Chapter 18: Simularca and Simulation, by Jean Baudrillard – Part 1

With little else to do until Aaron’s return, Lucius and Riley decided to kill the time by visiting the Hunter’s Association, grabbing some free stew, and sitting on their soft and comfortable couches. On their way to the Hunter’s Association, the pair passed by the New Haven City Hall, which was currently under siege by a large number of protesters who had invented clever rhymes and chants.

“Wow. Never thought I’d see such a big turnout,” Lucius mused aloud. “Sure is impressive.”

“I recognize some of these people,” said Riley. “Why are they here? Why aren’t they out grinding?”

“Well, based on all the signs and rhetoric regarding the right to repairs, it probably has something to do with that,” Lucius remarked.

“Man, did we get lucky,” said Riley. “If we had to fight monsters conventionally, we’d have run out of DIY kits too.”

“Yeah I know, right?” Lucius concurred.

It was at this moment that a purple-haired girl wearing a T-shirt with the unmistakable logo of the Honesty Foundation approached the pair with an intensely bright and friendly smile.

“Hello!” said Alice #1871, a short and somewhat plump girl who seemed just a little off. “Sign our petition?”

The petition was the call for another referendum against the “Dishonest” people using custom avatars only this time, it called for them to be the ones to be culled instead of the bottom 20% of the C-ranked cohort. Since the target populations would both satisfy the culling requirement of 4% of the total player population, the proposition has gained significant momentum across a broad demographic.

The Honesty Foundation is both bold and persistent if nothing else.

Lucius looked at the petition, waved his hand and said, “No thanks.”

Riley started seeing red and angrily barked, “NO! FUCK YOU GUYS; I HOPE YOU ALL DIE!”

Alice recoiled in surprise, dropped her pretenses, and then angrily muttered, “Rude bitch!” before turning and walking away.

But Riley wasn’t done.

“No YOU’RE the rude bitch!” Riley cleverly retorted.

That was when the pair were greeted by a familiar voice.

“...Riley?” asked Chad as he materialized from the crowd, seemingly from out of nowhere.

As usual, Chad was surrounded by his groupies, only they were now all sporting the same branded T-shirts of the Honesty Foundation.

Riley turned around and took one look at Chad before immediately walking in the opposite direction. Naturally, Chad couldn’t take a hint so he ran up, and started following her.

“Hey babe, wait up,” Chad said with this arrogant and smarmy way that instinctively caused self-respecting women to recoil.

“You know, I honestly thought you couldn’t get any worse but then here you are!” Riley said angrily whilst continuing to walk away.

That was when Chad’s lackeys ran up and intercepted Riley’s path in front of her. It was a form of harassment – while people couldn’t physically touch someone else without permission, it was also possible to form a barrier and prevent someone from moving through the same mechanism. With all her potential avenues of escape blocked off, Riley turned back around to face her harasser.

“What do you want?” Riley asked with frustration.

“I saw you on the rankings,” said Chad as he pulled up as close to Riley as the player settings would allow. “You’re going to get culled. I could sponsor you.”

Sponsoring was a special game mechanic by which an A-ranked or higher player may adopt and promote a player up to the B-rank by bypassing the normal promotion requirements. An A-ranked player may only sponsor up 1 player to the B-rank, once every 5 years. As a result, sponsorships were highly coveted as it would effectively put someone on the fast-track to become A-ranked themselves.

Riley didn’t need to think twice to formulate her response.

“I would rather die than get sponsored by you,” Riley deadpanned.

Lucius tried and failed to get into the circle but but that didn’t stop him from seeing, hearing, and appreciating the beauty of Riley’s defiance.

“You say that now but there’s still 5 days left,” said Chad. “Hit me up when you change your mind.”

Then, Chad turned around and the enclosure around Riley dissipated.

Immediately, Riley found Lucius, grabbed his hand, and started pulling him towards the Hunter’s Association building. Even though nothing had physically happened to her, she still felt rattled, unsettled, and even dirty for some reason. In truth, Riley was close to tears but she held it together. Then, Stacy decided to block the retreating pair’s way.

“What is WRONG with you people!?” Riley yelled over the hustle and bustle of the protesters around them.

“What’s wrong with ME!? What’s wrong with YOU!?” Stacy angrily barked. “Chad just offered you a free ticket towards salvation and just threw it back in his face like it was NOTHING!”

“So!? I don’t care; that’s not my problem! What’s it to you!?” Riley shouted back.

“You don’t deserve it!” yelled Stacy. “What does he even see in you!?”

“I don’t know! He’s just a creepy guy! What do you see in him!?” Riley contested.

It was at this point that Stacy started crying.

“Millie is going to get culled!” Stacy shouted. “I begged Chad to sponsor her and Chad said he’d think about it. He promised! Then you walk up here and he offers you the ticket without a second thought and you don’t even care! You don’t even appreciate it!”

Millie #998 was Stacy’s oldest and best friend. Unlike the other girls who were working under the Chief Executive Bimbo (CEB), Millie wasn’t part of Chad’s harem. Chad was never interested in Millie – in truth, he probably didn’t even know she existed and Millie just found Chad repugnant. Millie had tried to convince Stacy that Chad was a bad influence but Stacy liked Chad and recognized the opportunity that he presented – that’s how Stacy became Chad’s CEB. But throughout the years, even if Millie disagreed with the decision, she was also the only one who never judged Stacy for having shacked up with Chad. Millie was always there for Stacy.

It was a lot to take in. Riley didn’t particularly like Stacy – in fact, Riley pretty much despised her the same way she despised Chad through the laws of transitive properties, but she’d also never seen Stacy cry. Stacy always seemed like a tool but with her emotions bare, Stacy almost seemed like a human being.

“I’m sorry about Millie,” Riley said empathically. “I wasn’t close to her but Millie seemed like a good person.”

“She is!” Stacy insisted vehemently. “She’s the best! Millie’s the only person who still cares about me!”

That’s when Lucius opened up his big fat mouth.

“Yeah, sorry to crash the party but why are you still here?” Lucius interjected. “Chad is never going to help Millie – Chad doesn’t help anyone; that’s just a fact. So why aren’t you helping Millie if you care so much?”

Riley turned to Lucius and looked at him like he’d slapped her across the face. Meanwhile, Stacy simply looked bewildered and stun-locked.

“What is the matter with you!? You heartless bastard!” Riley angrily yelled before withdrawing her hand from Lucius’ and started hitting him across the arms and chest. “Why do you always have to be so mean!?”

“Okay, fine. Stop it, Stop it!” Lucius yelled as he intercepted Riley’s fists by clasping them in his hands.

Riley gave him a dirty look but stopped her assault and Lucius let her go.

“All right, fine! I’m a ripe cunt. But Stacy, you’re like, a person – okay? You still have free will, and agency, and shit. You don’t have to stay around this guy. Even without a sponsorship, you can help boost Millie like Aaron’s boosting us,” said Lucius.

Wordlessly, Stacy started walking away and this time, it was Riley’s turn to chase.

“Hey! Are you going to be all right?” Riley asked.

“Hmm? Yeah,” Stacy said with a wry smile. “Thanks.”

And with that, Stacy walked away and disappeared into the crowd.

Lucius caught up to Riley and when he arrived, he asked, “Weird, right? What was that about?”

Without saying a word, Riley turned around and gave Lucius a very long hug.

“What’s wrong you you?” Lucius asked, but Riley didn’t answer.