The World's Game

by Jacobo Izquierdo

  “That’s absurd,” he answered standing up as he stirred his coffee. “The WHO hasn’t managed to find an explanation to the mutation suffered and blame the laboratory that developed the drug. The director of the project wanted to be cautious, so despite obtaining very good results in humans, he recommended not commercializing it until ten years had passed. But only six months later, owing to the high mortality rate, the highest spheres in society, led by the Bilderberg club, obliged the drug to be commercialized without hearing his recommendations. Later, when the problems arouse, the full force of the law fell upon the weakest link in the chain.”

  “These governors are incredible!” Margaret exclaimed indignant.

  “Would it be possible that that drug had modified the disease?” Josef asked chewing a cookie.

  “Honestly, I don’t know,” he answered sitting on the sofa again. “No one knows it. The mutation appeared breaking all the established rules of logic. Nowadays, there are people with cancer and some others with mutated cancer. The former is easier to be fought; the tumor cells are more primitive and there are some treatments that fight them successfully. But the new one is very dangerous: its carcinogenic cells are constantly evolving and have an uncontrollable expansion capacity. A healthy body can become completely ill in a week.”

  “Isn’t there any treatment to fight it yet?”

  “No,” he answered with a serious expression. “At the beginning, we thought that mutated cancer could only be suffered by people who had consumed the drug and their offspring. But years later we began to find the first cases in people who hadn’t been in contact with the drug. This confirmed the theory that the drug hadn’t been responsible for the mutation.”

  “Can I see the animals?” Margaret asked.

  Steve nodded. He got up from the sofa and asked one of his colleagues to go with her. «How childish!» The librarian thought as he watched the girl getting up joyfully as a child visiting the zoo for the first time.

  “Which of the two types do you study here?” Josef asked.

  Steve came back to the area of relax and sat beside him.

  “The modified one. The old cancer is investigated in most of the labs around the world. However, the mutated one is investigated by very few labs. One of the best scientists of the world publicly declared that studying it was absurd since we were at light years of being able to fight it.”

  “It must be frustrating dedicating so much time and obtaining so little.”

  “It is,” he said forcing a smile. “On several occasions, in order to motivate my team, I play documentaries related with great discoveries on the monitors. One of my favorites tells how in 2021 a British scientist created the drug that put an end to AIDS. In countries such as South Africa, Nigeria or Kenya, life expectancy has increased to seventy years old. Documentaries like that one help us to find motivation and keep on. If I’m sacrificing the time I should be spending with my family, it’s because I do believe we will be able to create the drug that puts an end to this pandemic. When that happens, I’ll fully dedicate to make up for lost time.”

  “I’m sure you’ll make it.”

  “Only God knows,” he said hopeful. “Now that we’re alone,” he whispered. “Margaret is your friend or is she something else?”

  Josef blushed and started to get nervous.

  “A very good friend,” he stuttered. “Neither her nor me want to change that situation. Besides, she’s too young for me. I see her, how can I tell you? …As the younger sister I never had.”

  Steve did not believe that. «A friend that has stayed a hundred days at a hospital.» He loved making his brother feel uneasy. Since they were teenagers, speaking about women had been a real torment for the librarian. He did not like sharing his romances with anyone, and doing it with his brother made him even more nervous.

  “Little brother,” he said surrounding Josef’s neck with his arm, “you’re still as shy as ever.”

  Chapter 31

  Taking advantage of his father’s absence, Palac returned to the Golden Pyramid. This time his aim was to spot a memory in particular. That one that showed his grandfather learning to master the powers he was looking forward to know. After ten days searching among millions of memories stored in his niolar, the intrepid midarian found what he was looking for.

  The vision started by showing his grandfather as he was getting out of a transport cabin along with the last midarian woman. «Plisalet,» he thought remembering the story Jalop told. Despite never having seen one, the drawings and sculptures stored in the historic pyramid have made him get an idea of their appearance. They were two meters and a half tall and weighed around a hundred and fifty kilos. Their head was smaller than their bodies, but it could hardly been seen due to the fact of being covered by the helmet. The suit was their most remarkable feature. The part that covered their legs was made of silver, while the one that protected their torso and arms was made of gold.

  Yewut and his partner started to go up some narrow stairs until they finally went outside through a small opening that led there. I could be seen nothing at all. For some minutes, they remained still and in silence. Suddenly, a strong reddish light ball started to shine slightly illuminating the landscape.

  “He already knows we’re here,” Yewut said. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “I have no other option,” Plisalet answered saddened.

  Yewut put his hand on the female midarian’s head. Then, they started walking along the path. A building with the shape of a sphere projected the reddish light with blinding intensity. Both visitors walked towards it and entered. Its interior was simple and minimalist: a circular structure, without walls or objects, only a strong radiance at the top.

  “Welcome,” a strident voice said

  “Crizal?” Yewut asked.

  “You’re still as dubitative as ever.”

  The light ball started to descend from the top showing a sinister and monstrous being. Commonly known as the Cyclops of Zelapon, Crizal was the only rational inhabitant on his planet.

  He was almost five meters tall. As if he were a tree, his body was a compact blue mass with no limbs. He did not need them since he used his mental power to move around levitating and picking any object at a mind-boggling speed. His head was oval its size was thrice as big as his body’s proportions. His face was tenebrous: it showed a gigantic mouth formed by two rows of teeth as sharp as knives and a sharp tongue that went in and out all the time. In the middle of the forehead, a single eye capable of radiate a titanic reddish light.

  The Cyclops reached the ground and remained floating at several centimeters. Despite having known him for a long time, Plisalet could not help taking some steps back.

  “Are you still afraid of me?” Crizal asked.

  “No,” the female midarian lied.

  The Cyclops turned off the light and everything became dark. Suddenly, a ray of whitish light came out from his eye and crashed against one of the walls of the building. A small fire was formed and it dimly illuminated the room.

  “You’ll have to get used to my presence. If you’ve come, it’s because you’ve accepted your leader’s request.”

  Plisalet bent her head downwards.

  “Don’t be sad. Our match will give birth to a new civilization on my planet. Well, in our planet —he corrected himself— a unique and powerful race!” He shouted splashing his fluids on the female midarian’s helmet.

  As it happened in Mida, Zelapon also suffered a hard impact when his main start extinguished. In few months, all its inhabitants except from Crizal died. It was not due to lack of food since they did not eat; it was due to a strange disease produced by the absence of light.

  “I’ve already done my part,” Yewut said in a severe tone. “Now it’s your turn.”

  The Cyclops looked at him with contempt. «What a beast!» Palac thought at watching the cold and devouring gaze of that monster.

  “Under what excuses are you going to use my powers?”
/>
  “The only aim is to defend my people. I know that after the peace treaty some planets have developed very powerful skills with their minds.”

  “Weapons are for the weak ones!” Crizal shouted. “For millions of years you have defended yourself using artificial means. Learning my powers won’t be easy.”

  “I know,” the midarian leader answered. “No one said it would be.”

  Crizal looked at him defiantly. A long and uncomfortable silence floated in the room.

  “To begin with,” he said in a quieter tone, “I’ll show you the most destructive power that exists. The ray. Developing it requires a lot of practice and talent, but mastering it with power requires an outstanding technique.”

  The monster lifted some meters from the ground and left the building hastily. Both midarians run after him. The reddish light emitted by the Cyclops shone again and guided them up to his spot.

  “Come here!” He ordered them.

  “We can’t move as fast as you can,” Plisalet answered.

  Once more, darkness reigned in Zelapon.

  “We can’t see anything!” Yewut shouted stopping walking.

  A slight click was heard and immediately after, five light sources appeared.

  “What was that?” Plisalet asked.

  “The ray,” Crizal answered. “Well, the rays.”

  “The rays?” Yewut asked.

  “Yes. I shot five in the same fraction of a second. Your eyes are incapable of perceiving them. I’d be happy if you could only master one.”

  “Me too,” the midarian leader answered.

  “The most important thing in order to develop this skill is to fully concentrate. You have to turn your whole body off. Leave your mind blank and close your eyes. Next, visualize a thin line along a straight space.”

  Palac saw how the eyes of his grandfather slowly closed. Now he could only hear what happened around him.

  “It’s a very slow process,” he complained. “I’ll be killed before I can defend myself.”

  “If you practice regularly, in some years you’ll be able to create it in milliseconds.”

  “I hope so,” he said opening his eyes.

  “Shut up!” He shouted violently. “You’ve already lost concentration. Leave your mind blank and try it again!” He ordered.

  He shut his eyes once again, interrupting the vision once more.

  “Try to focus all the stored energy of your body on that line. Once you think you’ve made it, start to widen it slowly.”

  The Cyclops pushed Plisalet and both moved from the midarian leader’s line of vision.

  “When it’s wide enough to occupy the whole space you’ve imagined,” he made a short pause, “open them!” He shouted.

  Yewut’s eyes uncovered. The surrounding seemed not to have had any modification at all. He looked everywhere with the hope of finding some light source. In its place, he saw Plisalet and a beast laughing out loud.

  “What’s so funny for you both?” He asked angrily.

  “You were convinced that you had made it,” Crizal answered still mocking. “When you opened your yes, you looked everywhere trying to spot your creation. It’s not easy to make a ray,” he said adopting a more respectful position. “The stronger your mind power it, the more powerful it will be.”

  “It’s so complicated synchronizing body and mind in one single spot,” Yewut said.

  “When you master it, it’s quite simple. Can you see that mound?” He asked pointing to a small mound on his left with his sharp tongue.

  He nodded. The mountain was the size of a thirty-storey building. The Cyclops moved some meters forwards. Next, a strong ray came out from his eye crashing against the center of the mound. A huge dust cloud completely wrapped them. Some rock fragments started to fall at a very few meters from his spot.

  “You’re crazy!” Plisalet shouted scared.

  “Maybe that was too strong,” Crizal said.

  Little by little, the column vanished. «Where’s the mountain?» Palac wondered. The small prominence had disappeared. Only some smoking pieces of what for millions of years had been a mountain lay scattered everywhere.

  “Why should I make the line wider?” Yewut asked downplaying the incident.

  The Cyclops moved again to the visitors’ spot.

  “Because it symbolizes the power of your whole body. You have to increase its width as you start noticing that the energy gets concentrated in it. When you think you’ve gathered all of it, the line has to occupy the whole imagined space. The most difficult and delicate moment is when you have to open your eyes since you have to keep on visualizing it to project it outside your mind walls. This way, you’ll make all your strength come out through your eyes materialized as a ray.

  Palac was in a puzzle at hearing the description the Cyclops had given him. He was willing to come out of the Golden Pyramid and to start the fight. The hate he felt for his father grew deeper every time. «One day, I’ll avenge grandpa.»

  “It’s more complex than what I had thought,” the midarian leader said. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to control such power.”

  “You’ve only tried once,” Plisalet said.

  “Try to reach that small rock over there,” Crizal said.

  Yewut’s eyes closed. Some seconds later, he opened them and a small spark came out from them. He repeated the procedure several times without getting the expected result.

  “You’re improving,” Crizal said ironically. “The rock will be grateful to you.”

  The midarian leader approached the cliff with frustration and he threw it strongly several hundreds of meters. Then, he turned around and remained staring at the Cyclops.

  “You already know everything you need to know about the ray. You’ll have to learn the rest by yourself.”

  Chapter 32

  The accident and his later encounter with his mother changed Josef’s life forever. He did not know if that had been a real encounter or a product of his imagination, as the doctors used to tell him, but he felt important. « Find the task you were entrusted and carry it out,» his mother told him short before disappearing. Someone, who was that almighty being that she had described him at the passage, had chosen him to carry out a mission. He spent his days exclusively dedicated to the rehabilitation of his right leg and to study anything he may consider interesting. The fact of being completely unaware of what his task was, sometimes made him lose time studying inconsequential things, but he did not care since he had no better thing to do. For the time being, his post at the library was covered by a substitute exclusively hired to cover his sickness leave.

  Margaret went back to university after almost four months of having been absent. The course was already in its last weeks and she was going to find it very difficult to cope with that situation. She slept only four hours a day. She had no spare time at all. She also suppressed her nights out and her visits to the young librarian turned into phone calls. After coming back from San Diego with Josef and making sure he was fine, she focus exclusively in passing the course.

  “Have I caught you in a bad moment?” Margaret asked. The girl was in the porch of her friend’s house and after having rung the bell several times, she decided to call him.

  “I’m finishing having a shower,” Josef answered holding the telephone with one hand and a sponge with the other. “Give me two minutes.”

  With his hair wet and half-rinsed, he opened the door. Margaret laughed out loud at seeing him appearing with foam on his ears. Josef invited her in and finished drying himself.

  “What a nice surprise!” Josef exclaimed smiling.

  The girl was sitting on one of the chaise longs and was hiding a bag under her arms.

  “I’ve been given the exams’ results today,” she said crestfallen.

  «She’s failed for my fault.»

  “How did you do in them?” He muttered troubled.

  “Not as good as I would’ve liked,” she answered. She looked as if she were ab
out to burst into tears.

  “I’m sorry. I was my fault,” Josef did not know how to compensate her sadness.

  “Next year,” the girl raised her eyes and smiled, “in the second course, I’ll do my best. I got the medium mark of seven point four!” She exclaimed showing a wonderful smile.

  “Really?”

  She nodded and they hugged each other. It was then when Josef noticed the bag she had on her legs.

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s for you,” she answers offering him the packet. It was medium-sized and rectangular. “For being like you are.”

  “You know I don’t like presents,” he said making a slight grimace of disapproval.

  Accustomed to receive them very frequently from his grandpa, the time he spent in the reception center made him hate them. Some boys there did receive presents from their relatives, but he did not. Anything would have satisfied his need, but when that moment arrived, the librarian had turned more demanding.

  “Come on, open it!” His foster mother said.

  Sitting in front of a huge and decorated Christmas tree, Josef felt himself the center of attention. Around him, Steve with the twins and a dozen of relatives were anxiously waiting that helpless boy’s reaction. The illusion previous to unmask that present turned into sadness and disappointment.

  “A Bible?” He asked with tears in his eyes.

  “Yes, a digital Bible. Don’t you like it?” His mother asked.

  Josef did not answer. He dropped the present and, immediately after, he ran to his room until Steve convinced him to open the door to him.

  “Como on, Josef, open it!” Margaret said putting an end to his dreaminess.

  Still with that bitter memory floating in his thoughts, the librarian started to take off the paper covering that present. «I hope it’s not a Bible.»

  “Running shoes!” He exclaimed happily.

  “Do you like them?” She asked with satisfaction.

  “I love them. Just what I needed! The doctor told me that I’ll be able to run again soon.”