Gamers' Challenge (9 page)
Authors: George Ivanoff
‘Okay,’ said Zyra. ‘Start thinking.’
‘Maybe I should try and think about the Ultimate Gamer,’ suggested Zyra, the unicorn momentarily forgotten. ‘Then maybe we’ll go to wherever he is?’
‘Great idea!’ said Hope.
‘Except, I don’t know what he looks like. Or even if he is a he.’ Zyra paused. ‘Maybe I should just try and think of garners in general? Or playing the game? Or, I dunno.’
‘Whatever you think of, better do it fast,’ said
Hope. ‘We’ve got company.’
Zyra looked up to see two VIs zooming over the treetops.
‘That was quick,’ said Zyra. ‘I thought you said itwould take them longer.’
‘What do I know?’ said Hope. ‘I was just guessing. And hoping.’
‘Right.’ Zyra took hold of Hope’s face and closed her eyes. Hope closed her eyes and put her hands on Zyra’s face.
‘Garners,’ whispered Zyra. They jumped.
‘Soya thinks this Ultimate Gamer can gets ya out of the game?’ said Tark to Tee, as they walked through the Forest.
‘If he even exists,’ said Tee.
Tark stopped dead. ‘Ya means he mights not?’
‘Well, yes,’ admitted Tee. ‘It’s a legend. It may well just be a story. Hope certainly doesn’t believe there’s any such person.’
Tark’s expression turned dark. ‘So all this danger that ya’ve puts us through mights be for nuthin’? And whats about Zyra?’
‘I’m
hoping
that the Ultimate Gamer exists,’ said
Tee. ‘And given that the VIs seem intent on keeping Zyra and Hope apart, I think there’s a pretty good chance he does.’
‘Rights,’ said Tark, taking a deep breath and looking away. ‘So whats da we do now?’
‘I want to show you something.’ Tee loaded his crossbow and started off through the Forest again.
‘It’s just over here.’
‘I thoughts we wuz gonna see the professor?’ Tark loaded his own weapon and followed.
Just a short detour.’
‘Nuthin’ is eva straightforwards with ya.’
Tee huffed. ‘It’s not even a proper dialect, you know. That gutter speak of yours. It’s really rather poorly designed. It has little consistency and no purpose other than to designate you as street trash.’
Tark ignored him.
They walked for another few minutes before emerging from the trees. They stepped out into a clearing, beyond which was a cliff face with a cave. A VI hovered in front of the cave opening. Tee shot it. Tark automatically followed suit with a second bolt, dispatching it completely.
‘In there.’ Tee pointed at the mouth of the cave.
Tark peered into the gloom. Inside was a writhing mass of static, bigger than even the combined VIs, with a darkness in its depths that made Tark think of rats and refuse and decaying things. It roiled and writhed and changed its shape, taking on one vague form after another. Most passed by too quickly for Tark to discern, but he did see teeth and claws - he was certain of that - and a gaping emptiness that might have been a ravenous mouth.
Tark took a step forward, mesmerised by the whirling static, hoping to get a better view, but Tee put a hand on his shoulder.
‘There’s a force-field on the cave, to keep that thing in there,’ said Tee. ‘The professor set it up shortly after we discovered it.’
‘Wot is it?’ asked Tark, unable to take his eyes from the undulating mass.
‘We’re not sure,’ admitted Tee. ‘It’s linked to the
VIs. I think it controls them in some way. Or maybe it’s their source of power. We’re just not sure.’ He frowned in thought. ‘There’s usually at least three or four VIs hanging around here. Sometimes they even try to get through the force-field.’
Tark looked around cautiously. ‘I don’t sees any more.’
‘Neither do I.’ Tee took a deep breath. ‘Which makes me think that now might be a good time to attack it, while most of the VIs are busy chasing Hope and Zyra. We might be able to destroy it, or damage it, or, at the very least, lure some of the VIs back here and away from Hope and Zyra.’
‘Rights.’ Tark lifted his crossbow and eagerly reached into his quiver for a bolt. ‘Anythin’ ta helps Zyra.’
‘They won’t do any good,’ said Tee. ‘It’s much too strong.’
‘Gotta try,’ said Tark, licking his dry lips. ‘Gotta try and helps Zyra.’
Tee gently put a hand onto Tark’s crossbow. ‘It won’t help her if we let that thing escape.’
‘So how does we attacks it?’ demanded Tark.
‘Ah,’ said Tee raising his hand. ‘That’s why we need to talk to Professor Palimpsest.’
‘Okay.’ Tark lowered his crossbow but continued to stare at the static creature, a determined look on his face. ‘Then whys did ya waste time comin’ ‘ere?’
‘I wanted you to see it,’ explained Tee. ‘I wanted you to know what we are up against.’
‘Rights,’ said Tark. ‘Well, I has seen it.’
As they left, Tark thought he heard humming coming from the cave - harsh, guttural, yet tuneful.
Zyra and Hope were standing in a deserted city street. They looked around to see a couple of smashed shop windows and a door left swinging in the wind. Litter danced in the breeze and an eerie silence prevailed.
As Zyra gazed about, she thought that perhaps this was what the City in her environment may have looked like before it crumbled to its current state. She had to remind herself that the City had always been destroyed - it had been designed to be so. Just like this city had most likely been designed to be deserted.
‘What’s that?’ Hope pointed to a dark stain on thepavement beneath their feet.
Zyra crouched down and ran a hand over the concrete. She looked up at Hope. ‘Blood.’
‘Great,’ said Hope. Just where have you brought us?’
‘I don’t know.’
A pained, bloodcurdling scream echoed m the distance.
‘I don’t think I like this place,’ said Hope.
The sound of things falling and smashing pierced the air. Gunshots and more frantic screaming followed this.
‘What exactly were you thinking about when we jumped?’ asked Hope.
‘I don’t thinks we shoulds be standin’ out heres inthe open,’ said Zyra, deflecting the question. ‘We is too vulnerable.’
Zyra headed for the nearest doorway and stood under the awning in the shadows.
‘Now you’re just trying to distract me with that stupid gutter speak,’ said Hope, coming to join her.
‘Which means whatever you thought of, it wasn’t good.’
‘I was trying to get us to the Ultimate Gamer,’ said Zyra. ‘I was rushing because of the VIs and thinking of garners and then, well, I remembered what you called garners and -’
A loud moan from inside the shop made both the girls jump out from the doorway.
‘Oh no,’ said Hope. ‘You didn’t.’
The door smashed open and someone came shuffling out. Actually, it was more of a something
- something that had once been human, but was no more. It had wide, bloodshot eyes and thin, peeling lips drawn back from blackened, rotting teeth. It drooled a foul-smelling ichor as it made a horrible moaning sound. Lank, filthy hair hung down around its face. Its flesh was stretched tight around its skull, with strips hanging loose and flapping about as it lurched forward.
‘You’ve got to be kidding!’ shouted Hope. ‘You thought about zombies. Of all the stupid, ridiculous things to-’
‘Hey, don’t blame me,’ Zyra yelled back. ‘You is the one who first mentioned them!’
More creatures came lurching out from the shop, staggering between the girls like a line of lemmings, and heading down the street. In the distance they saw someone duck out from another shop, look towards them, and take off in the opposite direction.
‘Brains!’
Zyra and Hope whirled back to the doorway. As the row of zombies stumbled along, one of them stepped out of line towards Zyra. It held a dismembered, human arm in its hand, blood still dripping from the end. And it was looking straight at her.
‘One of ‘em is looking at me,’ called Zyra.
‘It can’t see you,’ shouted Hope over the top of the shuffling undead. She tried to calm her voice.
‘It’s just looking at the street behind you, that’s all. It can’t see you. It doesn’t know we’re here. We are not playing the game.’
‘Are you trying to convince me?’ Zyra’s voice wasa bit shaky, although more controlled than Hope’s.
‘Or yourself?’
‘Brains!’ The zombie smiled a revolting, blackened, rotting grin, and tossed the arm at Zyra. It landed at her feet. ‘Fresh, brains,’ it moaned, reaching out towards her.
Zyra unhooked the crossbow from her belt. Within seconds it was loaded and aimed at the approaching monstrosity.
Hope tried to get through the column of moving corpses. But they were part of the game and she was not, and she could not touch them, let alone push through them.
‘Girl brains,’ intoned the solo zombie, as it lurchedtowards Zyra.
‘It can definitely see me,’ yelled Zyra, firing her crossbow at point-blank range. The bolt thudded into the creature’s forehead, right between the eyes. Blood trickled down its nose as it staggered back. Regaining its footing, it reeled forward, making a grab for Zyra.
‘Run,’ cried Hope.
Zyra threw the crossbow at it and took off. The weapon thudded into its chest and fell to the ground as the creature gave chase with a surprisingly speedy shuffling run.
The last of the undead came out of the shop and
Hope was finally able to get past, sprinting after Zyra and her pursuer.
Zyra turned a corner and found herself in a dead end alley. Turning back, she saw the creature closing in. Hope appeared behind it, firing her pistol. Little blooms of red blossomed on the zombie’s tattered clothing. It turned on Hope. Zyra grabbed the opportunity, launching herself at it, kicking out with her booted feet. She caught it on the back of its neck. There was a sickening snap and it fell to the ground as Zyra continued over it. She ran to Hope and flung her arms around her.
And they jumped.
‘It is complete,’ announced Professor Palimpsest.
‘The Interface Discharge Device. Yes. Or the IDD. Yes, yes.’
He proudly displayed the cobbled together apparatus. It looked like a weird cross between a gun and a syringe. Held together with wires and electrical tape, its large glass cylinder was filled with static from the Interface.
‘It’s been a long time coming.’ Tee took hold of it, feeling the weight of it in his hands.
‘I know. Yes, yes, yes.’ The professor nodded. ‘Asyou see, the syringe is filled with the substance of the Interface. When you press the trigger, a portion is released along an electric discharge, which is generated here.’ He tapped the rubber-enclosed chamber beneath the syringe. ‘Here, here.’
‘Hangs on a tick,’ interrupted Tark. ‘Aren’t the VI things made of the same staticy stuff as wots in there?’ He pointed to the syringe. ‘Won’t ya just kinda be feedin’ ‘em?’
The professor looked shocked. ‘No,’ he said slowly, moving his head from one side to the other. ‘No. No.’ He shook his head more vigorously, as if dispelling unwanted doubts. ‘No, no, no, no, no. As far as I can tell, the VIs are some form of virus. Their make up is similar to the static substance of the Interface between environments - but it is a corrupted version. The pure substance from the Interface should counteract the viral aspects of the VIs. Should. Yes. Should.’