Join The Cause

Back in the game, Kary was nervous. It had been an hour since her pod was in lockdown, and the fact that she couldn't log out whenever she wanted, tormented her. Anthony kept telling her to relax. He kept saying 'If it had gone bad, we would know already because you would have logged out anyway' and that didn't reassure her at all.

After another hour, Anthony finally received a message from his team outside.

" You're in the clear Kary. My team has secured your pod, it's in our base as we speak. Now all that's left is for our hacker to cancel that pesky lockdown protocol. It shouldn't take long, He's one of the bests " He said, suddenly all chipper.

" I hope there isn't a scratch on me when I log out, Anthony. Or your boys will have hell to pay" Kary menacingly said.

" I was told even the pod was spotless " Anthony innocently said.

It took his hacker about 45 minutes to unlock the pod. As soon as he did, Kary logged out. She wanted to know where she was now. Once she was back into her pod, she hurriedly opened it up and got out. She rose from her pod into a grand room, with many other gaming pods like hers. All of them were connected to monitors and their vitals were being closely looked at by nurses and doctors.

A pod nearby opened up as she was busy looking around. From it came out a man Kary had known for now 2 months and a half.

" You're a long way from home, lady " The man said from behind Kary. That man was Anthony. As Kary turned around, she finally snapped back to reality.

" Well fancy seeing you here, Anthony " Kary mockingly said. " Can you tell where is 'here' exactly" She then asked.

" No, I can't " Anthony said. " I can do much better. I'll show you " He added after a pause.

He then grabbed her hand and took her for a walk. They walked around the complex for a few minutes and Anthony would tell her what every room they passed was used for. After their little journey, they arrived at a stairwell, which they then took upwards. After climbing 5 flights of stairs, Anthony pushed a door and Kary felt a cool breeze hit her. The breeze had a slight taste of salt and as Kary's vision adapted to the light outside, she understood why. They were near the ocean, so close in fact, Kary could hear the waves and the seagulls. They were standing on the edge of a cliff, in front of the sea. The stairwell she had come from was dissimulated like the entrance to a bunker, which it was, as a matter of fact.

As Kary looked out, her mouth agape, Anthony walked beside her.

" Welcome to Greenland, Land of Ice, Cold and drunken people AHA " Anthony laughed out.

" Greenland!? How the hell are we that far from Montreal!? " Kary exclaimed, turning towards Anthony.

" Well, we did carry you by helicopter all the way here. So I'd say it was pretty damned fast " Anthony laughed out again. It was an honest laugh. One Kary hadn't heard from him yet. At that moment her worries just seemed to vanish.

" By the way " Anthony said, turning to face her. " Since we formally meet this time, my name is Anthony Olsen. Pleasure finally meeting you in the flesh " He said, extending his hand out to Kary.

" Kary Laflamme, I can't say the pleasure is all mine, but it is a pleasure none the less " Kary smiled, shaking his hand.

" AHAHA " Anthony burst out laughing. " I really like you, you know? There's no playing around with you. You're always so straight-shooting, it's refreshing in a world where everyone has secrets they hide from everyone else " Anthony told her, a warm smile forming on his lips.

As they stood there, facing the ocean, Kary and Anthony had a heart to heart about the former's situation. No information was kept from her, which pleased her. She wanted part no more of all the secrecies. Kary wanted the truth, and the truth only, as much as it could hurt. She preferred hurt by the truth than soothed by lies.

As they spoke, the sky slowly dimmed, the sun setting to the west.

" We should go back inside " said Kary.

" Why, are you afraid of the dark? " Anthony mockingly asked.

" No, but what use do we have staying outside at night. We can't enjoy the view anymore " Kary retorted.

" Actually, tonight we can " Anthony simply said, staying there.

" What do you mean, tonight we can? It will be dark soon, we won't see anything " Kary obstinately said.

" Just wait and watch " Anthony calmly said, putting his hands on his waist.

Kary decided to wait, and as time went by, the sky never went past dawn. At some point, it even started getting brighter. she watched the sun, and instead of setting, the damn thing just slid across the horizon, staying at a visible height.

" What's wrong with the sun? What time is it? " Kary asked.

" It's 3 in the morning, standard time " Anthony said, showing her his numerical watch.

" But... how? It's supposed to be the middle of the night. Why is the sun still up? " Kary was dumbfounded.

" This is what you call a midnight sun. It's very common this high up north. We have this every summer, extending our days to about 20 hours of day time " Anthony explained to her, laughing inside. He knew Kary had never seen this sight and he was hoping to amaze her with it.

Kary was definitely amazed. Seeing the sun like this, at three in the morning, it was something to behold. After looking at the view for another 20 minutes, the duo went back inside. Anthony told Kary that they had things to discuss with the higher-ups. He told her he would go back in the game and arrange to postpone the discussion for guild HQ and that he would make sure everyone knew she was safe. Kary thanked him for it. As they walked back inside the complex, Anthony brought her to an office with an important-looking desk. He left her in there, telling her someone would come to see her soon. As such, Kary simply sat down, waiting.

It was only a short while, as not long after, she heard the door open again behind her. As she stood, to greet the person, Kary was dumbstruck. She had seen this man before. He was the Prime Minister of Greenland. Being in the presence of such an important man, Kary didn't know how to greet him. So she bowed. What happened next made her go red with embarrassment.

The Prime Minister loudly burst out in laughter.

" AHAHAH!! No need for such formalities miss Laflamme. You're an important asset to us now and I would never dare make you bow " The man laughed, holding out his hand to her.

Kary straightened up, red like a tomato, and shook his hand. The man then went around the desk and sat down.

" Please. Sit down " He simply said, showing her the chair in front of him. Kary practically jumped onto the chair. Even if he had said she important to them, he still was a prime minister and she was a nobody.

" Miss Laflamme, I'll be honest with you " The Prime Minister started. " We have been keeping tabs on you since the incident in Montreal. We know you have acquired a latent ability, and we would like to exploit it, for the good of humanity " He continued. Kary simply nodded to the facts.

" We would like you to keep training, in and out of the game, as when the time comes, people like you will be needed to assure the race's survival. Do you still follow me? " The prime minister asked.

Kary was a bit dazed. The second he started talking about the survival of the human race and the good of humanity, she had been a bit lost.

" I don't totally follow you, Sir. What could be happening that endangers us so much? " Kary asked, trying to gather answers.

" You see, what happened was an isolated incident. For now. In the years to come, all the Archon reactors will start overcharging. The planet is trying to get rid of us by power charging these bombs we use as energy source. We estimate that in a decade or so, more than half the planet will have been burnt to ashes by such explosions. The federation is already planning to migrate to space. Ships are built and hidden, waiting for the opportune time to be shown to the world. What we want, at the Liberation Alliance, is to unearth these facts, to save a maximum of lives. We have already started building ships of our own, in anticipation, to save the most humans we can. The problem lies after that. We have already sent countless scouting ships into deep space in the last years. None of them come back with full crews. Every time we find a planet with habitable conditions, it's already occupied. And the occupants are never really pacifists. But we cannot drift in space for generations either. We will need to land on planets to at least resupply. That's why we will need people like you. People with stronger bodies and fighting abilities, to protect us in our endeavors. That's why we would like you to become the strongest person in the Alliance. We want you to become our beacon of hope. Can you do that for us, Miss Laflamme? " The man asked, once he finished filling her in.

Kary didn't know what to say. All this information was like an atomic bomb in her mind. All her preconceived knowledge and thoughts of safety on earth were shattered with mere words. How could she even answer to the man? She was having trouble just digesting all this information. She looked up to him, with dazed eyes, and said " I don't know if I'm up to the task, Sir. This is a lot to take in. It is also a huge thing you ask of me. I'm no hero. I'm just an average girl, with average strength and average intelligence " she stammered.

" We have faith in you, Miss Laflamme. Especially my three best units. This task was supposed to fall onto them, but Anthony was clear about his decision. You were our best option according to him. Marc and Carol also agreed with that statement. Listen, young woman. I'm not asking for a definite answer right now. All I want is your word, that you will keep training to become stronger, in the hope that you can take on this monumental task. Is it okay for us to ask this of you? " The prime minister asked her.

" I'll do my best, Sir! " Kary said.

" Good! In that case, you are dismissed. Go have some rest, starting tomorrow, you will have a charged schedule " The man said, waving her away and turning around.

Kary took her leave. She made up her mind to at least try. She couldn't just abandon, right after swearing to herself to try and save all the people she cared about, right? As she made her way back to her pod, she came face to face with Carol.

" Ahh, the woman I was looking for! " Carol exclaimed. " Come follow me, I'll show you to the woman's barracks " She added, simply grabbing Kary's hand and walking in the opposite direction. Kary was dragged around again in the complex, only this time, she tried memorizing its layout. She knew she would be here for a while, so she might as well know where to go in her day to day living.

Once Carol had shown her to the barracks, she left her there, stating that she had to go to a debrief. So Kary was left on her own in the barracks. She walked around, trying to find an empty bunk. She finally found one, close to the end, and the showers. That made her smile a little. At least she could be in the first ones to wash in the morning and at night.

As she chose her bunk, she touched the panel at the tip of the bed and entered her information in it, making this bunk, officially hers. Once she had done that, a small bot rolled in from the corridor and rolled straight to her bed. It then took out 5 sets of military looking clothes from its containment unit and left them on the bunk. It then simply turned around and left. On the uniforms was a patch with 'Laflamme' embroidered on it. She felt a bit displaced. 'What is this, the military?' She thought.

She stowed the clothes away and went to the showers. It was already 5 in the morning and would get up in 2 hours, might as well sleep a bit beforehand. So she washed up, and called it a day.