Interlude- Brandon (14 page)

Chapter 39

This wasn’t
a fun game.

Brandon took large gulps of air, gasping for breath as quietly as he could with his back pressed tightly against a cold, dark wall. Less than twenty feet away, he could hear angry, armed men moving towards him. When they found him they would kill him as quickly as they’d slaughtered the rest of his Hand.

Brandon glanced around for a hiding place. He spotted a rusted steel grate across the street from him. It looked like a sewer shaft; dark green stones surrounded it, covered with foul water that trickled downwards out of sight. A brief glance around the corner told him the men were almost on top of him; the sewer shaft was his best hope.

Brandon let his eyelids droop slightly as he summoned his glow. Years of repeated practice, both inside the Sim and out, allowed him to summon the energy field without having to fully close his eyes. With a powerful push, he sent a wave of energy at the grate, watching with satisfaction as the rusted bars bent to either side. He wasted no time deciding if the opening was big enough for him to fit through; if it wasn’t, he would be shot trying to get into the shaft, but he had no other choice. Besides, he’d died worse ways. He sprinted silently across the street and, at the last moment, leapt feet first into the opening.

With a heavy grunt he passed through the opening, scraping his back in the process. He controlled his descent by pressing his elbows against the sides of the shaft. He turned onto his belly, mentally pushed the bars closed again, and froze in place, waiting to see if anyone had spotted him.

Almost immediately the first hunter came around the corner. His eyes scanned the street and buildings, but he failed to note the sewer grate. As the next man came into view, Brandon looked down to see if he could sink further out of sight until the men had passed.

He was surprised to see the shimmering glow of a fire below him and what looked like a small stone room. He could see a man hunched over the fire, his hands stretched out to gather warmth. Brandon smiled as he recognized the white shock of hair standing up on the man’s head, even from this distance.

Brandon slowly began to shimmy downwards, no longer worried that the men on the street would hear or see him. A few seconds later he dropped gracefully from the shaft and landed lightly on the floor, just a few feet from the man sitting at the fire.

The man continued to warm his hands with his back to Brandon. “Just you, boy?” he asked.

Brandon walked to the fire and squatted down, stretching out his hands towards the flames. “Yeah, the rest didn’t make it,” he said.

Cooper turned his head to look at Brandon with a grim frown. “Well, that can’t make you very happy,” he said.

Brandon nodded. “It’s been a while since we’ve paid such a price. None of them wasted their sacrifice, though. You should have seen Alan — he took out five of them before they cut him down, and Tony had to have gained serious points from the way he went out. It was amazing.”

Cooper nodded. “Can’t wait to see the footage,” he said. “You ready for the last stage, then?”

Brandon nodded. “I’ll try my best, but we were told it would take at least two of us to get this done.”

“That’s right, but everyone knows you’re much more skilled than two regular players. Don’t worry, Brandon, you still have a shot at it.”

Brandon smiled and stood up. He jumped lightly on his feet and rotated his head from right to left. “Can you tell me anything?” he asked.

Cooper shook his head. “That’s not allowed, I’m only here to give you this.” He reached behind him and pulled out a blade. It was about two feet long and slim with a sharp, tapered edge on one side. The large knife was silvery with gold shapes etched into the blade.

The handle looked plain but as soon as Brandon gripped it he smiled, the hilt was sharkskin, wrapped with fine silver wire to ensure solid contact with the wielder’s hand. He hefted the blade, feeling its perfect balance and lightness. “Thanks,” he said.

Cooper nodded. “Down that hallway and first door on the left,” he said. “Good luck, boy.”

Brandon ran silently down the hall, warily listening for hints of a surprise ambush or trap as he moved. He saw the doorway Cooper had described, and moved to it. Just as his hand touched the doorknob, he heard a small voice behind him.

“Please… help me…”

Brandon looked over his shoulder and saw a small, cramped cell cut into the wall. There was a small boy sitting inside; he wore filthy rags and his hair was damp and matted against the side of his head. A cut on his forehead was black with dried blood, and his nose was swollen and red. Dirty clothes hung from the boy’s gaunt frame, and his filthy hands gripped the bars tightly, cracked fingernails jagged and broken.

Brandon turned away from the door and took a step towards the boy. “What are you doing here?” he asked the boy. “Who put you in that cage?”

“A horrible man beat me and threw me in here. I don’t know how long ago… but he hasn’t fed me and I’m very hungry,” The boy said. His eyes looked both sad and hopeful as he watched Brandon intently. He tried to smile, but his cracked lips revealed a broken tooth and bloody mouth. Someone really put a hurt on this kid, Brandon thought to himself angrily.

“Okay, hold on a second. I have to do something in this room,” Brandon told the boy, “then I’ll come right back for you.”

“But what if you don’t come back?” the boy’s eyes started to water. He was terrified of being left in the cage. “Other people have said the same thing, but they never come back out of that room!”

Brandon shook his head. “Listen, kid, I can’t help you first. I have really important business to get done. Believe it or not, you’re actually safer inside that cage at the moment.”

The boy started to rock back and forth slowly, and a small whine began to build in his chest. “Please, sir,” the boy said. “If you open that door before letting me out, I’m gonna die!”

“Why do you say that?” Brandon looked closely at the cage and then back at the door. Sure enough, there was an intricate group of wires running from the door to the cage.

“That’s what he told me,” the boy was rocking back and forth more forcefully. Brandon could tell the kid was going to become hysterical soon if he didn’t do something.

“Okay, okay, calm down for a second,” Brandon stood and considered his options. The game instructions had been clear. They were to infiltrate the lair and kill the boss. No one had told them how brutal the fight to get this far would end up being, or how high the cost in lives. There wasn’t any mention of freeing a prisoner, but this could be a random bonus. He tapped the blade thoughtfully against his shoulder for a moment. Then he nodded.

“Okay, get
back from the bars,” he said. “I’ll let you out now.”

The boy smiled in relief and backed away. “Thank you so much, sir, you’ve saved my life.”

Brandon nodded and smiled back as he approached the bars. His hand touched the lock and he bent closer to examine it.

Suddenly, Brandon felt a
tiny scratch. He looked up and saw the boy’s filthy hand on top of his own. The kid’s nails were sunk deep into Brandon’s hand, and he could feel liquid fire beginning to spread into it. He jerked his hand back and stepped away as the boy grinned viciously at him. Immediately Brandon knew he’d made a mistake. The instructions had been clear and he hadn’t followed them. Now he was going to pay the price.

Brandon sank to the ground as the fiery poison
quickly spread from his arms and into his legs. He slumped against the wall and looked at the boy silently.

“
Not very smart, Mister,” the boy said with mock sympathy. “You shouldn’t have helped me. Being a nice guy just cost you the win.”

Before he could reply, Brandon toppled over onto the floor. He was dead before his head hit the ground.

Chapter 40

Tony and Easton were the final team members to arrive. Kay opened the door
to Brandon’s room and let them in. It wasn’t possible to lock the door — that would never be allowed in the Centre — but with Tony leaning against it, no one would suddenly burst in on them.

Brandon sat down on his bed and looked at them with a pleased smile. “We’ve finally got enough points,” he announced.

“For all of us?” Alan asked.

“That was the deal,” Brandon nodded. “No one buys the perk until we can all afford it.”

Easton whistled slowly. “Is there another crew out there who all have it?”

“Not a single one,” Brandon said. “The perk is so expensive, no one else has done it yet.”

When the Sim had reached its first year anniversary, Thorn had announced a new point system. From that day forward, players earned points by playing games that could be spent to acquire a myriad of things inside the Sim. A staggering number of perks were added to the Sim, and players immediately began to make purchases from a list of abilities, skills, and power ups that could be equipped and used. Examples of simple and low cost perks included cosmetic things such as changing an avatar’s eye colour or gaining the ability to make its hair glow for a short period of time. More expensive perks were things like adding to an avatar’s strength, growing in height by an inch or more, or gaining better lung capacity in order to be able to run for a longer period of time before tiring. The list of perks was extensive, and it continued to grow as the years passed. 

Brandon and his crew had stood before the master list on that first day and scanned the entire menu. Almost in unison, their eyes had settled on one perk. Brandon had whispered, “I want that one,” while the rest murmured in agreement. They had met in Brandon’s room, which was their command centre, and unanimously agreed to work towards saving for it. The five of them had sworn to wait until everyone could buy it at the same time.

After two years of playing and saving small amounts of points from every game, they finally had enough to make their purchase.

All of them would soon be flying inside the Sim.

“How does it work, again?” Kay asked. “It’s been a while since I’ve read the perk description.”

“Here, I think I have it,” Easton said, pulling up the info on his tablet. “Flying Perk: Once activated, it can be used in special flying zones inside the Sim. Players with the flying perk will have access to brand new games and contests. Team play will be allowed in most flying games; as always, check details on each game before signing up to play.”

“It still gives us wings, right?” Tony asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Brandon said. He’d grown considerably over the past three years, which was no surprise since he was the youngest of the bunch. His face had become slightly longer, his height had shot up, and he’d lost the button nose and smaller mouth that young children all seemed to have. Although he was a veteran of the games like the rest of them, he was still only eight years old. If he was a normal child, he’d still have another two years to wait to even have the chance to apply to come here. Brandon hadn’t been a normal
kid at five, and he was definitely not a normal kid at eight. “If we don’t get actual wings, I don’t even want the perk.”

Easton looked at his tablet for details and nodded. “Yep, we still get the wings graphic, but now we can modify them in colour and texture and even make them ghostlike or invisible if we want to.”

“Awesome,” Alan said. The rest nodded in agreement. “When are we going to go and buy them?” he asked.

“I want us to vote one more time that we actually want them,” Brandon said.

The rest of the kids laughed, but they stopped when it became obvious Brandon wasn’t joking.

“I’m serious,” he said. “We’ve been saving a portion of our points for a long time now, and it’s a very expensive perk. We need to decide if we
should spend the points in another area or if we go ahead and treat ourselves to what is likely just a vanity perk.”

Everyone knew he was right. Getting your wings was a status symbol first and a strategic purchase second. There weren’t many games to play inside the Sim that involved flying. There also weren’t many areas inside where you could use your wings. The General had vehemently demanded that the Sim remain realistic. ‘Magical’ or non-realistic occurrences inside the Sim functioned only in special zones or parks reserved for special conditions, and all of these areas were expensive. The General made it that way to encourage serious play in the Sim.

“Well, I vote yes,” Tony said. “We’ve wanted this forever. There were times I died inside a Sim game and the only thing that made the pain and misery bearable was knowing that someday soon I was gonna be able to fly. Now that day is here and I want to do it. I don’t care if we could buy a different perk that might allow us to do something better. I want it. I vote yes.”

“Anyone gonna
vote no?” Brandon asked. If everyone agreed, there was no point in wasting time. Brandon never wasted time needlessly.

Easton raised his hand slowly. “I’d vote no, I guess.”

“Anyone else?”

Kay raised her hand also.

“Okay, then,” Brandon said. “It has to be unanimous, so let’s hear it.”

Easton shook his head. “I want to fly badly, but it’s such a huge amount of points. There are better perks we could buy that would really help us compete.”

“We already compete,” Tony said, “we compete and win most times.”

The group chuckled at the understatement. Their ratio of wins versus losses was unmatched by anyone. All groups and ages competed against each other, and Thorn had been right when he said the young ones would do well against the older groups. Of the top 20 teams, 14 were young, and Brandon’s Hand was number one on many scoreboards. They were formidable and they didn’t even have some of the best perks available.

“So you say no because we could use the points to buy a better perk that will help us in areas where we don’t really need help?” Brandon asked.

“I guess,” Easton said. “I’d like to fly… it’s just that I think maybe we should be more responsible.”

Kay laughed and shook her head. Brandon raised his eyebrows at her.

“I was thinking the same thing,” she said. “But it sounds ridiculous when I hear it out loud. I think we should go for it. It’s been our goal forever, and we can afford it, both points-wise and from a competitive point of view.” Kay nudged Easton and smiled. “Come on, old man, let’s kick loose for a change and go flying.”

Easton looked at the others for a moment, then smiled and nodded his head. “All right, let’s do it.”

Brandon stood up. “Okay, then… let’s go get our wings.”

The group let out cheers of excitement as they filed out of the room.