by J C Lane
“I’m just so…” Tears filled Charles’ eyes. “…different from everybody else. My parents. Kids at school—even the smart kids. I’m just…” He sniffed, and swiped at his nose with his sleeve. He stared at the ground and spoke so quietly Amanda hardly heard him. “I’m lonely.”
Something that could have been compassion shot through Amanda’s heart. It could also have been understanding, empathy, or pity. But more than that, she was still ticked off, and he could be playing for sympathy. “So you thought you’d find somebody else who is different, and instead of, you know, becoming friends, you thought you’d chase her down and kill her?”
“I didn’t want to—”
“—kill me. Oh, that’s right. I forgot. Just terrorize me, violate my home, pretend I’m another avatar to take down.”
Charles covered his face with his hands, and his shoulders shook. Nerys rolled his eyes, but Amanda wasn’t convinced the emotion was fake. She glanced at Solo, who watched Charles with something like repulsion. Solo caught Amanda’s eyes and shrugged. X shook his head slowly, eyes wide, like he had No Freaking Idea what to do with the situation.
Amanda took a deep breath. “Look, Charles, or DarwinSon1, or whatever you want us to call you.”
Charles mumbled something.
“What?”
He removed his hands. “Can you call me Charlie?”
Amanda fought back a laugh. “Sure. Charlie. Anyway, listen, Charlie. Look at us. Take a good look. Do we look like we fit in with other people?” She gestured at Solo, with her dyed black hair and black clothes. At X with his skinny body, bug eyes, and nervous tics. And at Nerys, with…well, his geeky hotness.
“You look normal,” Charles said. “Except for the purple hair. And the eyebrow piercing.”
“It doesn’t matter. Inside I’m not. I can’t help it I’m smart. My brain just works that way. I don’t fit in at school. My dad doesn’t know what to do with me. But I reached out. I found someone who got me, even if we fight all the time.”
“She’s talking about me,” Nerys said, making Charles flinch.
“Yeah, I am. He makes me crazy, I hate him most of the time, and we’re always trying to kill each other online.”
“I’ve tried to find people,” Charles said.
“Obviously not hard enough, because look, I found one person, and now suddenly, in one day—in several hours—I’ve found a couple more. It takes reaching out. Taking a risk. Trusting.”
Nerys brightened. “You trust me now?”
“Don’t push it.” She grinned. “Now listen, Charlie, there are other people out there who are in danger. I know you’re playing against other Its. We need to save the Runners. No one deserves to be hunted down like an animal. Animals don’t even deserve it. We need you to help us.”
“Why should I?”
Nerys actually growled, and Amanda held in another laugh. “Because look at us, Charlie. Look at us.”
He raised his eyes.
“The four of us are just like you.”
“I don’t think—”
“Obviously,” Nerys muttered.
“—you are,” Charles said.
Amanda challenged him. “Why?”
“Because I’m…smarter.”
“Oh, really? How come you’re the one who got caught? How come I’m still alive?”
“Because you have them. A…a team.”
“Exactly. Wouldn’t you rather be on a team than by yourself? Isn’t that your whole problem?” She stepped closer, and Nerys followed suit. She waved him back. “I was alone, too. I don’t fit in anywhere…except with these guys. But don’t you see? That’s so much better than sitting at home feeling sorry for yourself. Or taking it out on people you don’t even know. What if…what if you became part of our team?”
“Wait a second,” Nerys said.
Amanda kept going. “The Ref picked me for a reason, right? That I was compatible? At least I’m assuming that’s the case. The Ref told you this was the only way to find your equal. To hunt me to the death, pitting your brain against mine. The Ref thinks you can’t find someone to share your life. Prove him…her…it wrong. Use the information in a better way. Why can’t we be compatible…as friends instead of enemies?”
Charles’ unfocused eyes spoke of the turmoil going on behind them, in that crazy-smart brain. “But the Ref understood. Said this was the only way I’d ever feel satisfaction. That there was no one else…for me.”
“You’re going to believe this person who has no real face, no real voice? Do you even know who the Ref is?”
Charles shook his head. “I don’t even know if it’s one person, or a whole enterprise. I haven’t seen anyone other than the avatar.”
Amanda nodded. “And which would you rather have? A controlling unknown presence, or real, flesh and blood companions?”
“Who are,” Nerys said, “for the most part, either obviously boys or obviously girls.”
“It’s your choice,” Amanda said. “Make it now.”
Charles took a deep breath and looked beyond the parking garage, out over buildings, into the sliver of sky visible from their position. His body was completely still as his brain worked. Amanda saw the moment he realized how wrong he’d been. How desperate. How hopeless. His eyes went clear, and he stood straighter, shrugging off Nerys.
“Okay. I accept the challenge.”
“It’s not a challenge, Charlie,” Amanda said kindly. “It’s an offer.”
“Oh. Right.” He gave a hint of a smile. “So where do we start?”
There was a split-second pause before everyone jumped in, shoving computers and gadgets and everything else into a pile on the trunk of X’s car. Amanda pulled Charles next to her. “Top priority is stopping the other Games in progress. Do you know how many there are?”
“No.”
“Which means you don’t know who they are.”
“No idea.”
“Okay, I’m assuming we can’t take these watches off without the Ref knowing.” She held up her altered phone.
“Correct.”
“So let’s use the watches to find the Ref.”
“This first.” X pulled one of the extra metal squares from his pocket. “Put this under Charlie’s watch, just in case.”
Charles frowned. “In case what?”
“The Ref realizes you’ve switched sides and activates your own kill switch.”
Charles’ eyes went wide. “I have one?”
“Sure. In case Amanda got to Home Base first.”
Charles’ breath hitched, and he thrust his arm at X. “Please.”
X placed the piece of metal, and Amanda showed Charles the chaotic schematics on the computer, with the Ref’s contradictory signals. “We don’t have enough information.”
Charles pulled his tablet from his pocket. “Let’s see what our machines can do together.”
They attached his tablet to the laptop and merged files, until they came up with one very unclear pattern.
X shook his head. “It’s too complex. We’ll never get it.”
Amanda and Charles stared at the screen, both going very still. They swiveled to look at each other.
“We need—”
“—a live signal.”
They smiled.
“I’ll call,” Charles said.
“Give me a second. X, we need to reverse the location re-routing. Can you change it back so the Ref can find me?”
Nerys frowned. “Are you sure?”
“What’s going to happen? The guy who was going to kill me is right here, and I believe he’s changed his mind.”
Charles nodded. “You’re sure your watch is safe?”
“As safe as it can be, being what it is. But we have to try. We have to stop other people from dying. X, please.”
He looked to Nerys, who hesitated, but gave his consent. X’s fingers flew, and the green dot on the screen showed Amanda in her current position. She shivered, but gave Charles a weak smile.
“Okay,” Charles said, “everybody quiet, and make sure you’re out of my watch’s visual range.” Once he was standing alone, he set his phone on speaker so all could hear.
“Charles,” the robotic voice said.
“Ref.”
“Problems?”
“I believe so. She seems to have altered the watch. The location transmissions are sending me to random spots she can’t possibly have reached within the specified times. You need to do a systems analysis.”
X and Solo hovered over the laptop, watching as Charles’ signal traveled around the world and back, hopping from tower to satellite to an unknown system in Bangladesh.
“She couldn’t have changed it,” the Ref said. “It’s too complicated.”
X glanced up, eyes shining.
“Check it. I’m still withholding judgment on your payment. There have been too many problems with this Game.”
“Certainly. Hold on.”
“Stay on the line,” Charles said.
“Of course. One moment.”
Charles immediately put his phone on mute, so the next sounds wouldn’t be transmitted to the Ref. A few seconds passed as Amanda took a seat against the Mustang to present a different background from Charles’. Her watched buzzed. The Ref was calling. X nodded to say he was ready.
“What?” Amanda said into the phone. “I’m a little busy here, trying to stay alive.”
“It was concerned,” the Ref said smoothly. “DarwinSon1 feared you had altered your settings.”
“Seriously?”
“You are a computer genius, my dear. Or, at least, a video game genius. I’m not convinced they translate.”
Solo narrowed her eyes. Amanda held up her hand. “So what do you want?”
“I’m checking your signal. From what I can see, you are presently in the vicinity of Adams and Wabash streets. Is that correct?”
“Why should I tell you? You’re supposed to be the one in charge of my life or death. Why should I make it any easier for It to kill me?” The signals on the laptop began to converge. The triangle between Charles, the Ref, and Amanda was working.
“Because you’re a fighter, right? You should want to live in the real world as much as you want to live in the virtual one. Besides, you have no Peruvian Goddess13 to return to. Such a sad predicament.”
“Murderer,” Amanda snarled.
“Well, I’m satisfied we have your signal loud and clear.”
X was making huge hand gestures, telling her to keep the Ref talking.
“So you said earlier there are other Its playing against DarwinSon1,” Amanda said. “How many are we talking about?”
“That’s not your concern,” the Ref said. “Good-bye, Amanda. And good luck.”
Amanda let the Ref hang up first, and Charles unmuted his phone.
“Well?” he said when the Ref was back on the line.
“Her phone is working as planned,” the Ref told him. “Perhaps you are just moving slower than you imagined. Or she is the better competitor.”
“Not possible.”
“Is there anything else I can do for you?”
Charles looked at X, who shrugged, shaking his head.
“I believe that is all. For now.”
“Good-bye, Charles. And good luck.”
The Ref hung up. No one spoke while X worked. Lines on the screen were merging and disappearing, re-routing and skipping. Amanda’s shoulders had become so tense that when Nerys placed his hands on them she jumped.
“Sorry.” He didn’t remove them.
“X?” Amanda couldn’t take it any longer.
He held up a finger as a last signal combined to create a clear pathway. He stood up and smiled, cracking his knuckles. “And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you do it.”
The five of them leaned forward, taking in exactly what the screen was telling them.
“Why didn’t we figure that out?” Solo said.
Amanda shook her head. “Too simple. We couldn’t see what was right before our eyes.”
She and Charles looked at each other. “The Ref is here?” he said.
“Right smack in the middle of Chicago.”
Charles’ hands curled into fists. “Then let’s go take down this creep.”
Robert
Robert thought the location transmission would jiggle something loose. Make Tyrese show himself, or burst into the arena. But it seemed he hadn’t yet made it inside. Which made sense. Tyrese wouldn’t have Robert’s father’s name to use with the crabby box office lady. And it wasn’t like Mr. Hall was going to know Tyrese’s grandma.
Robert held in a hysterical laugh.
Tyrese wouldn’t make it past anybody. He didn’t have ID. Didn’t have a name to drop. Didn’t have enough money left to bribe his way in. Robert should be Home free. But just when he’d convinced himself he was alone, and stood up to run toward the court, he heard Tyrese’s voice.
“I know you’re in here, Robert. Why don’t you come on out, and we can talk about this like men?”
4 p.m.
Laura
Adam: We found a nice place if you wanna come.
Sydney: Where?
Adam: Some mall called Water Tower Place.
Sydney showed it to Brandy. “Know where that is?”
All the color drained from Brandy’s face. “Drive!” she screamed at the men in the front. “Home Base! Now!”
The driver gunned it while the man in the passenger seat contacted his compatriots at the mall.
Brandy stared at her watch, which had just sent the location transmission saying Laura was in place to win the Game.
Sydney prayed Adam and Laura had done their job.
Amanda
All five of them squeezed back into the battered Mustang, Amanda in the middle of the seat this time, between Charles and Nerys. Not exactly uncomfortable, but…strange. They kept the laptop and Charles’ tablet connected, working as X ferried them—hopefully to arrive alive—to the Ref’s headquarters. Solo had emphatically pronounced that Queen was too much drama for this trip, so the stereo remained silent. They needed to hear themselves think.
They’d just buckled their seat belts when Amanda’s and Charles’ phones buzzed.
“Ah, ha.” Charles checked out the regular coordinates transmission. “You are right here, in the backseat of a crappy old Mustang.”
“Hey!” X said.
Amanda shook her head. “Amazing.”
“Told you I was a genius,” Charles said.
“We could shut off the electricity to the Ref’s equipment,” Nerys suggested, as if the location conversation had not taken place.
“The Ref would have backup power,” Charles said.
“But it would be something.” Amanda nudged Nerys. “Do it.”
Nerys slid the computer to his lap and hacked his way into the city grid. “I figure I take out the whole building—”
“Go bigger,” X said. “Whole block. Less conspicuous.”
“To the Ref, he means,” Solo said.
Nerys’ long fingers flew elegantly over the keys, and within minutes he relaxed. “Done.”
“Okay.” Amanda took the laptop back. “Now what?”
Charles didn’t respond, and Amanda glanced over. His face was bleak. “What is it?” Amanda said.
He held out his tablet. “With the same triangulation X performed, I was able to make my way into the Ref’s files. There are two other Games being played as we speak.”
“Are they…?” Amanda couldn’t bring herself to ask the question.
“Both are Elit
e.” He swallowed. “To the death.”
“We have to stop them now.”
Charles shot the files to the laptop so Amanda could study them while he worked out a way to interrupt the Games.
“Laura Wingfield,” Amanda said.
“Who’s that?” Solo asked.
“Runner Number One. High school girl from Trenton, Illinois. Not a computer genius. Just a sweet girl who somehow threatened one Brandy Inkrott.”
“Her It?”
“Rich girl from Madison, Wisconsin. They began the Game at four this morning.”
“Same time you were supposed to start,” Charles said. “But you refused.” He offered her a weak smile.
“Not everybody’s as stubborn as I am. Second Runner is Tyrese Broadstreet. Wow, look at him.” She swiveled the computer so Solo could see and appreciate. “High school basketball star from Gary, Indiana, expected to sign with IU for next year. ‘It’ is Robert Matthews.” She paused. “Also from Gary, Indiana. From the same school. The same basketball team.”
“What’s he look like?” Solo asked.
Amanda showed her. Solo nodded. “Also a nice specimen.”
“Physically, maybe. He’s obviously screwed in the head.” She made a face. “Sorry, Charlie.”
He shrugged.
“Wait.” Amanda went back to the photo of Tyrese Broadstreet. “I’ve seen this guy before.” She closed her eyes, but they popped right back open. “I’ve seen him twice. You saw him, too, Solo. On the El.”
“Crap, for reals? That huge dude with the sling! When did you see him again?”
“At the accident, he went by in a taxi.”
“So his Game is in Chicago, too,” Nerys said. “Wanna bet the other one is right here, as well?”
Amanda went cold. “I saw her. Laura Wingfield.” She scrolled back to the girl’s photo. “Early this morning, on the train. I noticed her because she had a watch just like mine. We didn’t talk, for obvious reasons.”
Stunned silence filled the car.
“Can you find their signals?” Solo said. “Locate the people?”
“Choose one goal or the other,” Charles said. “Do you want me to try to shut down the Ref, or contact the Runners and Its?”
