by Amy English
Dylan looked around and shook his head. “Ok. Look. It’s just supposed to be me playing this thing. I snuck and gave Emily a unit so she can go in with me. There’s one more unit. I swear if you mess things up and let your pops find out…” he said, shaking his head with worry. “I won’t man. You know my pop works all the time now and so does my mom. They out a lot. Plus, I’m allowed to lock my door now. I won’t get caught.”
Peter went back with Dylan to his house and the two walked in quietly. They tried to scale the steps without his mother noticing but she heard him anyway. “Dylan is that you,” she said emerging from the kitchen and wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. “Oh hi Peter. How’s Patty?” she asked. “Oh hi Mrs. Wilson. My mom is good,” he replied nervously as he looked around. Peter was terrible at hiding fear and always looked anxious when in the presence of adults other than his own parents. “Oh good. You boys want something to eat,” she asked. “No mam,” Peter replied. Dylan shook his head no. Claire walked back into the kitchen and the two went up to Dylan’s room. “Ok. Wait here. I have to go get it. It’s in the basement,” he cautioned.
Dylan left out of his room and came back a few minutes later with the unit. Peter got anxious. “Aw man. Your father rules man. What can you do? Can I play games like Call of Duty?” he asked. “No. It’s not like that,” he replied. Peter looked puzzled. “Look man…It’s way better than that. This is beyond your imagination,” he said. “Is it complicated. Show me,” Peter replied.
“I am. I’m going to tell you how this works. You and I logged long hours on every game I can think of, so I know you’ll get it. But this is not like any of those. And as much as I’ve played, there’s still so much I am discovering. It has vast capabilities. The more you go in, the more you’re able to do. You get an understanding of your strengths and your weaknesses. It’s like your body gets adapted to it and grows with it. It grows with you. I can’t explain. But it is awesome. I try new things every time I go in and I am getting better. You are more skilled than I am with these types of things. You should maneuver with no problems. Maybe even faster than I did.”
Dylan spent an hour explaining the game and then allowed Peter to do a test run on his game. Peter sat down and Dylan placed the chrome headphones over his ears. Then he set his game to give Peter a two-minute look into the virtual world. “Ok. Where do you want to go?” he asked. Peter chuckled. He could barely contain his excitement. He was giddy like a child. “I don’t know. Pick something,” he replied. Dylan thought about where he’d already been. Space wasn’t that exciting. But Amusement and Safari were. There were still the Mountain, Ocean, Rural, and City. Locations he had not explored.
He selected Mountain. A setting he had not been in himself. He hoped Peter would emerge with good news about the location and give him some idea of whether or not it was worth playing. “Ok. I selected the mountains. I’m not going to let you go into Safari. There a glitch with the animals or something. I’m not sure. That whole incident with the Rhino was a trip. So just to be safe, I selected mountains.”
Peter smiled and laid back on the bean bag. He got comfortable. He closed his eyes as the timer counted down. Peter seemed to get nervous as the time approached. He shuffled his legs and cleared his throat. He was going into an unknown game. He wasn’t sure what to expect. He glanced back at the timer. 12, 11, 10, 9 showed as the games prepared to start. He looked at Dylan and gave a half smile. His nerves now taking over. “You’re fine. It’s cool. Don’t worry,” Dylan said, in an attempt to ease any fears. Peter held onto the headphones as his eyes closed. Dylan watched as Peter drifted off into a very peaceful sleep.
Peter awoke in an electrical world. He looked down at his body. He stretched his arms out. He looked down at his legs. He tried to scream out but was unable to speak. He felt a chill. He was dressed in what seemed to be hiking gear. He had on large spiked boots and was carrying a backpack. He took it off his back and unzipped the top. He pulled out a ice axe, water bottle, a harness, a rope and a pulley. In a separate compartment he pulled crampons and several rappel devices.
He put the equipment on and packed what he needed to carry and ascended up the mountain. He was impressed with his own agility. The mountain was the size of mount Everest. He wondered if he would make it to the top.
He scaled for what seemed like hours, grabbing on to the edge of the rock as he continued to climb. Suddenly he felt a vibration. He looked up. It was a land slide. Huge boulders were tumbling his way. Peter panicked. He wondered what would happen if he got hit by one. Would he feel the impact? Would he be in pain? Could he die? Dylan said nothing about it.
Peter thought quickly. He had just another minute. He moved to the side. He saw a clearing. And are that would be missed by the boulders if he could just slide a few feet over. Peter moved his right leg over as wide as he could then gripped the rock as he pulled himself onto a small ledge. He moved again to the right, pulling himself over until he was under the small opening. Soon the rock came crashing past him. He could feel the mountain shake. The boulders were large as automobiles. Peter covered his head. He wasn’t sure he was far enough over.
Soon the rumbling stopped. He looked up. The area above him was all clear. He looked down as the rocks crashed to the ground. Some breaking in two. He caught his breath then continued his ascent. Soon he was nearing the top. The sky darkened. A beautiful star filled sky illuminated the ground. Peter was in awe.
It was the most beautiful sight. And he felt he had accomplished something great. Besides the boulders giving him a scare, he otherwise, felt an immense satisfaction. He continued climbing and rejoiced when he reached the top. He dropped to his knees exhausted and elated. Soon the surrounding went black.
Peter slowly opened his eyes as he emerged from the simulated world. He pulled the headphones off and just stared at Dylan. He was speechless for a moment.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. I have to go back in. I wasn’t done. That was freakin awesome dude,” he said with excitement, looking at Dylan in amazement. Dylan grinned and shook his head yes.
“Told you. But you have to keep quiet Pete. I’ll let you take it home. Hide it when you’re not using it. Call before you go in unless you want to go in alone. It’s more fun if you go in with at least one other person. But I have to get it back from you in a few days. If my father discovers it missing, it will ruin things. He’ll never let us play with it again,” he said.
Peter took the game and he and Dylan eased down the stairs and walked toward the back of the house so they could avoid Dylan’s mom Claire. Peter left and Dylan walked into the kitchen and grabbed a snack before retreating to his room to go in again, this time back into the ocean.
Dylan called Emily to see if she had gone in and to tell her that Peter now had a set. “Em, what’s up?” he said when she answered. “Hey. You ready to go in?” she said. “Yeah. But um, I have something to tell you. Peter has one too,” Dylan disclosed.
“What! What if he tells someone?” Emily said, worried they would be discovered and the games confiscated.
“He won’t. I tried to call him so he can meet us in Safari mode, but he didn’t answer. He’s probably in it. Maybe in Space or Amusement Park mode,” Dylan guessed. “Well. Let’s just go for ten minutes to Safari. Maybe he’ll call me back afterwards then we can all go back in together,” he said.
Dylan and Emily set their times and start times to begin in fifteen minutes giving them time to grab a snack or whatever else they needed to do to get comfortable. Emily ran downstairs grabbed an apple and went back up to her room. Her mother yelled out for her to come back down and get something more to eat. “Ok. Mom. In a minute,” she replied. Dylan had told her to log on at 3:15 p.m. for just six minutes.
Emily looked at the clock. She knew her mother would keep checking for her unless she knew that she had fixed her plate. She ran down the stairs and made sure her mother watched as she placed an ample amount of potatoes and mixed vegetables on her plate. “W
hat about the meatloaf,” her mother asked. “No meat mom. I’m a vegetarian now. Remember,” she said, as she left out and ran up the stairs. “Kids,” Cindy said, as she put the rest of the meal in Tupperware.
It was now 3:13 p.m., and she had two more minutes to go. Emily shoved the potatoes in her mouth and then placed the headphones on. She set the timer, then she set how long and lastly, she selected Safari Mode. They had decided to go back to Safari and see if there was an issue with the animals in that mode. Emily laid back and watched as the clock ticked until 3:15 arrived. The room went black and she emerged again on the other side. Simultaneously, Dylan too went through and emerged on the other side. He immediately looked around and spotted the brightly glowing silhouette of a female and walked over to Emily.
They looked around. He pointed and they walked through the vegetation, looking for the wild Rhinoceros. They spotted a Rhino but it was not brightly electrified and was grazing. They continued walking through the open plane. They saw no sign of the Rhinoceros and Dylan decided to see if Emily could turn into an animal.
He looked at her and motioned for her to watch him closely. He pointed to his eyes, then closed his eyes tight and within a few seconds, turned into a lion. He was a large and stately looking lion with a huge beautiful mane and strong muscular build. Emily got down on her knees and pet him. He had pupils. He was looking directly in her eyes. She could tell the lion had a spirit and that it was Dylan.
She closed her eyes tight and nothing happened at first. She tried again, nothing. She was just about to give up when Dylan in his lion form, licked her on her cheek and she smiled. She nodded her head and closed her eyes tight. After a few minutes she turned into a female lion and the two stared into each other’s eyes before running off. As they ran through the electrified grass and tall vegetation, they could see other lions and animals running side by side with them.
Emily and Dylan looked at each other. The wind blew the grass, creating a sway motion that gave the virtual world a real world feel. They ran until they saw something shimmering just beyond the trees. As they neared, they could see that it was a body of water. Emily turned back into her human form and Dylan followed right behind her. As they stood there smiling and enjoying the moonlight dancing off the water, Dylan looked over Emily’s shoulder. He could see something bright approaching. He noticed that whatever it was, it was approaching fast.
He pointed and Emily looked in the direction. She looked back at him. Her eyes completely filled with the look of fear. Dylan grabbed her hand and the two took off running. Dylan decided to turn into a horse. He released Emily’s hand and tried to motion her to change. She slowed as she closed her eyes but stress had her unable to change at that moment. Dylan looked back. He didn’t realize she was no longer running side by side with him. Emily hadn’t turned into anything and was running behind him but was not going fast enough. He stopped and turned around, changing into a beautiful stallion. He got close to her and when he was right next to her, she jumped on his back. Dylan turned back around and galloped through the grass, trying to put distance between himself and the charging animal.
He looked back and could clearly see the shape of a Blue Wildebeest with long sharp horns charging their way. Dylan knew he would not be able to outrun the Wildebeest in the form of a horse so he decided to change into a Cheetah. When he changed, Emily fell off of him and he turned around to get her. He realized that she would not be able to hold onto him. That a cheetah was not a good choice if he needed to carry someone. And so, he changed into a huge elephant with long tusks and then scratched the ground in a stance as he prepared to battle the Wildebeest. The Wildebeest slowed as it got closer, then scratched the ground as it prepared to do battle.
The animal got closer and Emily stood back. Dylan looked at the Wildebeest and clearly saw pupils. It was looking right at him. Dylan charged the Wildebeest swooping down and piecing him with his huge tough tusks. The Wildebeest slowed in his movements and looked to be injured. His light was less brightly lit but looked to be getting brighter.
Dylan was unsure of what was going on and couldn’t gage how much time they had in the game. But it was obvious that he had injured it. Something had happened. The Wildebeest had lost his power. Just then, Dylan turned into a horse again and Emily got on him and they rode away. When Emily looked back, she could see the Wildebeest charging again. They ran towards the water and Dylan changed back into his human form. He looked at Emily then pointed to the water. The Wildebeest was closing in on them. They took a few steps into the water and Dylan closed his eyes and turned into a Fish. Emily closed her eyes and followed suit, turning into a fish and swimming into the water. She followed Dylan deep into the water.
As they swam, they could see a bright huge fish coming towards them. She looked around. The view was breathtaking. Large fish swam past her. Fish like whales and sharks. Jelly fish moved beautifully towards the surface. Groups of stingrays swam above her. Emily was lost in the moment. Dylan had changed into a dolphin. Emily slowed her swimming to admire their surroundings. They seemed to be out of danger and she relaxed a bit. Dylan motioned to her and they swam towards the surface. Dylan popped his head up out of the water then turned into a bird as Emily watched. She followed his lead and turned into a bird, flying out of the water and joining him in the sky.
Dylan opened his eyes. His heart racing. He held his chest and tried to catch his breath. Things just went from bad to worse. Not only were they being chased inside the game, but it was obvious that the virtual world was not as intact as his father thought. How was he able to injure the Wildebeest? What if he had attacked more viciously? Was it possible to attack with enough force to not only dim the light and weaken your opponent, but continue until their light ceased. And if so, what did that mean?
He remembered that the Wildebeests’ light got dim. That it eventually recharged. But was it possible to make the light go out forever? Could the game end someone’s life? Fear set in as Dylan’s mind raced. He realized he hadn’t called Emily yet. He grabbed his phone but saw that she had called twice. He dialed her back.
“Em. This is not good. That was not cool. Did you see that?” he warned. “Yes. I’m a nervous wreck. I almost came to your house. You were taking too long to call. And then you didn’t pick up when I called you. What are we going to do Dylan? I’m afraid to go back in. That’s a person. Someone has access. Did you see the eyes?” she asked.
“Yes! But we can’t quit. Whoever that is will ruin everything. We’ll have to give the systems back. My father will lock everything up and never let us play again. I can’t let that happen,” he stressed. “It has to be someone who knows my father. Someone at work who has access to his creations. What if he has an enemy? Someone who thinks its him inside the game? I don’t know. But we have to find out,” he urged.
“How? How are we going to do that Dylan? We wouldn’t know where to begin. And if it’s someone at Silverfish, we’ll never know. We can’t just walk in there and start asking questions. Besides, it’s a huge company. That’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. No way would we find out,” Emily replied. “We have to try. Keep your ears open. Try to see if you hear anyone in our circle or any of the parents talking negatively about my father’s work. Ask your father if my father has any enemies?” he stated.
“What? I can’t ask him that! He looks up to your father. He’ll thinks that’s strange coming from me. I’ve never asked questions about your father before. No! We have to come up with something else,” she suggested, vigorously shaking her head at the thought of that kind of conversation with her father. Dylan walked around his room, pacing and stressed out. He made more irrational suggestions that Emily thought were absurd. “Dylan. Calm down. We will continue playing. So far, nothing has happened. It’s all meant to scare us. Someone is having fun at our expense. Like a joke.” Dylan didn’t think so. It seemed more than a joke. He stopped and rubbed his head. “I don’t know Em. I’ll come up with something though. But for
now, just keep quiet about everything. Hold off on going back in. I’ll call you in a few.”
Peter patiently waited for his parents to leave for their dinner date. Rob and Patty Newhouse were ready for their night on the town. Peter checked his cell phone. Neither Dylan or Emily had texted or called him. He looked at the clock. It was 8:30 p.m. He still had time. Espanys was hid under his bed in his room and he couldn’t wait to enter its vast endless and exciting journeys. “Pete. Now listen. I want you to make sure Bobby doesn’t get into anything. I left a plate of leftovers if he gets hungry. Make sure you don’t overheat the food and make sure he gets to bed at exactly 9:00 p.m.,” Peter’s mother Patty noted as she prepared to leave with her husband to their favorite steak house. Rob Newhouse was ready to go but he knew the drill. There would be no early exiting until Patty gave her usual speech that Peter heard hundreds of times before. It never changed.
“Yes ma. I know. We’ll be fine. I got this,” he said. Patty smiled and gave her children hugs as if she was about to board a plane to Tahiti. She smiled and left. Peter watched out the window until their car was no longer visible and shot up his stairs. His eight year old brother was preoccupied with cartoons and popcorn and so Peter knew he had time to play around in all the different modes on the game. He closed his door and went to his window. He looked down at his driveway, checking to make sure his parents didn’t double back. He sat on his bead and propped the pillow beneath his head. He reached over and grabbed the headphones then made his selections. Peter was excited as he anxiously placed the headphones and awaited the time to start his trip at 8:45.
