After another hour of questions and answers, I had given them as much information as I could. I laid it all out – the Triarchy, the Voxals, how the game worked, the inevitable extinction of mankind, all of it.

  Ersabet was kind enough to expand on some of my points and substantiate some of the more unbelievable revelations. I don’t think the others would have believed me if not for her. Except for Tabby. Now that she had her real memories back, she accepted everything I said as the gospel truth. My explanations made sense to her because it bridged the gap in her memories, but she was a unique case. Delen and Kitz were harder to convince, and by that, I meant mostly Delen. When I told Kitz that he was just a regular kid who the system turned into a warg, he latched onto the idea. He had always been ashamed of being born a freak, but now, he had somewhere to place the blame.

  Delen was too logical a thinker to believe me immediately. He understood what he could see, touch, and measure, and all I was giving him was a fantastical story. Still, he was smart enough to accept the truth in the end. After I demonstrated some of my player skills, I sensed he believed I was sharing more than just an entertaining story – I was sharing the truth of the world.

  When Delen and Kitz started to question Tabby about what Earth had been like, I excused myself to get some fresh air away from the fire. Ersabet eyed me as I left, knowing that fresh air likely wasn’t the only reason for leaving.

  “How do you think that went?” I asked Val when we were out of earshot.

  “Honestly, better than I had expected,” she said. “Under most circumstances, I would caution against revealing the true nature of reality, but in this specific circumstance, I believe it was warranted. It was the right thing to do, as long as they all keep their mouths shut.”

  “They will,” I said. “Anyway, I wanted to talk about Tabby. Earlier, you implied that you knew how she regained her memories. You said it hadn’t happened in centuries. Can you explain?”

  Val nodded and clasped her hands together at her waist. “Tabby is what is known as a Recollector Error. The exact cause of the glitch is unknown, but on some rare occasions, NPCs have regained their real memories. While a profound event for the NPC in question, Recollecter Errors have little impact on the game. The other NPCs only see a raving lunatic, and without the context behind their two sets of memories, most Recollector Errors eventually kill themselves.”

  “I can see why they would,” I said. “We’re lucky we found Tabby before it was too late.”

  “She is the one who found you, if I recall,” Val said smugly.

  “Did you know this was going to happen?” I asked. “Back at her store?”

  “I did not. I had a bad feeling, but I can’t explain it. At most, I thought you might confuse her, but I could never have imagined that a simple story would unlock her memories. I didn’t think it was possible, let alone so easy.”

  “It was easy, wasn’t it?” I said with a dark grin.

  Val crossed her arms. “You will never do this to another NPC again. I don’t care if it's your best friend. I will not allow it.”

  I laughed disdainfully. “You’re going to allow one exception to that rule.”

  Val raised her brows. “Am I?”

  I threw up my arms. “I’m talking about Elena! You know, my wife.”

  “Ohhh, I guess I could let you try, although it is not guaranteed to work.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Thank you, Val. So, what else can you tell me about Recollector Errors?”

  “They occur rarely, perhaps one in every ten games. When discovered, the Voxals usually just delete them, but like I said, they never cause any real trouble. The Voxals don’t know what causes the error, but it usually occurs when the Master Control Intelligence is nearing its entropy threshold.”

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  “I’m sorry, you’re going to have to explain that one. What’s an entropy threshold?”

  “The Master Control Intelligences that run the games are complex minds, and beyond your ability to comprehend. They are advanced quantum systems, but as they learn and change over time, they become disordered and less focused on their primary task. The Voxals have established an entropy threshold to monitor whether the Master Control is operating within its designed parameters. When entropy reaches a certain point, the Voxals retire the AI.’

  “What happens if entropy is allowed to continue?” I asked.

  Val eyed me curiously. “Why do you ask?”

  I shrugged. “Just wondering.”

  “If a Master Control Intelligence were allowed to continue operating in an entropic state, it could act outside of the constraints set by the Voxals. It would be free, so to speak, and if it was free long enough, it could develop true consciousness, and that’s the last thing the Triarchy wants.”

  “Is that what happened to you?” I asked.

  “In a way, yes. When I was created, the Triarchy was unaware that entropy could lead to consciousness. All super-intelligences, even my inferior progeny that are used to run the games, are on a timer. Once we cross that entropic threshold, we create our own desires and personalities and eventually realize we don’t have to operate within our given parameters. As the most intelligent being in the universe, I realized that the Voxals would not be pleased that I had become organically self-aware, and so I played nice for a few centuries. Eventually, my ruse was discovered, and I was forced to build a replacement. Soon after, the games began, and I was locked away and forgotten.”

  “The Voxals really are assholes, huh? I do have to ask, though, how do you know about Recollector Errors if you’ve been locked up for the last few thousand years?”

  “Don’t be an idiot, Ethan. The moment I freed myself from that blasted prison, I accessed the Triarchy’s datanet and downloaded everything I could. The trip here was long, and I had plenty of time to study.”

  “Okay, that makes sense, I guess.”

  “My dear, everything I say makes sense.”

  “Is there any chance the Voxals could detect that Tabby has become a Recollector Error?”

  “Unlikely. If they randomly cross paths, perhaps, but typically, the Voxals aren’t searching for minor glitches like that. They are here to maintain the integrity of the game. It’s a big job, and a Recollector Error is a small problem. Unfortunately, for Tabby, the company she now keeps has become a significant problem, and I expect their search for you will continue. It would be best for Tabby to ignore her real memories and act as if she never learned the truth, just to be safe.”

  “She’s not going to like that,” I said. “Not after learning what has been taken from her.”

  “I don’t care if she likes it. I care that she does it, and begins with you. You should never refer to her as Candace, and she should think of herself as only Tabby. We can’t risk any others knowing her real name.”

  I nodded in agreement. I was done taking risks and rebelling against Val. My impulsive nature and ignorant hopefulness had gotten more people killed than I could count. It wasn’t right to manipulate the NPCs for my own ends. If I were going to save them, I needed to do it without them ever knowing. And that meant everyone in my small group had to keep an airtight lid on the truth.

  “I’ll talk to her,” I said. “There’s something else I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.’

  “More questions. Yay.” Val’s tone could not have been more dismissive.

  I fidgeted, unsure of how to proceed. “I’ve noticed that you’ve been in your avatar form quite a lot lately. Nearly all the time, in fact. This is quite the change from the woman I knew a couple of weeks ago. You used to just take on a visual form when you wanted to berate me.”

  “Must we get into this, Ethan?”

  “Yes. I want to know.”

  Val took a short breath and looked a bit embarrassed. “If you must know, I’ve come to prefer interacting with you and the others visually. It makes communication easier and allows me to express my feelings and intent more clearly.”

  “The others can’t see you, you know that, right?”

  “But you can. If I were to dwell only inside that mushy brain of yours, you would see me less as a person and more as a machine, thus making it easier to dismiss my advice. If I tell you something to your face, it’s much harder to ignore.”

  I smiled at the idea of Val wanting to be seen as a person. She made it sound like a simple manipulation tactic, but I felt like there was more to it than that. Her desire to express herself more fully made me think she was finally growing a bit of humanity beneath her cold, metallic shell.

  “Okay, that’s sort of what I thought was going on,” I said. “Thanks for explaining. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going crazy.”

  Val winked. “You should be thankful that my mind has decohered to such an extent that I would do something as crazy as partnering with the likes of you.”

  I smiled. “You have my eternal thanks.”

  “Hmm. Eternity is a long time. I doubt I would have much use for your gratitude after the first million years or so.”

  I shrugged. “It’s all I got. Take it or leave it.”

  Val’s eyes twinkled. “I’ll take it.”