Ready Player One: Level Three: 0031 Summary & Analysis

Wade sends a request to the Oology Division for a “very specific item” to be delivered in two days’ time. He disables his security anklet and earpiece, then logs out of the IOI intranet. He retrieves a vacuum-packed IOI maintenance-tech uniform and puts it on. Telling his earpiece that he needs to use the bathroom, he enters an elevator and requests the lobby. As he is going down, he thinks about Sorrento and the other Sixers watching scrutinizing the security camera footage in the wake of his escape. He looks directly at the security camera, smiles, and gives the finger. 

Wade exits the lobby tensely, hoping that no one will notice he is still wearing the indents’ plastic slippers. A woman touches his shoulder and points out that his ear is bleeding profusely. He thanks her and keeps walking outside. Outside in the fresh air, Wade drops his security anklet in the trash. Before his arrest, Wade rented a mailbox at an outlet four blocks away from IOI Plaza and had an OASIS rig shipped to it. He logs into the OASIS for the first time in eight days—a personal record.

Art3mis, Aech, and Shoto have all written to ask Wade where he is. Wade replies to Art3mis first, warning her about the Sixers’ plan to abduct her. He tells her to leave for a safe place immediately, adding that he thinks she is “even more beautiful in real life.” He sends similar emails to Aech and Shoto. Soon after, he sees that IOI have already reported Bryce Lynch as a missing indent. Wade erases everything to do with the Bryce Lynch identity and puts his own fingerprints and retinal scans back on his citizen profile. He hails an autocab and is relieved when his thumbprint brings up the identity Wade Watts instead of Bryce Lynch. 

The autocab pulls up to a clothing store called Thr3ads. Wade purchases clothing that are wired for connection to the OASIS, along with outerwear, as he is freezing. Afterward, he purchases a flak jacket, a gun, bullets, and a can of mace. It is the first time Wade has ever touched a real gun. Finally, Wade heads to an OASIS parlor called the Plug, which he chooses because it is not owned by IOI. He asks to hire a deluxe rig for 12 hours. The cashier warns him that if he leaves vomit, urine, or semen in the bay he won’t get his deposit back. Wade enters the bay and inserts the data drive into the computer slot. He awakens Max and tells him they have “a lot of work to do.”

Wade emails every major news channel with evidence of how IOI killed Daito and attempted to kill Wade. He also attaches the memo ordering the abduction of Art3mis and Shoto, and a text transcription of his conversation with Sorrento, although he blacks out his own name. He then drafts an email to every OASIS user, but doesn’t send it yet. Finally, he logs into the Basement, where Aech, Art3mis, and Shoto are waiting.