The Game (23 page)

  Brandon pulled out his phone and dialled a number. A brief pause, and then he spoke, “This line is secure. We’ve been losing signal on both Trew and Danielle for the past three days. Unscrambled loss of signal. I know, it’s impossible. Yes, I understand that the rules of the Game clearly allow sponsors full and constant access to video feed of our sponsored players for their entire play. Exactly; no scramblers were used, so we know there was no Eternal/Infernal presence. They simply disappear while the Game continues around them. I’m sending over the exact times in two minutes. I need you to watch the recordings from the main viewer. Yes, that’s fine. Get back to me ASAP.”

  Brandon hung up the phone and looked back towards the women. The shock he saw on their faces was expected; they’d just learned a secret shared by only seven other people on the planet. “Go ahead and ask,” he invited.

  “It’s impossible to record events as they occur inside the Game.” Michelle recited what everyone knew to be true.

  “That’s a statement, not a question,” Brandon said. He took a picture of the report with his tablet and transmitted it over his phone. “Angelica. You want to try?”

  “Sure, Brandon. What else have you been holding back from us all these decades?” Angelica asked.

  “Yes,” he ignored her question and answered the one that should have been asked. “We’ve been recording the entire history of the Game since the first day it went live and archiving it digitally.”

  “Damn,” Michelle said.

  “Okay,” Angelica said. “So you can view the events again, and then what?”

  “If it happens on just our monitors in the Game centre, it’s one issue. A big issue, but one that I take up with the Gaming commission. If it’s occuring on the master feed, which almost no one knows about, then we have a more serious problem.”

  “What problem is that?” Michelle asked.

  “I don’t want to consider that. Yet. Let’s just wait patiently for the results. I should hear back in less than fifteen minutes. Is there any common time that this is happening?”

  “Yes, there is,” Michelle answered. “It’s occurring when no one seems to be watching the monitors.”

  “Is that even possible?” Brandon asked. “We have a team of over 50 people living on that floor for the next few weeks. Is it possible that there are times when no one is watching the monitors?”

  Angelica grabbed the paper back and looked at it. “It looks like during the past three days there were…
thirteen
times when no one was watching the monitor. So my guess would be that, yes, it’s as possible as losing signal on our players and secretly recording the Game in its entirety these past thirty years.”

  Brandon looked sourly at Angelica, who smiled innocently back at her boss. “All right, I get the point. And were they doing anything specific in the Game at those times? Something that would seem boring, and tempt our large team to stop watching them?”

  Michelle nodded. “Whenever they meditate or pray we usually don’t bother to watch them. They are sitting in one spot, safe and sound, and we can’t hear their thoughts at those times. They were meditating all thirteen times.”

  “Of course they were.” Inside, Brandon was seething. His attempts to communicate with Trew seemed to be going horribly wrong, and getting worse by the minute. Raphael had been working with Trew to help him meditate, with no success, after three years inside the Game.   Brandon’s gut was telling him to give up on this strategy, to cut his losses and leave Trew on his own. Brandon couldn’t stop, though; he had never been so close. He would pursue this goal until he succeeded.

  Brandon’s phone rang and he answered it. He spoke briefly to the person on the other end and then hung up. “Well ladies, they disappeared on the Game’s master viewer as well.”

  “What’s that mean?” Michelle asked.

  “I don’t know,” Brandon said with a tired look on his face. “But there’s no way it can be anything good for us. And the longer it takes to find out, the more we run the risk of losing everything we’ve worked to accomplish.”

Chapter 43

  Well, fans, it’s really starting to get good now. The weeks of watching our little players’ avatars grow from babies into young adults have quickly come and gone. Now we get ready to see what life has in store for them. Record numbers have subscribed to following Zack (Trew) and Alexandra (Danielle). We all remember the excitement that led up to their first attempt to be together in the Game, and their subsequent failure. Now look at them, together and growing up with each other. What’s in store for our two favourite lovebirds? No one knows for sure, but many are predicting some history making story lines will develop very soon…

  Excerpt from - The Fan ‘Your source for Game updates all day’

Trew - 23

  “I’ve really tried, Raph, but it just doesn’t seem to be coming to me.” I’m frustrated, and it shows in my voice. “I’m just going to stick with my own type of meditating. It’s more like prayer, I guess, although I’m really just talking to the computer running this game.”

  “That’s okay, baby.” Danielle rubs my back and smiles encouragingly. I’ve only tried this long to please her. She gets so excited at the thought of me meditating with her. “You gave it a great try. If it doesn’t work for you, then it doesn’t work.”

  I kiss her on the cheek. She’s an amazing woman. She graduated top of her class in University then moved on to work with a few Eastern medicine masters to add to her skills and experience. She’s had some great offers to partner with a few successful existing practices, but she's decided to learn all she can and then open her own. She says soon, when the time is right. I know she’s waiting for me to ask her something. I smile at her encouragingly and in my mind I say, ‘Don’t worry love, it will be soon.’ She smiles back at me, almost as if she can read my thoughts. Maybe she can. We aren't like regular couples; we seem to get along much better. I wish others could experience this kind of love, but it seems most can’t.

  “I agree,” Raphael says. I can see why Danni loves him so. He’s calm, patient, and understanding. And the discussions we have about religion… I’ve learned so much. I don’t know what I’ll ever do with the knowledge, likely nothing, but it’s been a real treat to get to know him. Still haven’t been able to get him to meet with Stephanie yet, but soon I’m sure they will. They’ll both have to be together for what I’m planning. “There are other ways to communicate with your inner self, and the universe,” he says. “Don’t feel bad.”

  I laugh. “I don’t feel bad at all. When Danni describes meditation it sounds remarkable, but to tell you the truth, it’s always sounded exactly like the feeling I get from praying.”

  “Really?” Danni asks.

  Raphael looks at me with sudden interest. “What do you mean it’s like how Danni feels when meditating?”

  I shrug. “She says it’s as if she’s speaking to the universe, and that it’s hearing her and speaking back. I feel the same way when I pray. It’s like I’m talking to the master computer and it’s somehow listening to me.”

  “Has it ever answered you back?” Raphael asks. His interest seems a bit too intense for me. I know he believes our theories about the universe being just a big computer simulation. Sometimes he gives the impression of knowing much more about it than we do.

  “Sure it has.” I say. “All the time it answers me. If you know how to look for the responses, they are there. You say the same things, Raph.”

  “Ahh.” His intensity fades, replaced by his usual calm presence. “Yes, it’s remarkable how the answers are always provided, if you know what to ask for and how to recognize them when they surface.”

  “Okay, Raph. Sorry to kick you out, but I have a hot date with my boyfriend.” Danni grabs my arm and starts dragging me towards the door. “We’ve waited weeks to get a reservation at this restaurant, and I don’t want to lose it because we’re talking about the big game of life. It’s a great subject and all, but I’m hungry!”

  Raphael walks to the door and waves. “Okay, you two. Have a great dinner. I’ll talk to you in a couple of days. And once more, congratulations, Trew.”

  My heart skips a beat, then I remember what he’s talking about. “Thanks, Raph. It’s a great company. I’m glad they decided to hire me right out of school. The money is unbelievable.”

  Raphael chuckles as he opens the door. “You two have never been concerned with large quantities of money. But I agree it will be enough to get you where you need to be, which includes eating out at fancy restaurants every once in a while. ‘Night, guys.” He closes the door behind him.

  I smile and grab Danielle. I hold her close and feel her warmth, energy, and her pure joy for life. I look at her incredibly beautiful face smiling up at me, and I’m so overwhelmed with love for her that I almost start to tear up. Okay, I
do
tear up a little bit. Before she can notice, I lean in and we kiss. After all these years it’s
still
like kissing her for the first time. The jolt of energy, the tingles… the feeling that I’m falling off the top of a tall mountain, and then slowly realize that I’m not falling… I’m flying! That’s what it’s like to kiss this girl I love so madly.

  Time freezes. Or maybe it speeds by. Either way, it’s incredible.

  I open my eyes and she does too. “Okay, lover, let’s get going,” she says playfully, dragging me by the hand towards the door. I offer a token amount of resistance but follow eagerly enough.

****

“Well,” I ask. “What did you think?”

  Danni is eating the last bite of her dessert, eyes closed and a smile on her face. “Oh, Trew, what a delicious meal,” she exclaims. “What an incredible night.”

  I get up and go over to her, dropping down close enough to kiss her lightly on the lips. “You said it, my love. It’s been a spectacular night, but since you first agreed to be my girlfriend,
every
day has been this wonderful.”

  “Oh, you’re always so sweet with your words.” She flutters her eyelashes playfully, using that teasing voice that always makes me grin. She looks concerned when she notices I’m not grinning.

  Then she notices something else; the fact that I’m down on one knee beside her in a fancy restaurant after a fantastic day and a knockout meal. Her eyes begin to get misty.

  I smile. Yeah, she’s figuring it out now.

  “Danielle Benton, since the day I first laid eyes on you I recognized that you were rare and special. Not long after that, I kicked your ass in karate.” She laughs, unable to speak as she sits there looking me in the eyes. She’s so beautiful. I want this moment to last forever. “I talk a lot, and you know how much I love you. You also talk a lot, and I’ve got a very good idea how much you love me too. If we’re playing a big game, then I hope there's a big audience watching us right now. We’re awesome, and together I believe we’re going to change this world.”

  I reach into my pocket and pull out the little box. I open it up and there it is, a gorgeous diamond ring that I know she will love. It sparkles like her eyes, and it shines like our love. She gasps and a small choked cry escapes her lips. Her eyes are swimming in tears, the happy kind. Her smile is huge. It’s time to ask her the question that will make history sit up and take notice.

  “Danielle Benton, would you do me the immense honour of becoming my wife?”

  I hear her say yes. The blood rushes to my ears as the restaurant erupts in applause. I’ve never been happier in my life. I don’t know if I ever will be. None of that matters right now.

I’m in heaven.

Chapter 44

  Popular theory is that the pyramids were constructed between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago.  However, when the experts take a look at all the available data and do a proper estimate, the numbers are much different.  True authorities on the pyramids date their construction at between 20,000 and 25,000 years ago.  How can this be?  When regular man was huddled in a cave eating raw meat, not even able to build simple tools from metal, incredibly massive chunks of stone were being smooth-cut and transported hundreds of miles away and then stacked hundreds of feet in the air on top of each other to make pyramids?  The answer is yes.  Did ancient civilizations have technology advanced far beyond what we have even today?  Once again, the answer is yes.  With today’s technology, we can’t cut and move and stack stones the size of the ones used in the pyramids.  The ancients remain a mystery to us still — a mystery that may never be answered.

            Earth program on the ancient pyramids

Stephanie

  This dream is a particularly disturbing one…

  I open my eyes and suddenly I’m in a maze.  I know I’m under a large old building; the walls are solid stone and it’s cold.  Water trickles down the rocks and I can feel hot air coming from some of the paths and cold air from others.

  I’m being chased. I can feel their hunger — to catch me and rip me apart with their bare hands. Their rage at my presence is like a high pitched scream inside my brain, and it doesn’t help me concentrate on the race I know I am about to run.

  I sprint forward, turning right, then right again, with a quick left.  It’s always the same pattern, and even though I know it’s leading me into trouble, I can’t change my path.

  I’m exhausted and panting by the time they first catch me.  I never see their faces, but I know that I’m caught.  The despair in my head is overwhelming; my job isn’t to escape the maze, it’s to rescue someone else. To find them and then get out before either of us are caught.  But I’ve been caught, same as always.

  Before I can be hurt by my captors, I see a flash of light and they disappear. No,
I
disappear, and materialize right back where I started. I look around and feel the same panic as the chase begins again. This time I take a different route, but in my mind I know it’s not different…it’s the same second route I always take.

  This is how my dream goes.  It’s an exhausting night and I never succeed.  Each time I’m caught I respawn at the same point.  I can feel my rescue target getting weaker and more frightened as the attempts increase, until suddenly, in a flash of pain, their presence is gone.