Digital Heretic (10 page)

Chapter 23

Carl

 
“
Hey,watch wher
e
you’re going, ass!”

 
I hear the car tires screech, but I don’t bother to look. The driver is a sheep, mistakenly thinking he’s a tiger. He pinches off his next sentence; must have gotten a close look at me. Once the sheep get a look at me they shut up. I keep walking and don’t hear another peep out of him. Pathetic.

 
I continue to cross the street, keeping my eyes on the prize. They are walking at a good clip, just the two girls today. It’s not often that Danielle walks around without one of her pets nearby.

 
My lucky day.

 
I’m close enough to hear her when she speaks. “Okay, Melissa. I’m going in here to look around for a couple things. I’ll meet you at the cafe in about an hour?”

 
The other girl says something, then walks away. That one is light on her feet, almost like she’s floating. I’ll have to ask around about her, later. 

 
I wait about two minutes, then stroll through the front door. She’s in the back, looking at display racks filled with crystals and amulets hanging from different types of necklaces. A crystal and gemstone store; there’s some nice energy in here. She doesn’t see me. I’d be surprised if she did. I’m stalking; no one sees me until it’s too late when I’m stalking. 

  Fifteen
feet from her I stretch my arm upwards slightly. The wound has healed nicely; there’s no tightness or pain. I take a moment to watch her; she’s an attractive woman. Most 30 year olds would kill to look as good as this woman who is almost 50.

 
I smile warmly and pluck a pendant from a nearby rack, then slide around the display to stand beside her.

  She’s
holding a pendant up to the light, inspecting it closely. Before I can say anything witty or clever, she surprises me. “I knew I should have done it this way years ago, Carl.”

 
My grin widens. “What way is that, Danielle?”

 
She turns her head and meets my gaze. “I should have left my protectors out of sight and pretended to be a weak little deer standing all alone. You come to me like a shark attracted to blood in the water.”

  “
Oh, I’m sure you’ve tried this before, Danni,” I say.

  “
My friends call me Danni,” she says. “
You
call me Danielle, or Mrs. Radfield.”

 
I hold my pendant up in front of her. “I think this one suits you, Danni. Fire Opal. It enhances your inner power; it awakens your inner fire, and protects against danger.” I stretch my hand outwards. She looks at me coldly. Finally she snatches it out of my hand. She doesn’t take a fearful step backwards; very brave.

  “What’s
with your eyes?” I ask. “I’ve never seen a set of eyes that colour.”

 
She ignores my question. I can feel her hatred; it’s very strong. “Are you here to kill me, then?”

 
I sniff the air. The warning scent of her Clean Mark surrounds her. “If I was here to kill you, you’d be dead, girl.”

  “
Then you must be here to apologize for destroying my husband’s soul
.
”

 
My grin disappears and I wince slightly. I maintain eye contact with her for a moment, then look away. I don’t need her seeing regret in my eyes; that would ruin my image.

 
I look back at her and shrug. “Darlin’, I’ve never apologized for anything during my stay on this world.” She blinks quickly and looks away. “If I ever did apologize for something, though, it’d be for doing your husband that way. He didn’t deserve to go out like that.”

 
Her eyes dart back to mine. She can tell that I mean it, which clearly confuses her. We look at each other for a moment, then she nods and looks back towards the display rack. “I’m going to do the same to you, Carl. Rip your soul into a million pieces and scatter it to the winds.”

 
I shrug. “Good luck with that, Danni. If anyone has earned the privilege, it’s you. And if anyone deserves it… well, it’s me. It won’t be any time soon, though, girl. You need to train more, and I have lots of work to keep me busy.”

  “
As do I,” she says. “If you didn’t come to kill me, and you aren’t here to gloat, then what brings you here?”

  “
I was sent with a message. Thought I’d use it as an excuse to meet you,” I say.

  “Let’s
hear it, then,” she says.

 
She doesn’t fear me. It’s strange to stand in front of someone and not feel their terror. Even my brothers and sisters fear me. Strange, but I like this feeling.

  “
Tell Brandon that my boss wants a meeting. With Gabriel, preferably.” I pause and add an additional bit to the message, not something I was told, but something I feel like adding. “He wants
you
there, too.”

 
She looks at me. “Who’s Brandon?” she asks.

 
I bark out a quick laugh, but it’s plain from the look on her face that she has no idea who Brandon is. “He’s your boss,” I say.

 
She looks confused. “On Earth? I don’t recall ever meeting a Brandon.”

 
I shake my head. “What the hell are those two teaching you? Lady, if you want to really play this Game, you have to learn who the players are.”

  “
I know the players,” she says. “Is that it?”

 
I turn around and wave my hand. “Yes, that’s it for now. Have Brandon contact Ezra and arrange the meeting. It has to be soon. You got it?”

 
Her lips purse together. She takes the gemstone necklace I handed her and puts it on. “I’ve got it. Are you going to be there, too?” she asks.

 
I start to walk towards the front door, but I look back to gaze at her one more time. My intuition is burning out a warning. I don’t care though. I’ll figure it out, or I won’t. “Yes, I’ll be there too,” I say. “It was good to meet you finally, darlin’.”

  “I’m
going to kill you, Carl.” I’ve heard that a lot over the years, but she does sound very confident.

 
I chuckle. “Okay, then. Once again, best of luck with that. See you in a few days. Don’t ruin this nice friendship we’ve started by making me angry when we meet next, okay?”

  “
Carl.” Something in her tone makes me stop and turn around. It’s almost as if she has the power to compel me to stop and look her straight in her strange white and silver swirling eyes. She smiles; it’s like looking into a mirror. Pure, powerful hatred streams out of her. “Don’t worry, I won’t do it soon. You’re going to suffer a long time before I kill you.”

 
I turn and walk out the door. Crossing the street, I can’t help but wonder. Is she the one? Have I finally found someone who can put me down?

 
I begin to whistle.

 
This could be fun.

Chapter 24

  We’re very excited to begin broadcasting Trew live to all our viewers. If you happened to subscribe to Trew when he was inside the Game, you’re in luck. As a special offer, we are giving you a free preview of this new channel for one day. If you like what you see, then please
hurry
to subscribe for the remainder of Danielle’s play. We aren’t exactly sure what we will be able to show you; there are many aspects of Trew’s day that we won’t be allowed to witness. I’ve spent just a small amount of time with him so far, and let me tell you, folks, you’re going to want to subscribe. Every moment spent with him is magical. It’s like Trew stepped out of the Game and now walks Tygon. He might look a bit younger, but the leader we all fell in love with is definitely among us.”

Lisa Rohansen, new host of the Trew reality channel

 
“
Come in an
d
grab a seat,” Brandon said. Trew entered Brandon’s office and plopped down into a leather chair. He looked very tired.

  “
Can I grab you something to drink?” Brandon asked.

 
Trew shook his head.

  “
What’s the problem?” Brandon asked.

 
“I’m feeling overwhelmed,” he said.

  “
How so?”

  “
The time difference. It’s screwing me up. So many things need to be done in order to help Danni in the Game. I need to talk with her, plan activities with the Eternals, talk with Sylvia more, before I can even begin to decide how to ask her for help. Then there’s the crew following me around and putting it on a new channel — that was a bad idea, by the way. There isn’t enough time to get anything done. Simply talking with you now only takes a few moments, but inside the Game, weeks have gone by.”

  “
Yes, it’s frustrating,” Brandon said.

  “It’s
maddening
.
” Trew shook his head. “This is a much different way to play the Game, and I don’t think there’s time to learn the ropes.”

  “
You have access to some of the best players in the Game, both inside and out. Your team and Danielle’s team are all in place and doing hundreds of things to help ease our burden. Don’t try to do this all alone; leave many of the activities to the others. As for the things that only you can do, we’ll assist you in making the time to accomplish them. I can help you, my boy. First of all, take a deep breath and relax. You’ve only been awake for a little over a day.”

  “
I want to spend all of my time talking with Danni,” Trew said. His eyes conveyed how much he missed her. He had just finished talking with her for the first time, and Brandon was prepared for this reaction.

  “
I can make that decision easy for you: it’s not possible,” Brandon said. “Think about it, Trew. If you spoke with her for a full day here, she would age over a year in the Game during that time. Somehow the process that we’ve developed warps time for both us and the player so that we can communicate. I don’t know exactly how it’s done, but the process can only be achieved and maintained for small periods of time, fifteen minutes every hour on Tygon, to be exact. We can make sure it’s a part of your routine to speak with her, but it can’t become an obsession that devours all of your time.”

  “
But she misses me,” Trew said. “and I miss her.”

  “
Stop it,” Brandon said. “I understand what you’re feeling, Trew, but you can’t get caught up in this pity party. In just a few weeks she’s going to be gone. Forever. We need to figure out how we want to move forward before the Game ends. You’re better than this. Snap out of it.”

 
Trew sat up straight as if he’d just been slapped in the face. His eyes focused on Brandon and he nodded slowly. “All right.”

  “
I know how you feel, Trew.” Brandon said. “You’ve just lived a full lifetime, then died traumatically, and now just a couple of days later, you’re back in this body and being asked to do an overwhelming number of crucially important tasks. I think you’re doing incredibly well and I’m proud of you.”

  “
Thanks.”

  “I’m
serious. The average player comes out and gets to rest and relax for weeks, doing nothing, so that they can reintegrate into society and slowly let their new experiences merge with their psyche, but we’ve had to skip that process for you this time. It appeared you were able to handle this kind of pressure, but perhaps it’s too much for you. You didn’t look like you were remotely close to cracking. Are you now?”

 
Trew sat forward and furrowed his brow, slowly shaking his head. “No, I’m not cracking. I just feel like I have a million things that need to be done all at once, and all within the next ten minutes. But that’s nothing new; we all experience that kind of overwhelmed feeling at times. I know that it’s time for triage, and some things are going to be left on the side of the road to take care of themselves. It’s just not a good feeling.”

  “
No, it’s not,” Brandon agreed. “But it’s the price we pay for having control and power.”

  “
I know,” Trew said.

  “
No, you don’t,” Brandon replied. “For the past thirty years I’ve been responsible for the growth and prosperity of our entire

planet. Let me assure you that where we all sit today
didn’t come without extreme sacrifices.”

 
Brandon stood up and went to the window. “Many have suffered, millions live in poverty and misery, just so the rest of us can have normal, happy lives. Countless children don’t have what it takes to stay in the Game until they are 18, and trust me, Trew, they don’t go to very nice places to live out the remainder of their lives.”

  “
What do you mean?” Trew asked.  He’d never really thought about where the kids that dropped out of the Game went. He knew they didn’t have access to the same status and jobs, but he didn’t have a clue what happened to them. There were government-run schools and facilities; surely they must be looked after there.

 
Brandon shook his head. “It doesn’t matter right now. I’m telling you that if you want to play the Game, really make a difference in the world, then there are significant costs involved. I can help you

through this, Trew, better than anyone else. I have to know that
you’re prepared to see it through to the end. I need to know that you are strong enough to sacrifice some things, in order to focus on the more important ones.”

 
Without hesitation, Trew nodded his head. “I am strong enough, Brandon. I can make the sacrifices necessary.”

 
Brandon looked at Trew. Then he nodded, walked back to his desk, and sat down.

  “
Good,” he said. “Then tell me, what is your number one priority? If everything else crumbles and must die along the way, including me, you, and the entire world we live in, what is the one thing that simply must happen?”

  Trew’s
eyes sparkled with passion. He’d entered the office overwhelmed and confused, but Brandon had helped him simplify things. He had convinced him that it was not only possible, but in fact crucial, to focus on one outcome above all others. 

  “
My number one priority is to bring Danielle safely out of the Game, alive and healthy.”

 
Brandon looked at Trew sadly. “We’ve been assured that it’s impossible to accomplish that, Trew. Pick something else. Something that’s actually achievable.”

  “That’s
what I pick,” Trew said. “It can be done. It will be done.”

 
Brandon looked at Trew silently. After a time, he nodded.

  “Okay
, then. Let’s begin.”