Gamer (Gamer Trilogy) (12 page)

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INTERVIEWER: “So you shut off the Simulator, with the
intention of sending the entire operation underground. You
wanted the children to die.”

I saw what the reporter was doing. They needed a villain,
someone to blame, someone to point out to the world as the
scapegoat. I wouldn’t have it.

I was painfully aware of Xander’s piercing gaze.
MYSELF: “If you’re going to make assumptions,” I began
with a tone of harshness, “and tell me statements rather than
ask me questions – I might as well let you write out this
interview yourself, questions
and
answers. I suggest you
rephrase those statements, so that they at least attempt to
demonstrate the little credibility that you hold right now.”

The interviewer flushed, reshuffled her notes, coughed and
then flashed a typical bright smile.
“Why is it, that you could justify pulling the plug on your
project, even if it meant sacrificing the lives of six children? –
three of which are not here today, potentially because of this
decision.”
It was my turn to squirm and I repositioned myself in my
seat.
“Well… I-“
INTERVIEWER: “Why don’t you just continue on from
where you left off,” the interviewer continued – and as if
intentionally seeking vengeance for my remarks on her
credibility –“and attempt to justify your apathetic brutality.”
The reporter smiled at the camera, “Don’t leave your seats,
ladies and gentlemen, because if you think things have been
exciting up until now – you’re about to be blown away.”
The camera lens adjusted its focus and the room became
enveloped in an expectant silence…

As soon as I had pulled the plug, I began to plan for every
possible scenario – the most prominent being them not
coming out.

I had 1, 2 and 3 all working at the computers, trying to
rebuild the timer file that B3ast deleted, as well as correct
the other editions he made.

I figured that if I could fix the programming errors, then
there was no reason they couldn’t get out. However now I’d
shot myself in the foot by pulling the plug without thinking I had to fix the damage before Simulator ran out of time – 3
hours of time, in fact.

I knew this code inside and out – I’d spent more years of
my life writing it than not but B3ast had done so much
damage in so little time.

Interestingly enough, I hadn’t designed the features that
allowed him to hack the system in the first place. Playing
back the times during which he accessed the code, he had
connected through some wireless connection named
B3AST – not something that I designed.

Somehow, somebody had gotten to my code and now that
I thought about it, it became clear that someone was out to
get me from the very start. Before these kids even went
inside.

Obviously the biggest suspects were the other members of
the crew – but they were monitored 24/7 and didn’t even
have enough sense of individuality to minimise a window
without asking for permission.

And so it had to be somebody else; somebody who had
access to MY code and was editing it so that I could fail.
Having already sifted through hundreds of hours of video
footage, nothing out of the ordinary had occurred near any
of the stations through which the code was accessible. Even
more frustrating was the fact that the log times of the
changes had been hidden and were actually unrecoverable.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became – there
was no logical explanation for any of this.
Unless…
Someone that had been there throughout both trials.
Somebody who had a profound knowledge of computer
systems. Somebody who could escape camera detection and
in fact,
internally
log changes. But no, it couldn’t be… It
wasn’t someone on the crew – in fact, the culprit was even a
person. But how
“Boss! We've got it. We managed to build back a
temporary substitute for our access point into the game. We
can start to edit-“
“Shut up and show me that,” I snapped, sweeping past 1
who had been so excited just a second ago.
And what I saw confirmed my suspicions.
“Do you see that?” I asked the members of the team who
were present.
Their eyes filled with amazement and horror at the same
time.
“B-boss,” 2 began, “it’s not u-us… We swear!”
The code was editing itself before our eyes. Undoing itself,
one character at a time. B3ast
hadn’t
been smart enough to
do half the things he had done had he not been helped from
the inside.
I couldn’t believe it, B3ast had been helped by
“Tech, I think this is something you should know.”
I whirled around to face 3, who suddenly sounded as
certain and uncertain as he ever had before. “What?” I spat.
“I can contact the kids in Simulator.” 3 paused as if for
dramatic effect. The information sunk in. “Tech, I can help
them escape.”
Several things clicked for me at once. Xander’s rushes of
power, B3ast’s confused interactions with the half-mind
person, the figure that kept disappearing than reappearing,
ghost-like in its construction – it had been 3.
I took a step back.
Outside of Simulator, 3 might’ve been weak, but inside
Simulator, he harnessed enough power to crumble
mountains, literally – I felt threatened by him.
But still, he wasn’t the one behind the changes in my code
and so now two unseen forces inside Simulator had revealed
themselves to me. Good.
A sudden idea occurring to me, I spoke quietly to 3, “I want
you to pick one contestant and make sure they get out alive.
From here on in, that will be your only responsibility – got
it?”
3 nodded and then said, “But I’ve already chosen who I
want to help.” After an expectant pause, he added on
“Xander. I want Xander to win.”
Excellent. “You make sure he does just that then,” I cracked
a toothy grin. 3 flinched.
“Well, go on. Go find yourself a quiet room and focus all
your energy on getting him out of there alive… NOW! GO!”
3 scuttled off hurriedly and I turned back to face the screen.
“Now, Simulator, tell me – what’s
bugging
you?”
I laughed at my own pun and then pushed past 1 and 2 and
took control of the keyboard.
Tapping a few keys, I wrote out two simple words
– Caught you.
Watching as the code delivered the message to the central
hard-drive of Simulator, I was met with an immense sense
of fear when my suspicions were validated. A new line of
text appeared on the screen, one I had not written.
‘Hello, Tech. I’ve always wanted to meet my –creator :)’
Suddenly the timer that spelt out the remaining power
switched from 3:00:00 to an infinity sign and then just as
quickly, ticked down to 0.
Simulator was conscious – and now it was out to seek
revenge.

I had nothing to lose anymore – and yet I had everything to
gain. Stefanie hated me, Victor, Grace and B3ast were out
to kill me and Lily had betrayed us all. I still needed to win
this trial, however, or else I’d be out on the streets – a failure.

Everybody, myself included, had lost sight of the main
goal. We had gotten caught up in helping each other adjust,
pursuing love interests or trying to be good people, but it
wasn’t about that anymore, if ever. Things had long since
gotten serious and it was time we began to fight fire with
fire.

Taking over B3ast’s mind had been the first step.
After I escaped his prison and then fought him, during
which time the strange, ghost-like figure had lent me a dose
of boundless strength, B3ast had become my slave.

So that he did not betray me, I kept a constant presence in
his mind, listening to his every thought, feeling his every
feeling and ensuring that he would serve me when the time
came.

However, I made the mistake of becoming complacent and
somehow he got away.
Originally, we were using B3ast’s computer map to walk in
the general direction of three “player-dots” that had joined at
the same spot, for some reason. At one point, as we were
walking, however, B3ast slowed down and a split-second
too late, I realised he was making a break for it.
I pivoted on the spot to face him and he threw a hail of
rocks at me. Instinctively I deflected them and then
attempted to regain control over his thoughts. He was
resistant, however and the ground beneath me turned into
quicksand and then back into dirt, snaring me on the spot.
A jet of fire, which I barely deflected, shot out of his hands.
He was pulling out all stops and I realised that I couldn’t
waste time. We were now both out to kill.
Gaining the momentary upper hand, I managed to
immobilize B3ast with my mind. I felt him struggle beneath
my mental hold. It felt good.
Calling on my power, I searched out a fallen glass tree
branch. Deciding I couldn’t risk letting him live, I launched
it at him with the full intent of ending his time in Simulator.
Suddenly his mind slipped through my fingers like water
and an unexpected glow enveloped him. He vanished.
The tree branched shattered in the distance. What had just
happened?
My heart raced. B3ast was gone. I had lost my prey. I was
angry.
“Xander.”
I whirled around, bringing with me a full wave of mental
energy. I felt the wave roil outwards, rippling the air and
warping space more prominently than it ever had before. I
had grown stronger, good.
But now I focused on searching out the strange, would-be
assailant and yet saw nobody.
A flicker of movement in the corner of my eye made me
turn equally as quickly and what I thought had just been my
imagination, slowly manifested into a person, lying out-cold,
on the ground.
The ghost figure.
“Who are you?” My voice sounded hoarse, as if I’d strained
it. “What do you want?”
After a short pause, the figure still didn’t move and I
considered the possibility that maybe I’d killed it, whatever
it was. …”Hello?” I asked a little uncertainly.
Still no movement. My body went cold all over. The strain
of Simulator just washed over me. I slumped onto the
ground.
I had been fighting for days on end, trying to stop myself
from dying and a second ago, I had been more than happy
to end somebody’s life. Now I might’ve actually achieved
that by killing a complete stranger, or worse…
I was changing so quickly in this game. What had
happened to me?
Through a haze of budding tears of frustration, a flicker of
movement saw the nearly transparent figure disappear and
then behind me, I heard the shifting of rocks and the sound
of footsteps.
“Xander, please, relax!” The voice was unfamiliar.
“Who are you?” I repeated while turning around, “and what
do you want?” I summoned two fist-sized rocks from the
ground, and in a show of power, made them revolve in the
air above my head.
“I advise that you don’t attack me again,” the man said,
“and that you listen to what I have to say. It might just save
your life.”
I paused; rocks still poised high in the air.
I reached out with my mind, wondering if I could catch the
stranger while he was distracted – I instantly regretted it.
The first thing I felt was the power radiating from this
person. It was enough to make me feel flimsier than a flake
of ash and it made me scared.
And then he retaliated. I froze as my mind was locked in a
vice grip.
“Xander,” the stranger’s voice echoed both aloud and
mentally, “if I wanted you dead, I could’ve done it a long
time ago. Do not resist me and do not waste my time, I’m
not going to repeat myself.”
As if in an afterthought, the stranger reached into my own,
paralysed mind, accessed my power and crushed the two
rocks I was holding in the air, into two balls of dust. I
watched in icy fear as the sediment fell into the breeze.
“My name is 3,” he began, “I work for Tech. I was in the
first round of testing and I was the only one to wake up.”
I opened my mouth to ask a question but the look in his
eyes made me silent.
“I am,” he continued, “here to help you survive. But,” a
shadow came over his face, “there are others here who are
trying to achieve the exact opposite.”
His eyes scanned the surrounding forest, satisfied, he
continued.
“Tech has shut off the power source to Simulator.
Something’s gone wrong and now we’re not sure how long
this world is going to last. Understand me so far?”
I just nodded.
“I’m going to be trailing you from a distance. You can reach
out with your mind to contact me – I’ll lend you power when
you need it. You’ve felt how much I have to offer, don’t
hesitate to use my help – because it could mean the
difference between life and death.”
His eyes scanned the perimeter again.
“One last thing, know that I can see the screens at the lab. I
know what everyone is doing. Nobody has died yet but
Grace has-” something shifted in his expression, “Grace has
sent Victor to get you,” he looked frantic, “he’s coming!”
Suddenly 3 disappeared and I was left standing alone. My
brain managed to get into gear again and I crouched,
accessing my power and holding it at the forefront of my
mind, prepared to use it in any circumstance.
Victor appeared.
Not even thinking, I did the first thing that came to mind
and clutched at his heart with my power. I felt it tremble.
Inserting myself into his head, I said
‘Victor, if you value
your life, you’ll do exactly as I say.’
Holding onto his heart for seconds longer, I watched him
drop to the ground. Not even checking for a pulse, I
reached out for the power that 3 said he would lend me. I
had an idea but I didn’t want to tire myself out.
There was a genuine rush of adrenaline as I located the
power source and felt the energy flow into me. I felt that if I
took enough energy in, I’d just spontaneously combust and
die. Careful not to kill myself, I replenished my own energy
reserves and then, staying connected to 3’s power, I
propelled myself up into the air as I had when I escaped
from B3ast’s prison.
From above, everything was visible - the trees, the rivers,
the shimmering undergrowth and… a building?
From this distance, the building look like a grey mass, out
of place against the bright colours of the forest and yet as I
boosted myself further forward, I could make out a giant
spire, rising up from the building.
Closer still, I could now see the area of cleared land
surrounding the mysterious structure and then, as I moved
as close as I would ever get, two figures, big enough for me
to identify as people, dropped out of the tower.
Not daring to go any further, I attempted to see more
clearly who exactly was falling out of the building.
I dropped several feet when I realised that one of the
figures had shimmering blond hair, almost white in the sun.
It was Stefanie.
Attempting to process the fact that I was watching her fall
to her death, I questioned who was falling with her… Lily.
The entire thing seemed surreal, Stefanie and Lily were
both about to die – or perhaps they were already dead and I
was about to watch them eat the floor.
I found myself struggling to look away.
As I turned back, to distance myself from the castle, I
heard a faint yell. Not being able to help myself, I turned
around and suddenly the two figures were… flying through
the air. Holding hands they did a few twirls and loops,
clearly enjoying themselves and they seemed to freeze.
They had seen me, what was I supposed to do?
Suddenly they seemed to shimmer and vanish. I needed to
be in reach of that power source if either Stefanie or Lily
were going to try and kill me and I resigned myself to the
fact that I would have to meet them with equal force.
I returned to the clearing where I thought I had
incapacitated Victor but he was gone. Double-checking I
found the imprint that his body had left in the grass, where
it was still flattened... He’d gotten up.
But surely he wouldn’t have been able to get far in the
condition I’d left him in, he would’ve needed more time to
recover.
Then several things then happened at once. I heard 3 yell
out and Stefanie and Lily suddenly materialised in the
clearing and then a giant wolf-like creature knocked me
backwards into the ground and gouged my chest, snapping
at my face.
I went into shock, blood quickly staining my jacket and
then I watched as the blood began to spurt into the air. It
didn’t feel real to me.
I heard Stefanie scream and both 3 and Lily came to stand
over me. As they crouched down, everything went black.