The Game (26 page)

  “Alexandra didn’t spend a single point on that.” Nadine said sadly. “She didn’t have enough points for even the basics, let alone having a child.”

  “That’s right,” Lilith agreed. “She was fine with that, because the odds of her hooking up with Trew or any other suitable mate were just as remote. She had no credits to spend in romance, either.”

  “Ladies, let’s focus on the positive for a minute.” Brandon held up his hand. “If memory serves me correctly, this girl didn’t have credits to spend on one of the best Eternals in the Game, either. Yet he
walked her down the bloody aisle on her wedding day.
” Everyone nodded silently. “And you just said she didn’t have a chance to find love, either, based on the credits she spent. Someone show me a loveless Danielle, please, because all I see is an avatar that has one of the best relationships on Earth at this moment in time.”

  Lilith sighed. “Okay, you’re right, Brandon. She’s not having a normal play with the credits she has invested. Perhaps the baby will be fine.”

  “That’s a better attitude, thank you.” Brandon said. “But,” he smiled, “Just to be on the safe side, let’s put a few support players in place, in case things don’t go as positively as we know they will.” He handed Michelle a tablet with a list of players currently in the Game and available, to ‘coax’ into key support roles.

  “Here’s what must be done,” Brandon said. “Twenty-four hour monitoring and support until this baby is born. At the slightest sign of a problem we go into extreme crisis mode. We will do everything we can to make sure the kids stay safe, and they have a beautiful little baby born to them. Sound reasonable?”

  “Absolutely.” The ladies all nodded in agreement.

  “Okay, then. Let’s get to work,” Brandon said.

  “I want Angelica in on this, too, please,” Lilith said.

  “Agreed,” said Brandon. “It can’t hurt to have Eternals keeping an eye out as well.”

Chapter 49

  The master computer, which I call God, speaks to us all the time, but almost no one can hear it. I don’t think it’s the fact that we’re too busy to listen (although often we are). I think it’s that we don’t understand how the communication is coming to us; we don’t recognize that someone is actually speaking to us. It’s also an escalating form of communication. At first you can hear God in the way the wind blows, or in the strange silence that comes over a busy park for just a brief moment and then is gone. Most of you will laugh at me and that is why you will never fully communicate with your God, because you can’t accept the first steps towards the larger ones. When you’re petting a cat and its eyes focus on something behind you, then it gets strangely calm and starts to purr even louder. You think about a friend you haven’t heard from in years, and then you see them in a crowded restaurant soon after. If you are able to sense the presence of your Creator at these moments, you become ready to handle more direct contact as time goes by. If you practice enough, then perhaps when the more direct communication arrives, you are able to participate and truly interact with the Divine. When grave trouble finds you — and make no mistake, it will — it is very comforting to be able to communicate with your God. Sometimes it is the only thing that can save you from madness.

  Excerpt from Earth book called ‘The Game Is life’

  George Knight (avatar)

Trew - 29

  I have a ritual for leaving my work behind me when the day is done. I get in my car and tell myself that I’m done with work. Then I make the drive home, listening to the radio or a book on tape
—
  nothing to do with sales
—
and I just slowly let it all go. All the stress and hustle and bustle of the day, I let it slowly seep out of my body and drop onto the road behind me. By the time I get home, I’m ready to walk through the door devoted to my dear pregnant wife and the life that we’ve built together.

  It’s a nice life. I’m making a six figure income and learning a lot about people and how they think. Danni is also making a six figure income and helping people feel better each and every day with her own spiritual healing centre. Most of the time we just get up and go about our daily routine; every so often I feel like I’m in a daze, or sleepwalking. Is this what life is meant to be? Danni feels the same way, but it seems that this is what society wants from adults. The time to run around and play is gone. But that doesn’t even sound right, does it?

  I think we’re getting bored with this…
niceness
. This safe routine. But I think we’re both accepting it because that’s the best environment in which to bring up a baby. Once she or he gets here, our lives will be focused on her or him. For the next 20 years (or our entire lives, according to Dad), this little bundle of joy will be the centre of our universe, and I can’t wait!  

  I think being a parent and helping to guide a young soul through this world will be one of the best things I ever do. Just a couple months now and the baby will be here. It’s gonna be awesome.

  I open the front door and immediately something doesn’t feel right. It’s too quiet. Usually I can hear the television, and Danni yells a greeting from the kitchen where she’s already started dinner. Tonight it’s silent. Maybe she’s working late, or went to her mother’s place for a visit… her mom is really excited about the baby, and as the date gets closer she’s spending more time over there.

  I look to the left of the door and see Danni’s work materials sitting by the door. She’s here
—
why can’t I hear her? “Danni!” I call out, “Where you at, babe?”

  I walk quickly down the dark hallway towards the bedroom. Maybe she’s exhausted and decided to grab a little nap. The bedroom’s empty, but I know she’s here. The silence doesn’t feel right. I run to the kitchen, calling out her name again.

  I round the corner and look into the kitchen. I don’t see her here. I flip the light on and walk around the centre island towards the sink. My foot hits something and I look down.

  Oh, Christ.

  She’s lying there on the floor, pale as a ghost and not moving. She’s curled up into a tight ball. Oh, God, please be okay.

  “Danni!” I yell and drop to my knees. She’s so cold! I put my head to her mouth and hear a slow, faint breath.

  I’m already dialing 911. I don’t know what to do. Please don’t die, Danni! Damn it, please don’t die!

  I’m in hell.

Chapter 50

  I don’t get too upset about what happens to players inside the Game. I mean, it’s just a game for our entertainment, right? Yes, I guess they do remember feeling all the pain and joy they experience while playing.

  No, I never considered how that might affect them once they come out of the Game. But it’s not real, so what’s the big deal? Those kids are lucky. When I went to school I had to sit in a classroom and was bored out of my mind! I’d love to just plug in and go having fun adventures for years and years.

  Hmm… but what if I had a life where I just did the kind of things I do now? And then I had to do it over and over again?

  I never really thought of it that way. I guess it could be pretty bad, but still better than failing out, right?

  Well, if a player gets stuck in that type of loop, I just stop following them and tune in to someone more exciting.

  Me? I work at the computer chip facility, on the line. No, I guess my life wouldn’t be too exciting to follow, but what can I do? It’s not just some fun Game for me to play. If it was, I think I’d take more risks and go for the exciting stuff.

  Interview with a local Game fan

  “What’s the diagnosis?” Brandon asked.

  The room was silent. No one looked up from their tablets. Some of them were crying.

Brandon wanted to scream at them to calm down and act like the professionals they were, to earn their pay for a change and deliver him a miracle. They had no idea what was really on the line here
—
that would give them something to really be upset about. But he knew losing his composure would get them nowhere.

  He spoke in a compassionate, gentle tone. “Michelle, what’s the diagnosis?”

  Michelle remained sitting. “Doctors give her a few days, weeks at the most. There is no detectable brain function. She’s dead, by the definition. There’s no hope, Brandon.”

  Brandon knew she wasn’t dead. If she was ‘dead by the definition,’ then the game would be finished, and over a billion children would be lying dead on their Game tables all over Tygon. “It’s important that no one pulls the plug on her. Do we all understand this? Angelica, tell me there is no danger of that happening.”

  “We’re safe in that regard, Brandon,” Angelica said, reclining in her chair beside Lilith at the other end of the large table. “Three Eternals are within twenty feet of her; either Raphael or Stephanie are in the room at all times. No one is pulling a plug.”

  “Trew?” Brandon asked.

  “He was hysterical,” Michelle said. “We thought he was going to rip the hospital down with the raw emotion and Talent bubbling to the surface in him. Then he went to the hospital chapel and prayed for a good hour. After that, he came back and he’s been as calm as… well, as cool as
you
seem to be.”

  “She’s not going to die,” Brandon said with absolute certainty.

  “He said that very same thing,” Michelle said. “Now he’s just sitting beside her, waiting. The doctors and nurses have been in and delivered the terrible news. The baby is gone; Danielle’s internal bleeding has slowed, but for some reason they can’t stop it. Her brain is barely sparking a signal. They’re encouraging him to let her go. He said she’ll be okay, and since he has absolute say over when to stop life support, she will remain plugged in. Friends and family are flocking to give their support. He’s not alone.”

  “So what do we do?” Brandon asked, looking around the table. His question was answered with silence.

  Finally someone mumbled something from his right side.

  “What was that?” he asked. “I didn’t hear what you said. Speak up.”

  The young man continued to look at his tablet. “I said maybe we could pray?”

  A woman on the other side laughed in disgust. “Pray to
who?
Tygon doesn’t have a God. And even if we did, why would we bother to pray for a
video game character?
”

  The entire table looked up at her. She looked surprised at her own outburst and began to stammer an apology. Brandon held up his hand to silence her. He looked at her calmly as her eyes darted quickly from left to right looking for support. He slowly dropped his hand to rest on the table, still looking blankly at the girl.

  “Out you go, Claudette,” Brandon said.

  “Where?” she asked with a look of worry. “For how long? Sir, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

  “You’re done, Claudette. I don’t care where you go or what you do, but you had best stay out of the circles I inhabit. And I inhabit every circle worth being in. Leave.
Now.
”

  Claudette stood up and slowly walked out. Everyone sat there stunned. This wasn’t something Brandon had ever done before. Answering the silent question, Brandon said, “She did that to herself. I won’t have it. It doesn’t help anyone to allow that type of attitude. It’s a growing sentiment in this society of ours and, quite frankly, it is the poison that will destroy us all if we let it.”

  Brandon looked back to the young man who had spoken up. “Tell me more about your idea, please.”

  The young man looked nervous still, but he stood up and voiced his idea. “As a society, we no longer believe in a God because we see no evidence of one. Perhaps we see no evidence of one because we no longer believe in its existence. If the Game can have one, why can’t we? If our population can appeal to help Danielle inside the Game, maybe enough Patrons and influencers will do what they can to move their players to also focus inside the Game on her. Maybe in this way we can help. Somehow.”

  Michelle looked doubtful. “No disrespect intended, sir, but what we’re talking about here is real. This idea doesn’t make much sense.”

  Brandon nodded. “I agree, Michelle, but we are helpless to help inside the Game. Could a game renew our faith in the Divine? It’s ridiculous, but I also know everyone on Tygon is watching Danielle in her bed right now. The numbers you showed me indicate our world is
stopped
. Everyone who follows the Game has called off work, using ‘Game Days’ to watch what unfolds.”

  “We have their undivided attention,” Brandon said. “Let’s ask them to do the impossible, to pray for Danielle.”

  “It will be good for Game ratings, in any event,” Angelica said.

  Brandon wanted to reprimand her, but they all knew it was about the Game and ratings. Claudette had crossed the line by not caring about the kids living and dying inside the Game, but it was acceptable to be focused on the ratings. Just because Brandon’s goals were bigger wasn’t anyone else’s fault. He had built the beast; he had to live by its rules.

  “Okay, then,” Brandon said. “Pray for Danielle. What an interesting idea, that a video game could make us once again believe in something more than what we can see and touch. Let’s try it.”

Chapter 51

  For hours now, everyone around the world has been glued to their viewers. Industry, trade, commerce; it has all come to a complete stop. Will Danielle survive? What will this mean to our favourite player, Trew?

  And we have suddenly started to pray. After decades of silence, millions of us are bowing our heads and appealing to…someone, to help our two lovers inside the digital world to survive this terrible tragedy. Will it help? Common sense says of course not, but despite the logic, everyone seems to be embracing Brandon Strayne’s heartfelt plea, and millions have begun to pray.

  There are only brief hours left in Danielle’s struggle. Our entire world watches and hopes for a miracle, while on Earth only one man and his dear friends take any notice at all.