For years, Keys had seen how Demo struggled with his missing fingers and limited mobility in his right hand, and more recently with Pirate and his amputated leg. Keys wanted to give back to his brothers, as well as other veterans, something that had been taken from them.
But tonight? Tonight wasn’t about philanthropy or righting a wrong. Tonight was about control, and finally getting some answers.
Rose and Oscar had been at his side for most of the wiring process, one of them asking precise, technical questions, while the other poked, prodded, and giggled at each demonstration. Oscar would be sound asleep, protected inside the apartment by the time the game began. Rose had been quiet for most of the day, likely a mixture of trepidation and excitement for what was to come. He loved her for not judging his twisted plans, and thoughhe hadn’t intended for her to be an active participant, she’d readily agreed without hesitation.
All three Riley brothers had been given the day, and were asked to return after dark. Keys had briefed them quickly, and they’d been spending their remaining time before Oscar’s bedtime walking the property behind the MKSS building, learning the terrain. Though Goose had not partaken in the snatch-and-grab, he also had not blinked twice at the sight of three men zip-tied in the building’s storage room.
Likely able to sense the tension in the building, Rose and Keys had a hard time settling Oscar down before bed. It took an extra story and the promise of maybe getting Baxter a friend to play with so he wasn’t lonely when Oscar had to leave him behind.
Then they waited an extra hour after Oscar finally closed his eyes to ensure that he really was down. Keys had offered to set up the monitors in the living room, but Rose had declined. She did not want to risk waking Oscar with the noise they were no doubt going to be making. The compromise was leaving the apartment door open and an extra monitor next to Rose’s console so she could keep an eye on Oscar.
Goose was waiting for them in the computer lab. Personally, Keys would have thought Jigsaw would have enjoyed what he’d set up more, but he couldn’t involve his club brothers in this. Maybe someday, but they were still hurting. Grumpy and Ranger each had a long road ahead of them to recovery, and Keys would not add to their stress. At least Tom was pretending to be blind, deaf, and stupid to what was going on inside the building these days. Keys’ club brothers would not.
Three monitors were set up with three different POV feeds in front of three comfy gaming chairs, three controllers, and for good measure, a snack bar and energy drink buffet. The modified tablet interfaces were custom built, each one linked to the sensor rig on its corresponding subject. The property behind the MKSS building had never been developed. Keys had bought it for a steal,since the entire area was going into foreclosure by a developer who ran out of cash before he was able to break ground. Since Keys liked the seclusion it offered, and why chop down a forest unnecessarily, the land had remained as it had been purchased. Untouched by man—until tonight.
Keys let out a long sigh, his hands on his hips. “Is it wrong of me to feel such pride in this moment?”
“Honestly, I don’t know what’s scarier,” Goose responded. “What you created here or the punch bowl of gummy worms behind me.”
Rose giggled, and leaned over to take Keys’ hand. “This is incredible. LARPing has never been this appealing.”
“Isn’t safety, like, a big thing in LARPing?” Goose inquired with a raised eyebrow.
“I am happy to offer them protection,” Keys said sardonically. Walking to his chair, he pulled it out and took a seat. “Ifthey answer my questions.”
Rose took the station to his left, and Goose took the one to his right.
“Ground rules,” Keys said, pulling up the feeds. Three rectangles of darkness flickered to life on the monitors as the headset cameras activated, showing three different views of the same tree line behind the building. The three captured men were out there with Grimm and Thorne. The headsets adhered to their heads by epoxy glue projected each controller—Keys, Rose, and Goose—an uninhibited view of their Player’s vision. “They stay breathing. Everything else is a judgment call.”
Goose nodded once.
“You know when you told me you wanted to play video games with me, I had no idea this was what you had in mind,” Rose said with an excited smile. She already had her headset on her head.
Keys winked at her. “I’m full of surprises, baby.” Rose laughed quickly, and then Keys opened the comms channel. His voice went out through the three Players’ earwigs simultaneously.
“Welcome, gentlemen, to Keys’ Live Action Grand Theft Autonomy Jamboree! I’m sure you’re wondering just what the fuck is going on. You’re lucky I’m in a mood to show off for my girl, so I’ll tell you. Attached to each of your bodies is approximately forty thousand dollars’ worth of custom neuromuscular stimulation technology, which means that for the next few hours, your bodies belong to me.” He paused, letting that news settle. “For those of you who doubt me, let me demonstrate.” Picking up his controller, he expertly pressed the sequence that forced his Player to execute a standing jump kick.
“What the fuck?!” immediately could be heard over all their headsets. While the Players could only hear Keys if he turned their comms on, Keys, Rose, Goose, Thorne, and Grimm could hear each other as well as what each Player said at all times.
“The good news, gentlemen,” Keys continued, bringing his Player back in line with the other two, “is that this can end very quickly. The bad news is that entirely depends on you.”
The amount of cursing that filled the line made Keys hit the button in front of his monitor that turned on the probes attached to each Player’s lower back. And like getting hit by a taser, all three went down, their cursing turning into moans of pain.
“The rules are simple, gentlemen. Your bodies are no longer your own. The weapons you have on you areveryreal, and yet you can’t use a single one without the permission of your controller. Say ‘hello’ to your Player,” Keys encouraged Rose and Goose.
“‘sup,” Goose said like they were meeting at a bar.
“Hello.” There was a sweetness to Rose’s voice that was as terrifying as it was misleading.
“Player 2, you should know Rose. After all, it was her sister you and your comrades were sent to capture.” For good measure, Rose made her Player punch himself in the face. Keys had to fight to keep his composure. “Our mission is to find and retrieve the candy barone of your oh-so helpful handlers has hidden for us somewhere in the woods. Now, you might be wondering ‘how do I protect myself?’ Well, that is a very reasonable and responsible question when LARPing. Just as with most games, there are checkpoints throughout. At these points, your controller will ask you a question, and should you answer in a satisfactory manner, you can earn certain rewards, such as a water bottle, bandages, more ammo, and I believe there aretwobulletproof vests in Keys’ Vault of Honesty.
“Any questions?” he asked the group as a whole. When no one spoke up, other than more cursing from the Players, Keys smiled. “Great! Let’s get started.”
* * *
Controller 1: [marches Player 1 north into the tree line]
Player 1: [stumbles, catches himself, looks at his own legs] The fuck! No, wait! I’ll talk! Stop! I’ll talk!
