The NeurOcean Line

3. The Beta Island

Like him, they were confused and curious. He turned back to it himself. And they all heard the voice then, mild and not unfriendly. But it held a great weight of surety – control - reaching them secretively over the waves.

"Greetings to the brave, new people... We wondered when you'd surface at last."

They searched about. The trees along the shore broke off and he could see the island had a clearing. At this point he saw the source of the voice - two dark figures – standing near the shore. It was ominous, and he remembered feeling a sudden dread for – unusually - something more than the immersion, the interface: for his own mind adrift in these worlds within the world.

"What the...?" spoke Blake.

"No island should exist on this Neurocean server," he'd responded in a hushed voice, even though they were on 'private'.

"It could only be a different region, hooked up via higher access."

Blake now directed his voice to the island: "What is this?"

The figures were very small, but he could see that one was turned close to the other, conferring, before it turned back...

A dry chuckle drifted back. "It's only your employers," came the voice again. It was nearby, because it had been thrown by the person and projected around their location by the system. These figures could have been anyone in reality, women perhaps, with false, male voices. But it was unlikely; the company security was well protected against deception. It spoke again, "Don't worry team. We're only here because you're here. All credit will be shared. We knew how far you'd come with the hardware, so we've been having a go ourselves, from our side."

"Who are we exactly?" Blake threw back. But he'd also made a motion with his finger, triggering the HUD that displayed names of nearby avatars. It showed the strangers bearing fanciful names in the role-play tradition.

"We've been tapped into your work for a while now. My name here is Prosper, a director of funding for Immertech and my fellow executives and investors from the board are here, Caleb and... Miranda. We requested some spare equipment be developed for showcasing, but have since got rather immersed ourselves."

They'd all known that the project was being monitored, but hadn't guessed this directly. An island. He'd had to ask the main question. "Have you used the Neurocean process? Slow-surfacing?"

The man's voice resonated again, a convincing executive impression, although it could be synthesised, or pre-recorded. "When you come ashore we'll explain more. As primary investors, let's just say we were concerned about our investment, and needed to know for ourselves we had something we could fully appreciate, as it were."

Many of the top staff had been ardent web-heads in the past, and it was possible they could have arranged access to link up to their test-bed. They relaxed a bit. But Rosa and Blake were facing one another, looking as serious as he felt. Their earlier success seemed a lot less unique now but... Immertech was the leading edge in brainwave harnessing and it was now a large company. They'd been lucky to have been involved in the important testing phase. Maybe there was a lot more they didn't know. Still, it was a shock to find bigwigs invading their territory and to learn they'd been kept in the dark as usual. But by then, they'd all known, since the 'swimming' tests began, how the interface was performing; and how big it would be. It couldn't stay contained for long.

"We won't spoil the fruits of your labours." Prosper's voice again. "Fly over and join us when you're ready. Enjoy some freedom while you can!"

This should have been a warning, but still, they couldn't have known. There was only Zack in the control room today, keeping an eye on their real selves, in the trainers, probably patched into his own rendering activities. If these unknowns really were company brass, and testing from their own room, they must have outside links too. Unless it was a very private setup, known only to them, perhaps for reasons of... espionage, virus security? Or even the military. All so optimistic.