place. Would it surprise you to know that I allowed this to happen? I told my bodyguards to let you up here, so I could look upon you with my own sensors."
"Seems like some of them didn't get the memo."
"The low-ranking thugs need a workout once in a while, or they become lazy." The robot's red eyes glittered unpleasantly. "What do you hope to achieve here? Do you seriously think a lone gaijin like yourself could frustrate my plans?"
"I'm doing okay so far. What exactly are these plans of yours?" I pulled the electronic gizmo from my pocket and held it up. "What are these things?"
"I suppose I might as well tell you -- you won't live long enough to make use of the information. They are neural-interface relays. I am in the process of beta-testing the most addictive multiplayer video game ever produced."
"A video game?" I asked, flicking ashes onto the plush carpet. "That's your plan?"
"You scoff. Plainly you have no concept of how lucrative these games can be. Dedicated salarymen go absent from work to play them. Parents neglect and abandon their children. People play them until they fall over dead in the internet café! And that's just with the ordinary monitor-based games. This new one connects directly to the brain, providing the ultimate in video resolution, full sensory surround, bio-feedback... it immerses the player in a fantasy world as real-seeming as their actual lives. Even someone with as little imagination as yourself can feel the allure of escaping into your perfect mental fantasy world, I'm sure."
"And once you've got the fish on the line, you can soak them for all they've got."
"Correct. Subscription fees. Premium avatar and dwelling customization. Interface replacements."
"Replacements?" I took a deep drag on my cigarette and blew the smoke out through clenched teeth. My disgust was starting to turn into anger.
"The magical components on the board wear out after a while."
"But the first one's free, of course."
"Of course. 'Free trial subscription', we call it."
"And what makes you think you'll get away with this?"
"Get away with what, exactly? That is the beauty of it -- the whole thing is perfectly above-board and legal. I will only be giving people what they want. At a fair price, too -- at the projected subscriber levels, I won't even have to inflate the profit margins to make billions. And it's not a drug -- there are no opiates or narcotics involved whatsoever. It's as safe as houses, you might say. The players can quit any time they want to. If they ever want to."
"I've heard enough." I ground out the butt of my cigarette on the polished mahogany surface of the desk. "Maybe the police can't touch you, but I sure as hell can."
"Oh?" The red eyes glittered again. "You and what army, sha gua?"
"No army," I replied. I punched the elevator call button, and when the door slid open I reached inside and pressed the HOLD button. I turned back to face the robot, pushed up my sleeves, and held up my fists. "Just me and my two friends here."
| Fight! |
