Mind Games (4 page)
A queue snaked out of the Golden Eardrum. Men in suits shouted and swayed. Women in their best dresses teetered in high-heeled shoes.
None of these people look like hackers,
thought Zac.
Actually, they look like an ad
for staying at home with a good DVD.
Just then, the bouncer unclipped the velvet rope blocking the entrance. He waved a couple through, and Zac tagged along behind. He was inside!
The Golden Eardrum was absolutely packed. In a crowd like this, the hackers could be anywhere.
Through a smoky haze, Zac saw a stage at the front of the room. Above that, there was a large screen. Song lyrics appeared on the screen so you could follow along when you were up on stage singing.
Along one wall, he saw what looked like phone booths. They were sound-proof karaoke practice booths.
Up on stage, a trio of girls were finishing a horrible, soppy love song.
âNow's my chance!' Zac whispered to himself. He sneaked up to the stage. He hid the Protector Projector under a nearby table and switched it on. A beam of light shot out. Zac aimed it at the stage.
Leon's gadget worked! For there, up on stage, was an absolutely realistic hologram of Zac singing a Nemesis song at the top of his voice.
The audience whistled and cheered.
Time for the real Zac to get to work!
Zac scanned the crowd. A group of teenagers stood by the stage, watching the hologram of Zac's awesome performance.
Could they be the hackers?
They looked younger than everyone else in the Golden Eardrum. And it made sense that computer whizzes would be kids.
Just then, Zac's hologram made a strange choking noise.
What? That wasn't in the song!
âDon't wanna be a grown-up, oh no no no,' sang the hologram.
Then came the strange choking noise again.
âOh no no no â '
âOh no no no â
' The hologram was jammed! It repeated the same line over and over, like a CD skipping. Zac's cover was blown!
A second later, Zac turned back to the teenagers. But they were gone!
Then Zac saw them disappearing into the karaoke practice booth second from the left. He counted seven people going into the booth.
That doesn't seem right,
thought Zac.
How
could so many kids fit into such a small space?
Sticking to the shadows, Zac tip-toed over to the booth second from the left. He took a deep breath and threw open the door.
The booth was completely empty!
Looking down, Zac noticed a trapdoor cut into the floor.
The handle was still warm!
Zac heaved open the trapdoor. Down in the gloom, Zac saw a ladder.
Probably
leads to the hackers' underground lair,
thought Zac.
Zac had no idea if the hackers would still be down there. But there was only one way to find out. As quietly as he could, Zac sneaked down the ladder.
He looked around.With its white walls and bare light bulbs, the room looked like an ordinary storeroom. The only difference was, it was filled with rows of the latest computers.
If this is the hackers' secret lair,
thought Zac,
where are the hackers?
There was absolutely no-one around.
Frustration bubbled up in Zac. He'd been so close! Yet somehow the hackers had slipped away.
Downbeat, Zac took another look around. The hackers had left no trace behind.
No dropped wallet.
No mobile phone.
Not even a single hair.
Exceptâ¦
What on earth was
that thing,
sitting on the floor?
It was the weirdest thing Zac had ever seen. It was shaped like a normal games console, but where the left, right, up and down buttons should have been, this thing had wires hanging out. Attached to the end of the wires was a shiny metal helmet. It looked like a high-tech version of Zac's mum's colander!
Zac dug out his SpyPad and snapped off a digital photo. Then he emailed a copy through toTech Support back at GIB Mission Control. If there was anyone nerdy enough to know what this was, it was Leon.
A few seconds later, Zac's SpyPad rang.
âThat's MindLab's latest console, the MindGame 3000!' said Leon, sounding like he was about to pop with excitement.
âWhat does it do?' asked Zac.
âIt's like an ordinary games console, but instead of pressing buttons, you
think
your next move. You can control any computer game just with your mind!'
It sounded cool, but it wasn't going to lead Zac to the hackers.
Leon was carrying on about the Mind-Game 3000. âThis is totally amazing!
They're not even out on the market yet!' Leon was saying as Zac hung up.
Zac found a door and trailed dolefully out of the basement. He'd never let a mission defeat him before. But this time, with no real leads, he had no idea what to do next. He checked his watch.
Time was running out.
Out in the alley, Zac hopped on his karaoke hover scooter. He was about to roar off when something caught his eye. It was a poster.
GAMES CONVENTION
Bladesville Town Hall
TRY OUT THE COOLEST
GAMING TECHNOLOGY!
OPEN 24 HOURS
SPONSORED BY MINDLAB
Zac's spy senses zinged.
If the hackers
owned a games console that wasn't even in the
shops yet, wasn't it possible they'd be involved
in a games convention?
Zac was going to find out!
He zoomed through the streets of Bladesville towards the town hall. Engaging hover mode, he leapt over rubbish bins and the occasional dog. In less than ten minutes, Zac was there.
Zac stopped the hover scooter near the front entrance and raced inside. Almost immediately, he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder.
âExcuse me, sir.'
Zac turned and saw a man in a black suit and dark sunglasses smiling grimly.
âMe?' asked Zac, as innocently as he could. He had to look like an ordinary games-mad kid, not the super spy he was.
âCongratulations!' said the man, in a strange voice. âYou've won a wildcard entry into our Grand Games Battle. The best gamers in the world going head-to-head, live on the big screen.'
âEr, no thanks. I'd rather just look around the convention,' said Zac.
There were hundreds of kids milling around. The hackers were in there somewhere, Zac could feel it. He couldn't afford to waste time in some stupid games competition.
âBut you've been selected by Mind-Lab, the world's most advanced gaming company. What
normal kid
would pass up a chance like that?' asked the man, his eyes narrowing. âYou are a
normal kid
, right?'
âOh, totally normal,' said Zac hastily.
âWell, then. Step this way.'
The man slapped a red MindLab baseball cap onto Zac's head and shoved him towards the stage. Two monitors and two game consoles sat waiting for the players. Overhead, a giant screen had been rigged up so everyone at the convention could see who was playing and how they were scoring.
âYou know how to play
Flight Night
, right?' said the man. âIt's a flight-simulator game.' Zac shrugged. He had some experience with flight simulatorsâ¦
More than most of his opponents, it seemed. One by one, Zac clobbered every challenger. It was easy.
Almost too easy,
thought Zac.
Was someone letting him win?
Pretty soon, Zac found himself in the semi-finals, leading by one point as the siren sounded. He'd made the grand final!
Zac checked his watch.
Playing in the grand final would take up even more time. But even worse, the 8-year-old kid he'd been playing in the semis burst into tears.
âHey, don't cry,' said Zac. âThere's always next year.'
The kid nodded, not convinced. He pulled his blue MindLab baseball cap down lower to hide his tears. The poor kid was a total
Flight Night
addict, that was obvious.
Zac gazed up at the big screen above their heads. On the screen, all you could really see of the players was the backs of their heads. Maybeâ¦
âI've got an idea,' said Zac casually. âI'm kind of in a hurry. Could you do me a favour and take my spot in the grand final?'
The kid's eyes lit up.
âYou wear my red cap and I'll wear your blue one. On the big screen, it'll look like it's me playing instead of you,' said Zac.
Leaving me free to look for the hackers,
Zac added silently to himself.
Zac leapt off the stage. Straight away, the crowd swallowed him up. He was safe, at least for the moment.
He thought over everything Leon told him about the mind-controlled games console the hackers left behind.
It was made by MindLab.
If Zac found the MindLab display here at the Games Convention, there was a good chance the hackers would be somewhere nearby!