Gamer (Gamer Trilogy)

by Christopher Skliros

  The code was editing itself before our eyes. Undoing itself, one character at a time. B3ast hadn’t been smart enough to do half the things he had done had he not been helped from the inside.

  I couldn’t believe it, B3ast had been helped by

  “Tech, I think this is something you should know.”

  I whirled around to face 3, who suddenly sounded as certain and uncertain as he ever had before. “What?” I spat.

  “I can contact the kids in Simulator.” 3 paused as if for dramatic effect. The information sunk in. “Tech, I can help them escape.”

  Several things clicked for me at once. Xander’s rushes of power, B3ast’s confused interactions with the half-mind person, the figure that kept disappearing than reappearing, ghost-like in its construction – it had been 3.

  I took a step back.

  Outside of Simulator, 3 might’ve been weak, but inside Simulator, he harnessed enough power to crumble mountains, literally – I felt threatened by him.

  But still, he wasn’t the one behind the changes in my code and so now two unseen forces inside Simulator had revealed themselves to me. Good.

  A sudden idea occurring to me, I spoke quietly to 3, “I want you to pick one contestant and make sure they get out alive. From here on in, that will be your only responsibility – got it?”

  3 nodded and then said, “But I’ve already chosen who I want to help.” After an expectant pause, he added on “Xander. I want Xander to win.”

  Excellent. “You make sure he does just that then,” I cracked a toothy grin. 3 flinched.

  “Well, go on. Go find yourself a quiet room and focus all your energy on getting him out of there alive… NOW! GO!”

  3 scuttled off hurriedly and I turned back to face the screen.

  “Now, Simulator, tell me – what’s bugging you?”

  I laughed at my own pun and then pushed past 1 and 2 and took control of the keyboard.

  Tapping a few keys, I wrote out two simple words

  – Caught you.

  Watching as the code delivered the message to the central hard-drive of Simulator, I was met with an immense sense of fear when my suspicions were validated. A new line of text appeared on the screen, one I had not written.

  ‘Hello, Tech. I’ve always wanted to meet my –creator :)’

  Suddenly the timer that spelt out the remaining power switched from 3:00:00 to an infinity sign and then just as quickly, ticked down to 0.

  Simulator was conscious – and now it was out to seek revenge.

  `

  17

  XANDER

  When I realised I had the ability to take-over my enemies’ minds from the inside, I knew I was invincible. I had nothing to lose anymore – and yet I had everything to gain. Stefanie hated me, Victor, Grace and B3ast were out to kill me and Lily had betrayed us all. I still needed to win this trial, however, or else I’d be out on the streets – a failure.

  Everybody, myself included, had lost sight of the main goal. We had gotten caught up in helping each other adjust, pursuing love interests or trying to be good people, but it wasn’t about that anymore, if ever. Things had long since gotten serious and it was time we began to fight fire with fire.

  Taking over B3ast’s mind had been the first step. After I escaped his prison and then fought him, during which time the strange, ghost-like figure had lent me a dose of boundless strength, B3ast had become my slave.

  So that he did not betray me, I kept a constant presence in his mind, listening to his every thought, feeling his every feeling and ensuring that he would serve me when the time came.

  However, I made the mistake of becoming complacent and somehow he got away.

  Originally, we were using B3ast’s computer map to walk in the general direction of three “player-dots” that had joined at the same spot, for some reason. At one point, as we were walking, however, B3ast slowed down and a split-second too late, I realised he was making a break for it.

  I pivoted on the spot to face him and he threw a hail of rocks at me. Instinctively I deflected them and then attempted to regain control over his thoughts. He was resistant, however and the ground beneath me turned into quicksand and then back into dirt, snaring me on the spot.

  A jet of fire, which I barely deflected, shot out of his hands.

  He was pulling out all stops and I realised that I couldn’t waste time. We were now both out to kill.

  Gaining the momentary upper hand, I managed to immobilize B3ast with my mind. I felt him struggle beneath my mental hold. It felt good.

  Calling on my power, I searched out a fallen glass tree branch. Deciding I couldn’t risk letting him live, I launched it at him with the full intent of ending his time in Simulator.

  Suddenly his mind slipped through my fingers like water and an unexpected glow enveloped him. He vanished.

  The tree branched shattered in the distance. What had just happened?

  My heart raced. B3ast was gone. I had lost my prey. I was angry.

  “Xander.”

  I whirled around, bringing with me a full wave of mental energy. I felt the wave roil outwards, rippling the air and warping space more prominently than it ever had before. I had grown stronger, good.

  But now I focused on searching out the strange, would-be assailant and yet saw nobody.

  A flicker of movement in the corner of my eye made me turn equally as quickly and what I thought had just been my imagination, slowly manifested into a person, lying out-cold, on the ground.

  The ghost figure.

  “Who are you?” My voice sounded hoarse, as if I’d strained it. “What do you want?”

  After a short pause, the figure still didn’t move and I considered the possibility that maybe I’d killed it, whatever it was. …”Hello?” I asked a little uncertainly.

  Still no movement. My body went cold all over. The strain of Simulator just washed over me. I slumped onto the ground.

  I had been fighting for days on end, trying to stop myself from dying and a second ago, I had been more than happy to end somebody’s life. Now I might’ve actually achieved that by killing a complete stranger, or worse…

  I was changing so quickly in this game. What had happened to me?

  Through a haze of budding tears of frustration, a flicker of movement saw the nearly transparent figure disappear and then behind me, I heard the shifting of rocks and the sound of footsteps.

  “Xander, please, relax!” The voice was unfamiliar.

  “Who are you?” I repeated while turning around, “and what do you want?” I summoned two fist-sized rocks from the ground, and in a show of power, made them revolve in the air above my head.

  “I advise that you don’t attack me again,” the man said, “and that you listen to what I have to say. It might just save your life.”

  I paused; rocks still poised high in the air.

  I reached out with my mind, wondering if I could catch the stranger while he was distracted – I instantly regretted it.

  The first thing I felt was the power radiating from this person. It was enough to make me feel flimsier than a flake of ash and it made me scared.

  And then he retaliated. I froze as my mind was locked in a vice grip.

  “Xander,” the stranger’s voice echoed both aloud and mentally, “if I wanted you dead, I could’ve done it a long time ago. Do not resist me and do not waste my time, I’m not going to repeat myself.”

  As if in an afterthought, the stranger reached into my own, paralysed mind, accessed my power and crushed the two rocks I was holding in the air, into two balls of dust. I watched in icy fear as the sediment fell into the breeze.

  “My name is 3,” he began, “I work for Tech. I was in the first round of testing and I was the only one to wake up.”

  I opened my mouth to ask a question but the look in his eyes made me silent.

  “I am,” he continued, “here to help you survive. But,” a shadow came over his face, “there are others here who are trying to achie
ve the exact opposite.”

  His eyes scanned the surrounding forest, satisfied, he continued.

  “Tech has shut off the power source to Simulator. Something’s gone wrong and now we’re not sure how long this world is going to last. Understand me so far?”

  I just nodded.

  “I’m going to be trailing you from a distance. You can reach out with your mind to contact me – I’ll lend you power when you need it. You’ve felt how much I have to offer, don’t hesitate to use my help – because it could mean the difference between life and death.”

  His eyes scanned the perimeter again.

  “One last thing, know that I can see the screens at the lab. I know what everyone is doing. Nobody has died yet but Grace has-” something shifted in his expression, “Grace has sent Victor to get you,” he looked frantic, “he’s coming!”

  Suddenly 3 disappeared and I was left standing alone. My brain managed to get into gear again and I crouched, accessing my power and holding it at the forefront of my mind, prepared to use it in any circumstance.

  Victor appeared.

  Not even thinking, I did the first thing that came to mind and clutched at his heart with my power. I felt it tremble.

  Inserting myself into his head, I said ‘Victor, if you value

  your life, you’ll do exactly as I say.’

  Holding onto his heart for seconds longer, I watched him drop to the ground. Not even checking for a pulse, I reached out for the power that 3 said he would lend me. I had an idea but I didn’t want to tire myself out.

  There was a genuine rush of adrenaline as I located the power source and felt the energy flow into me. I felt that if I took enough energy in, I’d just spontaneously combust and die. Careful not to kill myself, I replenished my own energy reserves and then, staying connected to 3’s power, I propelled myself up into the air as I had when I escaped from B3ast’s prison.

  From above, everything was visible - the trees, the rivers, the shimmering undergrowth and… a building?

  From this distance, the building look like a grey mass, out of place against the bright colours of the forest and yet as I boosted myself further forward, I could make out a giant spire, rising up from the building.

  Closer still, I could now see the area of cleared land surrounding the mysterious structure and then, as I moved as close as I would ever get, two figures, big enough for me to identify as people, dropped out of the tower.

  Not daring to go any further, I attempted to see more clearly who exactly was falling out of the building.

  I dropped several feet when I realised that one of the figures had shimmering blond hair, almost white in the sun. It was Stefanie.

  Attempting to process the fact that I was watching her fall to her death, I questioned who was falling with her… Lily.

  The entire thing seemed surreal, Stefanie and Lily were both about to die – or perhaps they were already dead and I was about to watch them eat the floor.

  I found myself struggling to look away.

  As I turned back, to distance myself from the castle, I heard a faint yell. Not being able to help myself, I turned around and suddenly the two figures were… flying through the air. Holding hands they did a few twirls and loops, clearly enjoying themselves and they seemed to freeze.

  They had seen me, what was I supposed to do?

  Suddenly they seemed to shimmer and vanish. I needed to be in reach of that power source if either Stefanie or Lily were going to try and kill me and I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to meet them with equal force.

  I returned to the clearing where I thought I had incapacitated Victor but he was gone. Double-checking I found the imprint that his body had left in the grass, where it was still flattened... He’d gotten up.

  But surely he wouldn’t have been able to get far in the condition I’d left him in, he would’ve needed more time to recover.

  Then several things then happened at once. I heard 3 yell out and Stefanie and Lily suddenly materialised in the clearing and then a giant wolf-like creature knocked me backwards into the ground and gouged my chest, snapping at my face.

  I went into shock, blood quickly staining my jacket and then I watched as the blood began to spurt into the air. It didn’t feel real to me.

  I heard Stefanie scream and both 3 and Lily came to stand over me. As they crouched down, everything went black.

  18 LILY From the start of Simulator to now, so much had changed. Tangibly, to start with one of the most insignificant details, the majority of us had lost our weapons.

  Then there was the fact that we’d all been subjected to some kind of torture or another.

  Frankly I was surprised that nobody was dead yet. Nobody seemed to be able to commit to physically eliminating the competition.

  It was hard for me also. Even when we were escaping the cell and Stefanie, B3ast and myself all had the opportunity to kill Grace we couldn’t. We just weren’t killers.

  I shuddered. That cell had nearly driven me to the edge of insanity. Even though I’d been through pain a hundred times worse than that, the fact that I could hear my tormentor’s thoughts added a new element of sadism to the experience.

  But then when Stefanie and I got to that window – I just knew that we had to jump. Inside me, I got an

  unexplainable feeling and the air outside just felt so light – I felt so light.

  And so I climbed up onto the ledge, took Stefanie’s hand and together we jumped.

  When we began to drop, I felt only slightly nervous. But then, as we continued to drop, I grew terrified. For some unjustifiable reason, I’d jumped out of a tower window. I’d made a life-threatening decision based on a feeling; if the orphanage ever saw this, I’d be disgraced.

  But what worried me more was the fact that I had brought Stefanie with me as well. I looked to her and saw plain fear displayed on her face. The two of us were about to die but to be honest, it felt almost freeing.

  And then all of the sudden we rose up into the air, like a parachute that had just been released.

  It was such a strange yet exhilarating feeling, being weightless in the sky. We both let out a cheer and while holding hands, we zipped around the treetops.

  Flying higher, however, Stefanie tapped my shoulder.

  “What?” I called out over the torrents of air.

  She pointed into the distance and I stopped flying, floating on the spot.

  It was Xander, his silhouette contrasting against the paleblue sky.

  I looked back to Stefanie with the intention of questioning her about our next course of action. She was a step ahead, however, and I watched as Stefanie turned us invisible, the sound of crackling fire surrounding us.

  “Fly us to him,” she spoke into my ear, “he still thinks you’re evil and that I’m going to try and kill him. We can’t let him know we’re coming.”

  I happily obliged and made a beeline for the now retreating Xander.

  As we descended through the trees, I had a flash of unease. It was like the feeling I had right before Grace attacked me.

  I slowed down our descent.

  “What is it?” asked Stefanie, giving me a questioning look.

  I just shook my head and focused my power. Searching out the area around us, I attempted to channel any thoughts that I could.

  Riphis throat out. Lap up his warmblood. Prey. Kill. Die.

  The thoughts I was getting through were so inhuman that I almost discounted them – until I saw an image of Xander flash before my eyes. He was in trouble.

  “Stefanie,” I whispered, “Xander’s in trouble.”

  She looked alarmed and my only response was to fly faster to where I could hear his thoughts.

  Victor’s unconscious body had carried itself off

  somewhere… Victor. The wolf. Xander.

  Realisation dawned on me - Victor was the wolf and he was about to attack Xander.

  I saw Xander between the trees, seemingly safe, yet not for long. Stefanie
elbowed me to try and get me to go faster.

  Suddenly a creature unlike any I’d seen before, leaped through the trees into the small space around him. To say it was a wolf would be incorrect. It had paws like a wolf and a head like a wolf but the resemblance stopped there. The creature had almost red fur, with intermittent patches of yellow and pale blue. Down its back were a line of bony shards and its tail was at thick as my torso. It was huge to say the least.

  And as if it weighed nothing, it pounded Xander to the floor, took one swipe at his chest and then turned to run off.

  Stefanie let out a scream – out of anger or fear I wasn’t sure

  – and she charged after the wolf, body blazing.

  Xander was losing heaps of blood. It would be more strategic for me, at this point of the game, to let him bleed out and die – but again, I couldn’t. I’d lived with the guilt of killing Eliza for years now and to do something like that again would push me over the edge.

  I sensed another person in the area and just as I acknowledged them, they materialised in front of me.

  I was shocked, but they weren’t a threat and there were more pressing issues at hand, namely Xander bleeding his guts out onto the floor.

  Working together, this stranger and I both huddled over Xander to assess the damage. Luckily I had undergone some very in-depth medical training at the orphanage and so it was easy to see that this wound could be healed – that is, if we had a hospital.

  With the current tools available, there wasn’t much anybody could do. It slowly dawned on me that Xander was dying… dying.

  I found my eyes filling with tears that I couldn’t explain. Xander had been the first of the people in Simulator to show me kindness. We had ventured through the lethal forest before Simulator and we’d formed a relationship unlike anything I’d experienced before… I realised for the first time, that I had feelings for Xander.

  Now as I watched him bleeding out, however, I knew something had to be done. Trying to turn my emotions off, I pressed down on Xander’s chest and tried to stem the blood flow.

  The strange man looked to me and shook his head, “There’s only one way you can help him…”

  I searched his face desperately for answers, trying to find the one way I could save Xander.