Nico felt light, almost empty, he felt that it wasn't worth stopping to think and went back to watching the slot machine, throwing another coin into the slot and pulling the lever.

  An uneven thud of footsteps announced the man who commanded that ship.

  A man climbed onto the stage where the three bards were playing. His face was clean-shaven, with a brown mustache like his hair, which was slicked back with gel. He was very elegant, wearing a white suit that fit his sturdy but not fat figure perfectly. The waistcoat barely cinched his waist, showing off his pocket watch chain, and his silk tie hung straight without any creases. His trousers fell perfectly over a shiny black shoe, while the other leg of his trousers, the left one, was pulled up to reveal a missing leg, replaced by a prosthesis from the knee down, made of rusty metal, assembled from different pieces. Scrap metal and joints held together by large bolts. It looked stiff and unstable. Every time he shifted his weight, the metal made a squeaking noise, barely audible but enough to make the hairs on Nico's neck stand on end.

  One eye was normal, the other was covered with a black patch.

  For a moment, Nico had the impression that he was watching him. Then the Captain looked away, but Nico was just waiting for him to say something. Silence was slowly descending on the room.

  Somewhere, a slot machine puffed, starting to clink and ring to announce a win, but Nico didn't notice: he was waiting for the strange man to speak.

  The Captain turned back to Nico with a good-natured smile, while someone slapped Nico on the back.

  “Hey, buddy, you won,” said Leo's voice.

  Nico blinked, puzzled: “What? What's going on?”

  Nico saw Leo, with his wooden cup, begin to collect a nice pile of coins from Nico's slot machine.

  “Oh, how wonderful. We already have winners. Good,” said the jovial man; then, looking at the crowd of people filling the large ferry hall, he roared, “Welcome!”

  The crowd applauded.

  “Some of you already know me; for those who don't, let me introduce myself: I am Captain Giacomo Malaspina.” A round of applause filled the hall. The captain smiled, raised his hand, and waited for the noise to subside; when silence returned, he added, “The breakfast buffet will be open shortly. Fill yourselves up, it's all paid for,” he said, and burst out laughing, and the crowd followed suit, ending with applause.

  Nico nodded to himself, as if the captain had said something right. Immediately afterwards, he turned, attracted by the ringing of a slot machine. He had no desire to stand there wondering and went back to look at his machine: three apples hovered beyond the dirty glass. “...Unbelievable. What luck. I'll take some, okay? I don't have any coins left, I lost everything at craps. I'll give it back to you as soon as I win. Okay?” said Leo, disappearing into the crowd with most of Nico's winnings tucked under his arm.

  Nico nodded, bewildered, lagging behind his friend who had already slipped away. He frowned. Strangely, his side wasn't itching, and besides, bewilderment wasn't one of the symptoms of Nothingness. He forgot things, but he never felt like this.

  He got up, thinking that the feeling was due to the heat of the slot machines, and began to walk around the room.

  A few steps away from him, a slot machine sounded, announcing a win; the lever was down, but the coins weren't coming out. Steam hissed from the pipes above the machine as the player in front of the slot machine began to shout, banging his fist on the glass and demanding his winnings. Others approached, protesting or watching curiously; then, from one side of the room, a young man arrived in gold sequined shorts, his chest bare, and began to calm people down with repeated words. Then he took the man by the arm and led him away, murmuring that he could collect his winnings at the change machine.

  Nico followed the two with his gaze and met Leo's, who, his hands in his hair, deep circles under his eyes, shook his head as another player lay down on the table to grab his winnings.

  Nico continued on his way. At a card table, a man whose shouts of joy could be heard throughout the room thanks to his nasal, shrill, womanly voice, despite being a large, burly man with a thick beard and a bald head, cheered again for victory just as Nico passed by.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  He always cheered in the same way: arms in the air, squealing a “hurrah” that was too feminine for his size. The other players stared at him, their faces grim; then one cursed the winner loudly, while another jumped up. Chairs fell, one of the players started pushing, and a brief, confused brawl broke out, while the rest of the room continued to play.

  Nico saw Gareth at the bar, a mug of beer clutched in one hand, his shoulders hunched, his eyes fixed on Nadia, who was talking intently with a man in a dark blue suit, impeccably dressed, with a sharp, clean-shaven face; perhaps he was the first officer or something similar.

  A sharp sound rang out across the ship, then the ship suddenly swayed. Several coins clattered as they fell from the tables onto the floor and someone screamed. A voice announced an emergency in the engine room from the back of the hall. The steam increased for a few seconds, while the people around Nico began to get agitated and the waiters and waitresses tried to calm the guests. Nico, worried, looked around for his friends and caught the eye of Kiah, who was sitting in a corner with a beer in her hands, sipping slowly, and some cards in front of her, face down. Kiah, however, did not seem concerned about what was happening on the ship. The voice said, “All clear,” and everyone returned to their tables as if nothing had happened.

  Nico passed by an isolated slot machine. A man had been sitting there for some time. He didn't talk. He didn't drink. He didn't move. He stared at the machine with his hands on the lever, his eyes languid and the glass where his coins should have been empty.

  Further on, there was another craps table. The players were arguing. One showed the result on the table. He said it was a win before.

  Now, however, he had lost everything. The dealer did not respond. The game resumed without explanation.

  Nico continued to feel dizzy and thought that perhaps he should go outside for some fresh air.

  When he opened the doors and stepped outside, Peter's voice greeted him. “Well, you made it out of there.”

  Nico went out onto the deck. The air was colder, and he immediately felt his mind benefiting from it. He took a few steps and stopped, his eyes widening in bewilderment.

  Around them, around the ship, there was nothing. Only blackness. No sky, no horizon. The ship seemed stationary, but it was moving nonetheless.

  Below the edge of the deck was the sea, but it wasn't water. It was made up of moving signs: symbols, numbers, letters flowing beneath them in the same direction, like a current.

  The ship passed through it without leaving a trace. The flow passed under the hull and continued. Nico leaned against the railing, trying to maintain control of the situation.

  “What is this?” he asked hesitantly.

  Peter laughed. “This ship is part of a beta version.”

  Nico's eyes widened, even more astonished. “I thought we were in a beta version of the game, I thought Kiah, Leo, and I were testing it.”

  Peter laughed and Nico blurted out, “No lies. I'm too frustrated right now; if I get angry, I'll throw you into...” He hesitated, pointing to the sea of numbers, letters, and symbols below them.

  Peter laughed again. “You remember, right, that I'm an animutant? You can't do anything to me, I'd fly away like a bird.”

  “And where would you fly, there's nothing there?”

  Peter nodded. “True, but I certainly wouldn't let myself fall into the code. Anyway, let's put it this way: if you're in a beta version of the game, then it's part of a ‘pre-release’ version. Let's say this ship was never integrated into the final game. It exists ‘by mistake’.”

  From behind came the sound of slots. Bells, steam, voices. Nico turned around for a moment, then went back to looking down, as the sea of code continued to flow.

  “Why did you get us on this ship? We could have traveled...”

  Peter shook his head. “You don't have much time left,” he said seriously, his eyes fixed on the blackness of the non-horizon. “Clarissa is right, only the Archivist can help you, and I like you, I want to help you. I know Giacomo, the captain: he's a bit of a character, he wants what he wants, and if he sets his mind on something, he gets it.”

  Nico nodded, even though he didn't quite understand what Peter meant.

  What is this ship? Nico asked, looking at the sea of code.

  “It's hard to explain,” said Peter. “The ship... is in the game, but it's not really there.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Nico.

  “You see,” Peter continued, “it's as if we're off the map. The game engine calculates us, of course, but the control system doesn't detect us. Right now, we don't exist.”

  Nico clenched his hands around the railing until his knuckles turned white.

  “So... we're ghosts?” he said.

  Peter nodded. “Yes. Ghosts floating on the source code.”

  Nico looked under the hull. The stream flowed motionless. It made no sound. “What about the Captain? Is he sentient too?”

  Peter nodded. “He knows. He knows he exists out here. He knows the game doesn't consider him canon. And he knows he can move where others cannot.”

  “Let's just say I'm more concerned about something else right now,” Nico said dryly. “Leo, Kiah, and I have to log out at noon, game time. What happens if the game kicks us out?”

  [AUTHOR'S NOTE]

  Log updated: Readers are invited to provide comments and evaluate the behavior of subject N_01.

  [LOG_A.030] will be released on Monday ET.

  The continuity of the story depends on your increased support.

  To keep the narrative flow active, please follow.

  Log closed: The system observes.