Cryptos By Ursula Poznanski no.0050, 448 pages, 14+ / All-Age Publication Date: August 2020
It is the 22nd century. The climate change has taken full effect. Many parts of the earth are destroyed and large areas of the land are flooded or turned into a desert. 10 billion people live in the few inhabitable areas but there are regular further floods taking over more land. There are no nations anymore and no governments, only big company groups: agricultural enterprises, owners of solar power stations, producers of capsules and masterminds that create the virtual worlds. But humankind has everything under control. Work is done by robots and only few humans work on reforestation, environmental protection programs or as programmer and designers at Mastermind. To protect the environment, the majority of people live with artificial nutrition in virtual capsules. Every day, you choose a different virtual world that you can dive into. Everything is possible in the virtual world – even things that no longer exist in the real life. An enjoyable climate, delicious food, education, adventures and relationships. To help keep everything interesting, you can obtain a pass for different worlds by collecting premium points. There is also a certificate for reproduction that people need to reduce the world’s population in the long run. That is the reason why there are only few children. Every 23 hours, you wake up in your capsule to take care of the basic hygienic human needs like showering and exercise. Most of the people hate this hour of the day and are happier when they spend time in their worlds. The energy behind the system is generated through sun collectors; human’s nutrition is based on synthetic porridge made of turnip puree and chlorinated water. People have the general impression that they work on saving the planet. Reforestation programs, programs to rescue the oceans, etc. Mastermind also works on a world called Minus3, a world for research where scientists of all disciplines shall gather together to develop a program to cool down the planet by three degrees. Jana works at Mastermind as a world designer. Life in the real world is not favorable as it is very hot and food is horrible. Nevertheless, Jana loves her work because she loves to take care of people. She feels responsible for them and wants that everyone is doing okay. “Today I will let the sun shine in Kerrybrook.”
Chapter 1 Day 1, 15th of May in the morning Jana checks on her worlds and notices malfunctions in Kerrybrook. She gets into a capsule herself to visit Kerrybrook and to see what happened there. In the village, she finds Zoe Uland dying.
Chapter 2 When Jana wants to leave Kerrybrook through the usual exit point, it is replaced by a pigeon pierced by an arrow. So instead, Jana transfers to Macandor where she also finds a pigeon. Before she can find an exit point, she is killed by a dragon. In VR, death means that you get transferred back to the real world. This is why Jana wakes up in her capsule. Jana has to take responsibility in front of her boss Olga Helling for what happened. She watches the sequence again via the video recording and thinks that she has discovered a phantom that hacked into her world and changed elements. Normally, this should not be possible, as the worlds are well secured.
Chapter 3 Jana learns from Olga that Zoe is dead. She investigates further to see what happened to Zoe and learns that she was in a transition world. During lunch break, they meet colleagues in the cafeteria and afterwards, Lauritz, the security chief, turns up and is upset with Olga as he does not want any trouble right now. Jana spends the afternoon looking for the cause of error. Eventually, Olga and Lauritz tell her that Zoe died because of an electric shock, as she had not secured her mask properly. They also tell her that nobody would have the time to deal with the issue, as Minus3 is about to be released which means a lot of work. Minus3 is a new virtual world in which scientist are supposed to meet to find a solution, preventing the further development of the climate change. They advise Jana to take 5 days of to relax. Jana keeps looking but finally decides to take up on their offer. Before she leaves, she eliminates the dragons in Macandor and has to learn that the landscape has been changed immensely and on the mountain chain it says BURN. Turning point.
Chapter 4 Jana decides to only pretend to be on holiday and to secretly keep on looking for the phantom. She leaves her world to Matisse, Rick and Elsie. With Matisse she agrees on a symbol (blue butterflies) that she would use if she should need help. She drives to a residential area and gets into a free capsule. At first, she transfers to SeaMe to cover up her plans but quickly leaves.
Chapter 5 She goes to Macandor and arrives in the evening. A Gornak tells her about a Faun that has been behaving strangely. She finds a hostel for the night but when she wakes up, she realizes she is still in Macandor and not in her sleeping capsule.
Chapter 6 Day 2, 16th of May Jana flies to the mountains and finds a dead elf and a badly sealed exit point. The corpse belongs to Lennard Menk, one of the four casualties. Jana suspects that he and three others changed the mountains and wanted to flee afterwards but got caught off-guard in the act. Jana is angry that someone is destroying her work. When she turns around, she sees a sylph behind her that admires her mount. She is surprised that he is outside by daylight and notices that she cannot see his personal details. The sylph disappears again and Jana thinks that he could be the phantom. Normally, she would report to Olga Helling and could actually spend some time off. But when she tries different exit points and is not able to leave, she transfers to Cretaceous, her third world.
Chapter 7 In Cretaceous, she makes her way to a cave where she meets other inhabitants. She finds an exit point there but this one is also not working and she fears that the other points will not work either. So she cannot leave the virtual worlds. Instead, she finds a note from Matisse: Dying is not an illusion, meaning that her death would not help her to exit the worlds but she would die in realty, too. At least she knows for sure that Matisse is watching her from his design station. If he wanted, he could take her out of her capsule and wake her up. She transfers to a world that is not dangerous: Austen.
Chapter 8 She sleeps over at a friend’s house in Austen and before she falls asleep, she discovers a picture of a pigeon on the canopy of her bed.
Day 3, 17th of May The next morning, Jana wakes up still in Austen and not in her capsule. While she is at a tailor, she stumbles across Matisse who confirms that her personal codes are supposed to be deleted and that she will die the next time she exits. Matisse takes her to the next exit point but, once again, it is not working. Instead, she transfers to a war world in which a battle rages. She is almost shot and wants to transfer to Kerrybrook but has no access anymore. She leaves the transfer to a generator and enters into a world full of snow where another pigeon lands in front of her feet with a note and the combination R2.
Chapter 9 Jana transfers to London 1622 and meets her brother Monty. She asks him for help with the riddle. In a pub, she meets a woman who gives her the advice “to come to them” just before she disappears into thin air. Jana promises to her brother to be at his wedding and hopes that Matisse will set her free soon.
Chapter 10 Jana transfers to Stay in Touch, where you can send messages to one another. She has the feeling that the thumbnails get fewer during the transfer. She leaves the message that she will transfer to Haven 13. Once again, a pigeon falls down in front of her (S7) and she transfers three more times in
order to cover up her tracks. She tries to get into Minus3 to ask Olga for help but she has no access. In Aimera, she finds shelter in a tree that is full of books that document her whereabouts. She finds another tip (C1). Matisse meets her there and tells her that her body is not in the capsule anymore but was abducted.
Chapter 11 After Matisse has left, Jana talks to the book, as she knows that someone is watching and manipulating the scenery from his or her design station. Jana is exhausted and goes to sleep. Day 4, 18th May After she wakes up, the book warns Jana to run away. A giant follows her but she escapes to Sokratia. She fears that the phantom will hunt her in every world. She visits an oracle in the temple that tells her that she must have all of the seven. When she is at a fountain, another pigeon lands in front of her (P4). She sees another phantom and wants to transfer. Again, there are only few thumbnails and there are only dangerous worlds left. She transfers to Vampyrion. (Until now, she has tip CRPS)
Chapter 12 Jana tries to catch the attention from Elsie by trying to change something in the world. It starts dawning even though it is only noon. She gets into a vampire attack, bumps into Lennard Menk again, and flees. She receives another message, T5, and transfers to Mirror. There, a woman stabs her but Jana can save herself into another room where she finds another symbol – O6. There are only two transfer possibilities left and she chooses Trokar, the punishment world.
Chapter 13 In the new world, she meets Irma and sets out together with her to find water. Jana has no transfer options anymore and no hope that someone will find her body and wake her up. When they are attacked, Irma gets killed, Jana flees, and on her way, a scorpion stings her. Last minute, she solves the message riddle from the dead pigeons and chooses her last transfer: Cryptos. Midpoint.
Chapter 14 In Cryptos, Jana wakes up in a white room and meets Tivon. She learns that the people behind Cryptos have sent her the messages and closed the exit points. Tivon brings her to her accommodation where she sleeps for the first time. Later, she meets the others. Kerrybrook served as a world where endangered humans could flee to when something was not right with their capsule. Zoe Uhland was one of them. Mastermind has limited Jana’s transfers and declared a DBE for her – death by exit. The same happened to Zoe. When she tried to exit, an electric shock was caused in her capsule. Cryptos has also abducted Jana’s body.
Chapter 15 They receive a notice that a storm tide threatens a residential area by the North Sea. The Cryptos team immediately tries to find out the personal codes of the people there to warn them. Jana helps, too, but everything is taking too long. In the end, only few can be rescued. Jana is allowed to wake up and finds herself in a faraway depot at the headquarters of Cryptos. She looks around outside but Konrad tells her that it is very dangerous. Tivon confesses that he added Cryptos to the system through Jana’s design station. That is the reason why Mastermind is hunting her. Konrad offers a new personal code to Jana with which she could hide in all worlds and spend a holiday there. But she wants a design station to find out whether everything is true and to work on a better alarm system.
Chapter 16 Jana works in a design station and programs a system bug to be a phantom herself. Later, she receives a new personal code, Hanna Alt, that she provides with the bug in order to protect her identity in the worlds. She meets Jackie, the woman from the pub in London 1622, who wanted to warn her and Lennard Menk. Day 6, 19th of May Jana tests her own phantom in Cryptos and navigates to Report, a news world. There are no reports about the flooded depot but only good news about planted trees. Also, the news say that the launch of Minus3 will be postponed to the 23rd of May. Jana sticks news about the flooded depots to the walls. She is being followed and transfers to another world. She is sure that Mastermind is accused correctly.
Chapter 17 Jana lands in a shooter world and gets herself killed to come back to the real world. She asks Tivon for how long Mastermind has not been warning the people anymore and learns that his mother died this way. She arranges a date with Tivon in Cryptos and they discuss further details. When he asks whether there is someone she thinks they should warn, she names Irma. Shortly afterwards, there is another alarm – an emergency in a depot. This time, Jana is a runner and transfers to Macandor to warn the people there. As she has to overcome a great distance, she transfers to Sokratia in between, where she meets Theo who stops her. In order to get rid of him, she kills him. She has the feeling that she knows him.
Chapter 18 The third time Jana tries to rescue someone from Macandor, a sylph and a few others follow her. She saves herself by jumping into a pond where she drowns. She wakes up in her capsule. Back in Cryptos she reports back to Tivon and a boy tells her that other runners were followed, too. They get a message from Mastermind saying that relatives of Cryptos members have been declared DBE. This way, they want to blackmail Cryptos into meeting with Mastermind. On their list is Monty’s name as well as Tivon’s brother and Irma. Jana suggest building exit barriers so that they will wake up in their worlds. As she has a good cover as a phantom, she wants to bring Monty, Joel and Irma to Cryptos to keep them save.
Chapter 19 Day 7, 20th of May Jana tries to warn Joel and transfers to London 1622 and visits Monty’s pottery booth. She recognizes people from Mastermind who are observing Monty’s booth. Some of them being the sylphs from Macandor. She walks to Hugo’s pub and sends a boy to pick up Monty. Mastermind members catch the boy but Monty turns up in the pub anyway and Jana warns him and lets him know that she will send him a message.
Chapter 20 Jana tries to warn Joel but is deceived by a false Joel. Last minute she notices the deception and jumps in front of Joel’s horse. Before she dies, she manages to warn the real Joel and tell him to change into a saver world. Back in Cryptos, she learns that Tivon programs a new world where threatened individuals can flee to – Refugio.
Chapter 21 Jana sleeps a few hours, wakes up in her capsule and gets back to Cryptos. They manage to get Monty and Joel to Refugio by smuggling a tomb stone with the word Refugio into their worlds. However, they still are not able to manage to activate Joel’s exit barrier. Later that day, Jana accompanies Joel to Refugio where she is supposed to look after him so that he will not fall asleep. She tries for hours to keep him awake. Shortly before they receive the message that Joel’s exit barrier stands, a masked group attacks them. Except for Konrad who dies immediately, the others can save themselves in the house. Jana transfers to Cryptos and throws the remaining tomb stones at the attackers. The attack is defeated but Refugio is not safe anymore. They have to get people transfer to Cryptos.
Chapter 22 They have to evacuate Refugio. As they cannot create a new world so quickly, they have to take the risk and reveal Cryptos to them. Jana transfers to Venice and lets a black eagle rise to send a sign to Matisse that she is still alive. Day 8 Turning Point, 21st of May Jana meets Matisse in Venice. He tells her that many Alphas will arrive to attend the opening of Minus3, among them the Fabers, and that they will be accommodated in a luxury depot. Jana has an idea. She asks Matisse to arrange a meeting with Rick. She believes that he is more capable to carry out the mission.
Chapter 23 Jana tells Tivon and Konrad about her plan and they will make their decision depend on the meeting with Rick. Before the meeting, she looks for Monty to make up with him, but she cannot find him and, instead, observes the girl in the white chamber whose movements remind her of the sylph and the girl from Mirror that tried to kill her there. She wonders whether the girl is the phantom.
The meets Rick in Venice and asks him for a service pass for Minus3 as she wants to be there at its opening and explains her plan to him. Rick joins in. Back in Cryptos, Jana hears from Tivon that Irma disappeared from Trokar. It is likely that she is dead. Jana blames herself, as she did not warn Irma. In StayinTouch she receives a message from Rick. He has a pass for her, but it has the name Jana on it and not Hanna. That is why Jana is forced to give up her cover. As soon as she is in Minus3, Mastermind will identify her and locate her. This way, she will endanger Cryptos. Jana returns to the real world and looks with her solar bike for a capsule that is far enough away from the location of Cryptos. Should she be located, at least they would not find Cryptos. It is the 21st of May.
Chapter 24 Jana looks for Irma in Trokar but cannot find her. Back in Cryptos, Jana stumbles across the fisherman who killed himself in front of her in Kerrybrook. Now she learns why. His depot had been burning and he had been warned through the horoscope. Later, he wanted to complain about it in Justicia, but was picked up by Konrad and brought to Cryptos. Day 9, 22nd of May Jana receives a message from Rick. Tivon, Elvina und Konrad prepare the next mission in the real world. Jana is concerned. In the evening, Tivon, Konrad, Lennard and Elvina hit the road with solar vehicles. Jana spends the night in a real bed. Day 10, 23rd of May Jana is alone in the Cryptos headquarters, the day passes slowly. In the afternoon, she activates her old personal code as Jana. Afterwards, she cycles to the secret depot that she has told no one about. With her old personal code, she is captivated again in the worlds and could be killed. At eight, she lies down in a capsule and transfers to Minus3.
Chapter 25 Jana mingles with the service staff and listens to Gregor Faber’s and Kurt Lauritz’ speech. Faber’s plan is not only to look for new concepts to cool down the planet, but mainly to reduce the world’s population by 3 billion people, so that the planet would remain worth leaving for the remaining 7 billion people. A parrot appears behind Lauritz, a sign that everything is prepared according to their plan. Jana walks to the stand.
Chapter 26 Jana introduces herself and declares that a few minutes back, Minus3 has been changed to the same setting as a punishment world – there is no exit, no transfers. (Rick programmed that) Everyone is locked in Minus3. Before Lauritz can call security, Theodor Faber enters the podium. Jana recognizes him as Theo from Sokratia. Lauritz wants to lead Jana away but she drops another bombshell. Her friends have abducted Lauritz and both of the Fabers from their capsules. If something happens to her, they will die, too. Despite Theo’s protest, Jana is led away and gets knocked out. Lauritz tortures her and shoots her leg and shoulder so that she will give away Cryptos.
Chapter 27 Jana wakes up in her capsule. Tivon was able to rescue her last minute. In the Crpytos headquarters, they get together to talk about what will happen now. Jana suggest to get Theo Faber. They awake Theo from his capsule and offer him to work with them. Konrad lets Jana know that Irma has been found. Her capsule is nearby and Konrad and Gerry want to get her. Jana is responsible for staying in contact with Rick. She talks to Rick and Matisse. Afterwards, she is so tired that she lets herself fall on a bed. Day 11, 24th of May Jana talks to Theo again. Konrad and Gerry bring Irma back.
Chapter 28 It is not Irma they find in the capsule, but Babette. Jana sees in her the phantom that killed Zoe, the sylph that killed Lennard and the woman from Mirror. Babette can free herself and runs away but in the end can be overpowered. Now they have a prisoner that they have to look after. Jana has an idea. With a design station in Cryptos, she creates a new world. An island which she calls MinusZero. Day 12 Jana transfers to Minus3 to make a deal with Lauritz and Faber. Everyone is allowed a safe conduct, only Faber, Lauritz and a group of scientists have to transfer to MinusZero. Tivon and Jana convince Theo and Babette to transfer there, too.
Chapter 29 Days later They visit design station 12. What will happen when the management can free Faber and Lauritz from MinusZero? Theo feels like he is going crazy in MinusZero. He wants to leave and agrees to take over the direction of Mastermind. Professor Cohen, Konrad and a few others will advise him. Lauritz and Faber stay on the island. Closing scene Everyone meets in Kerrybrook, Theo is doing a good job as the director of Mastermind. Finally, real measures are taken to save the planet. Until then, people have to keep living their lives in virtual worlds. Jana and Tivon move in together in a depot. They feel a little melancholic over the loss of the real world: “Have you ever seen the ocean?”