The Game (30 page)

  Nadine asked a question. “I’ve never heard of Raphael before. I received only limited info on him when we were informed that Danni had unlocked an Eternal. What’s he experienced in?”

  “Cults.” Brandon answered. “Cults, revolutions, and religions. If you look at every major —and most minor — religious movements in the past… five thousand years?” He looked to Michelle for clarification and she nodded affirmatively. “You will see Raphael close by. He just has a knack for it. The past thousand years he helped many historical avatars form some extremely dangerous and deadly groups.”

  “Sounds like a strange grouping.” The marketing expert said from beside Nadine. “Cults, revolutions, and religions. All very different creatures.”

  “Not very different at all,” Brandon said. “The only real difference is the motivator for the action. A cult is a religion that doesn’t gain popular acceptance. Revolutions follow a government or policy instead of a God. Religion centres around a God that becomes accepted by enough people to gain credibility.” He nodded to Michelle and she sat down.

  Brandon stood up and walked to the main screen. “So here’s everyone’s real concern at the moment. Trew and Danielle, apparently as instructed by the Mainframe, have formed one of the fastest growing movements/religions/cults in recent history. Something like that should help him to maintain his ranking of number one, but almost overnight we see his rank dropping not just a few points, but
thousands
of points. Does that sound about right?”

  Brandon scanned the room and everyone was nodding in agreement. He nodded and smiled.   “Perfect. Let me assure you that there is no real problem here.” Everyone looked confused. Their lives and futures were dropping like a stone thrown off a cliff and here was their boss smiling, not concerned at all.

  Brandon laughed confidently. “I’ve been at this Game for a long time, kids. Let me give you an example even worse than this one. On her last play, Angelica dropped over a million ranking spots. The computer ranking is a combination of many factors, some which I don’t even pretend to understand. One thing is certain though, the final rank of a player is weighed heavily by two things. One factor is how they affect those that they leave behind on Earth. If a child dies fifteen days after it’s born, but its death inspires people to get active and help others, by forming a charity or even just volunteering for instance, then the player who was that child ranks much better than a player whose avatar lives 80 years and contributes nothing to society. The second factor is based on how many Tygon viewers a player has during the entire duration of their play.”

  Brandon could see the group relax visibly, many of them laughing in relief as they understood their futures were still very secure. “That’s right, team, Trew is breaking records for subscribers and viewers. If he continues on this path more will flock to view him daily. He has, what? Another 40 or 50 years, if he lives an average lifetime in the Game? More, if our spent credits on Longevity work out properly. That’s another four to six weeks of Game time left for Trew, and millions of more fans to watch him.”

  Brandon turned around and pointed confidently at the screen. “Trew’s going to continue on this path, it appears. It isn’t what we planned for him before he went in. So now we get behind this as best we can and help him in all the ways we are able.

  “It appears he will not only finish the play in the number one position at this pace — this play could be recognized as one of the greatest sessions in the history of the Game.”

Chapter 58

Stephanie (Danielle is 36)

  I can’t remember the last time I spent so much time with one of my Brothers or Sisters on an assignment.

  Raphael was always like a big brother to me when I first became an Eternal. He was so calm and patient, helping me discover the ropes of this job and training me to unlock my specific strengths during the training stage of initiation. I had many instructors during those first few years, but I always remember my time with Raphael fondly.

  Then he tried to kill me.

  I don’t even know why I’m bothering to think about it. Maybe it’s because I know that you’re viewing me from time to time, A. I miss you. You likely don’t recall me from your plays, but I saw you more than once and you were always one of my favourites. I know you understand the ways of both worlds better than most, but Raphael was a valuable lesson for me. Trust as much as you can, knowing that the gift of trust will likely be the thing that ends it all for you someday.

  Okay, I guess there’s no more time to get into the details of almost dying forever. The driver is pulling up to the office and we’re going in to see Danni. She asked Trew to bring me; apparently she has something incredible to show us.

  I look over at Trew and smile. He’s everything I hoped he would grow into when I first met him as a bright-eyed, curious boy. He’s dressed in a casual shirt and dress pants, very calm and self-confident, but not to the point of arrogance. Thousands of people cheer at him when he stands on the stage, chanting his name and applauding his message. He hasn’t let it change him, though. He believes deep in his heart that it’s the message they follow, not the man. It’s not true, they
do
follow the man, but I’m so glad that he's humble. I’ve seen the Power corrupt some strong people over the centuries, quickly destroying their original ideals and intent more times than I can count. It’s because he has Danielle. I don’t know what he would do without her. I don’t know what she would do without him. Souls like his are the reason I agreed to become an Eternal, to help the best of the best players learn how to become even better, in every way the Game allows.

  We walk into the building and head for the elevator, taking it to the top floor where Danielle’s spiritual centre for gamers is located. She’s hugging a patient at the front door when we arrive. The patient sees Trew and her eyes light up. She whispers something to Danni, who laughs and brings the patient over to meet Trew.

  Trew, always the ambassador, smiles warmly and shakes the patient’s hand. They exchange pleasant words for a few minutes. During the entire conversation Trew focuses intently on the lady, comfortably maintaining eye contact with her and deeply listening to her speak, as if at this moment in time no one else in the world exists. This is one of the most powerful gifts a person can give to another, focused attention. It’s a shame more people can’t do it, but Trew can, and he shows the world how to do it by example.

  And the masses of people are learning. For the first time in a long time, people are becoming more decent and caring towards each other. The common belief that they are all playing a game where everyone shares common struggles, hopes, and goals has been very powerful to society these past few years.

  And the movement is growing.

  The lady leaves and Danni ushers us into her office.

  “I think I’ve done it.” She announces with excitement.

  “Nice!” Trew exclaims.

  “Done what?” I ask.

  “A few years ago we heard about a Reiki master who was able to heal cosmetic wounds,” she says. “We thought it would be worth pursuing, since it’s impossible to deny the existence of something that is visible. It would also be a great way to reinforce our core message.”

  “And you’ve done it?” I ask cautiously.

  Danni nods her head positively. “Look at these pictures. This is Jenna when she first came to me two weeks ago.” Danni shows us pictures of a girl with very severe scarring on her face. “She was a beautiful girl, and then a jealous ex-boyfriend followed her one night, beating her badly. She was lucky to survive, but the doctors could only do so much to help her, and major scarring resulted. Jenna has had three surgeries to help heal her so far but, as you can see from this picture, they still had a long way to go.”

  Trew shakes his head angrily. “Such a sad thing.”

  Danielle nods in agreement. “I met her aunt a few months ago and we got talking. One thing led to another and I soon had Jenna come to the centre. The surgeries were painful and expensive, and she was losing faith that she would ever look normal again. I explained what I believed I could do, if she was willing to let me try. After explaining that it was painless, she agreed.”

  “How’s it going with her?” I ask. “Any improvement at all?”

  Danni smiles. “You tell
me
.” Danni walks over to the door and opens it. “Jenna, please come in here and meet my friends.”

  Jenna walks in and both Trew and I are stunned. Her face is almost perfect. She turns her head slightly and I can see the light catch the faintest of white scar lines, but she’s the beautiful girl from the original “before” pictures. I walk over to her. “Is it all right if I touch your face, hun?” I ask.

  Jenna is smiling, her eyes moist with tears of joy. She nods her head and I gently touch her skin. No makeup at all, and just the faintest, textured lines. She is beautiful again, and no one would ever know she’d been scarred so badly if they didn’t see the pictures.

  “Wow,” I say, not because I don’t believe it’s possible, but because it’s possible for the most talented of Eternals to accomplish something like this, but only an old, powerful one. A regular human did this? Our little Danni…
wow
.

  “I think maybe two more sessions and even the faint lines will disappear,” Danni says cheerfully, and I can hear the voice of that same little fearless girl who expected the world to bend to her will, never surprised when it actually did.

  “Danni. Trew.” I say.

  “What, Steph?” Trew knows the tone in my voice. His face is concerned. It should be.

  I look at them both seriously. “We need to discuss how we proceed with this. Until we do, it’s very important that no one knows that you can do this. Do we all agree?”

  Danni’s smile softens. “Okay, Steph. But still, it’s very cool, right?”

  I smile reassuringly, “Yes, sweet girl. It’s
very
cool.”

Chapter 59

  “If it’s all simply just a computer simulation, a game, then why bother to do anything at all? That’s a common question people who challenge my beliefs ask me, and here is my answer. Just because it’s a game doesn’t mean it’s not 100% real. Has anyone in here ever played a game? Ask a football star how real his game is; it provides the day-to-day focus for his entire being. His house, food, everything results from him playing a game. His entire week, month, year, and often his entire life revolves around a game. Ask an Olympic athlete how real their game is. I hope you see what I’m getting at. Games can be real. They can affect the outcome of everything a person is, and everything they do. Do you know that right now there are computer gamers sitting at their desks who make a six figure income from what they’re doing? They are immersed in their work; it has become their life. A game.

  We all play games. Politics, love, business, you name it. All games.

  I bet everyone here has heard this statement at least a dozen times in your life. It has been used to shame you, or make you act more grown up. 'This isn’t just some big game, you know…'

  The truth is that when you look closely, it is all just some big game…”

  Trew Radfield, excerpt from his opening talk at the world TED summit,
Earth year 2047

Danielle - 37

  “Ahh, this is the life.”

  I open my eyes, glancing to my left. Trew’s looking my way with a big boyish grin on his face. The sun is shining and the breeze coming off the ocean takes the heat away from our skin as we lie baking in the sun on the white sand. Whenever I get too hot I reach for my fancy island drink, complete with umbrella and pineapple. I smile and touch his hand. He grabs mine and we both lay back, thoroughly enjoying the experience.

  “It sure is, love.” I say with a smile. This is day three of a 14-day vacation. We both work hard and make certain to take luxury vacations at least once every three months. It would be more often but, like I said, we both work hard. This one has a little bit of business attached to it; Trew’s giving a talk to a group who decided the best place to hear our message would be in a five-star hotel situated in the Bahamas.

  “What time is the talk tonight?” I ask.

  “Eight,” he says. “The venue is pretty big, babe. I’m a little nervous.”

  I crack one eye open and peer at him through my sunglasses. The confident (but not arrogant) grin on his face tells me that he’s teasing.

  “You don’t
get
nervous, Trew,” I say to him. “And you’ve stood in front of much larger crowds. There are only going to be, what, two thousand people there tonight?”

  He chuckles. “Yeah, something like that. I know the talks go fine. Every once in a while I do get nervous, Danni. I just hide it well.”

  “You only get nervous when you start to think,” I say teasingly. “Once you let that mind of yours go blank, that’s when the real good stuff starts to come out of it.”

  “Hey, that’s not very nice!” I feel a splash of cold and sit up quickly. Trew grins, drops of the cold drink he flicked at me still dripping from his fingertips. “It might be true,” he concedes, “but still not nice.”

  “It’s great to see such big crowds. Remember when only a few people would show up, and most of them were pretty ‘out there?’”

  “Yeah,” Trew says. “The ‘bring your own tin foil hat’ days. Those were some pretty fun times. Not as many vacations, though. I think I’ll take the here and now over those lean days when I quit my job and you lost most of your clients because of the crazy ideas you and your husband were always talking about.”

  We lay quietly for another few minutes, then I announce I’m too hot. “You certainly are!” he says, making me laugh. The guy loves me so much, and I love him right back. I can’t imagine being with someone that didn’t make me feel like this. So alive and happy to… well, to just
exist
. It’s a blessing that we found each other. I sometimes feel like we tried to in another life and it didn’t work out. Maybe this is our reward for the pain we’ve suffered in other plays of the Game. Reincarnation explained from the “life is a game” perspective is one of Trew’s more popular talk topics. He has an endless supply of topics to talk about, but that one is always a favourite with the crowds.