Flag Race

by Felipe Valente

  “I know! I almost didn’t believe it either when I found out!”

  Ace’s spirits changed completely while they talked. Mary was still shocked after finding out that, against all odds, Ace was really Pedro, a boy who was not only from the same country as she was, but from the same city and school!

  They went over all that had happened during the time in which they didn’t know who the other was. Mary confessed having fallen for Ace before she realized how much she liked Pedro.

  “In the celebration for the game against the Classic Riders, that was when I realized... I couldn’t kiss Ace back then, because I really liked Pedro!” she said. “I mean, I saw I was more into the real you than into Ace, you know? I mean, I was more into you than into yourself!” They laughed.

  Mary also explained why she kept on attacking the Action Adventurers even after the match was pretty much over already. It wasn’t because she was feeling invigorated by Ace’s aid. She wanted to vent the anger she felt because of what Thiago had done that morning while in Pedro’s body.

  They smiled when they recalled how Ace had helped Mary with the powerful force field that had held down all their opponents in that same game. Now they understood why there was such a strong connection between them.

  “I also can’t believe I’ve never talked about Star Effect with you, Le!” he remarked. “I dreamed of visiting with you all the loci I saw with Mary, when in fact we were already together!”

  The girl grimaced.

  “Well, forget all I said about the Romeo and Juliet thing, all right? Our story will be totally different! Actually, I’ve got Dad to accept you’ll be coming with me to the prom. Of course he wasn’t exactly thrilled with it, but he gave us this... let’s call it, chance.”

  “Really?” Ace smiled. She nodded. “So now we’ll get to be together all the time? Both out there and here on the Neuralnet?”

  The girl’s hair seemed to become even more incensed in reddish hues. She gave him a seductive look before she said, “Did you ever think of this?” He arched his eyebrows. “That we’ve never kissed here on the Neuralnet yet...”

  Slowly, they drew closer to each other. He grabbed her by her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Both of them felt a shiver down their spines. Their lips were coming closer and closer, until they finally touched.

  They kissed.

  They felt themselves floating. The white background was replaced by a moonlit night filled with stars. Fireflies twinkled around them, while Mary’s hair billowed in the wind.

  There wasn’t much more time for them to remain inline, and the little time they had they spent in each other’s arms. When Ace’s stability was too low to keep him on the Neuralnet longer, they finally logged out, hoping they could find a way to beat Warfear the following day.

  Daniel and Luiz smiled to see Pedro and Letícia coming together into the classroom that Friday, the last day of school. The couple was happy, but apprehensive. Letícia knew how much the championship meant to Pedro. It wasn’t just a victory, but the chance to save his brothers. And, despite the fact that they were very happy together, knowing they could enjoy their time on the Neuralnet as a couple now, the issue of being one player short still grieved them. The match was tonight, and neither Dante nor Kerah had managed to find a replacement for Bobby.

  Much to Pedro’s relief, Thiago didn’t show up in school that day. Pedro knew that, if he saw him, he would spend the whole morning pestering him, celebrating having kicked Bobby out of the competition.

  During break time, while Letícia and Pedro talked trying to find a way to recruit a new member for their team, Luiz came up to them.

  “You guys still didn’t find someone to join the team?” They tightened their lips and shook their heads. “Oh, man, if only I could help... I really wanted to get to disintegrate Thiago...”

  “You know what,” Pedro remarked, “with all your creativity and your will to beat this guy, you’d have a tremendous stability. Such a shame you don’t have a Neurolink.”

  “If I did, though, would you take me in?”

  “Sure!” Letícia answered. “I mean, we’d have to get the rest of the team’s OK too, but I don’t think anyone would complain!”

  “Oh. Nice,” remarked the redheaded kid, “it’s just that... You remember that raffle, Pedro? The Neurolink raffle?” Pedro started cracking a grin, nodding his head. “Remember you said I had to start believing in myself and all? Well... Daniel ended up forgetting and when he went there to buy one it was already too late, but... I bought one. They’re going to draw it in a few minutes and—”

  The couple stood there, mouth agape. Could this be the answer to their problems? Even though they knew Luiz would still have to get used to the Neuralnet, the idea that their friend could help them out, with all his imagination and determination, he seemed like a great pick.

  They ran down to the courtyard, where the raffle would be drawn. A crowd of students was already gathering around the bleachers, where the senior students prepared to draw the number.

  Luiz turned on his tablet, where he kept his raffle’s receipt. On the screen, his number appeared: 13.

  “I was one of the first buyers, and nobody wanted that number, because they say it’s bad luck,” he remarked to his friends, “and given my usual bad luck, well, then it can go all the way and turn back into good luck, maybe?” He shrugged.

  “Man, you’re gonna win.” Pedro smiled. “You’re gonna win, man! All your pent-up bad luck has got to turn into good luck sometime!”

  “What’s up, guys? What’s going on?” Daniel was coming up to his friends. He saw the number on his friend’s tablet. “I thought you were out! So, you did buy a raffle then, Luiz?”

  “Of course! I wasn’t fooling around like you!”

  “I had more important things to do... with Amanda, OK?”

  “Hey, look!” Letícia said. “I think they’re about to draw the number!”

  One of the students over the bleachers was holding the blue wavy-colored box, which everyone knew held the Neurolink in it. A girl came up a few steps forward with a tablet in her hands.

  “We’re going to draw now, guys! Get your tablets ready!”

  With outstretched arms, she lifted her device high up in the air so everyone could see the software coming up with a number. On its screen, several falling cartoon tickets could be seen. Some seconds passed before one of them flew up to the screen, showing a number.

  Pedro and his friends waited with bated breath.

  “256!”

  A tablet started beeping in the crowd. Pedro was paralyzed. For some reason, he believed deep inside of him that his friend’s number would be drawn. Letícia gave him an understanding gaze. Daniel puffed.

  It was the math teacher’s tablet that was beeping. The gray-haired old man was circled by the students, who were congratulating him.

  Most students had already began dispersing while the teacher went up the bleachers toward his prize. Pedro and his friends were still motionless, disheartened by the result.

  “What? That’s not a watch?” said the teacher to a student who was explaining to him about the prize he’d just won. Letícia, Pedro, Daniel, and Luiz quickened their ears while they drew close. “Oh, I don’t want any of this technological nonsense!”

  Though they tried to explain to him how valuable a Neurolink could be, the teacher went on.

  “I bought the raffle just to help with their graduation trip. I don’t need these things you youths want so much. You should live your life out here instead of playing games! You can have it, young man”. He was giving back the blue box to a senior student. “I don’t need that.”

  Pedro felt his racing heart beating harder and harder. Letícia anxiously held her hands tight. Luiz cast a look of determination to the box, while Daniel was biting his nails.

  The students called again for another draw. The couple was still nervous. Daniel was going from one finger to another. Luiz began smiling.

&
nbsp; When a whole crowd had gathered again, ready for the draw, the girl lifted her tablet for the second time. The virtual cartoon tickets were raining down the screen once more.

  One of them distanced itself from the others.

  It flew closer and closer to the screen.

  Then it showed its number.

  “13.”

  Luiz’s tablet started beeping like mad. He allowed his face to be taken over by an ear-to-ear smile and belted out a long cry of joy. His friends hugged and congratulated him.

  “You were right, Pedro!” remarked the freckled boy. “It is worth it to believe in yourself! I started believing I was going to win and I really won! It’s amazing!”

  He soon had his new device in hands. Letícia looked at the time. She was wondering when Luiz would get inline after classes and she started getting anxious. There wasn’t enough time for the boy to make his first access and still recover his stability to get inline again.

  “You might want to get yourself ready to get inline when the game time draws near, tonight,” she told him.

  Pedro grimaced, as he understood the reasoning behind the girl’s remark.

  “Yeah, man. If you come inline before that, then log out and come back, you’ll end up losing some stability for nothing, since it’ll be your first time...”

  “It’s gonna be fine, dude.” Pedro was shocked to hear an optimistic answer from his friend. “I already know all there is to know about Flag Race. I’ve watched your matches, and you’ve explained to me lots of moves you guys have practiced, and I saw the videos on the Internet. It will be even better if I get inline just when the game time comes up so we can catch Warfear by surprise!”

  “That’s the spirit!” Daniel laughed. “Finally you’re optimistic about something! I’ll be rooting so much for you guys!”

  Pedro, Luiz, and Letícia skipped the remainder of their classes that morning. Since there wasn’t anything important to be seen in classes during those final hours, they hid in a small room in the library to arrange and go through everything they could as far as the Neuralnet was concerned, and all the tactics they’d employ at the final match. Luiz paid close attention, excited that he’d soon get to be in the game. Pedro was happy to see his friend’s new demeanor. It was about time he smiled at life, and life smiled back at him.

  Once they were home, Pedro and Letícia sent messages to the rest of the team through their Neurolinks explaining they’d found a new member for the team. They were afraid Dante and Kerah would say that recruiting a newbie would be ridiculous, but that was not the case. On the contrary, they were simply happy to have a new player. They found out that Warfear had spent a good deal of their time inline the previous day letting it be known that whoever allied themselves to Dante’s Chaos would be severely punished. Thus, when Dante and Kerah went after a new player in the server, everyone was too afraid to join them.

  It was truly scary to think they’d be playing with a newbie on their team, but it was even scarier to imagine hitting the court one player short. At last, Asuka, Dante, and Kerah welcomed Luiz into their team. Deep in their hearts, they all hoped Ace and Mary knew what they were doing.

  Pedro and Antônio were hanging by the waiting room waiting for their turn to see the twins for the afternoon visit. Marta was already in there. In a few minutes, the mother returned and it was the father’s turn to go in the ICU.

  “You have a match tonight, right, son?” she asked.

  “That’s right, Mom! The final!”

  She nodded, pensively.

  “Your father said we can watch it online. He”—she corrected herself—“We. We want to see the game and root for you.”

  Pedro was surprised to hear that. She went on.

  “I’m sorry, son, that it took me so long to understand how important this was to you. I should have been more understanding, instead of judging you. It’s just that, with all that’s going on with your brothers, just thinking that something could happen to you was something that made me lose my mind.” Tears were streaming down her face. Pedro hugged her. “And now it looks like the only chance your brothers have to get out of this will be this championship. If I had been tougher with you, then maybe they wouldn’t have any chance at all!”

  “It’s all right, Mom. Everything’s gonna turn out OK, you’ll see.” She was allowing herself to cry, something she had never done for the past few months. Despite being eaten by fear every day, she always tried looking like she was OK when Pedro was around.

  “We’ve tried it all, son. We saved all we could, but it’s still not enough! And now the doctors say medication is already at the maximum dose they can administer. If the boys get worse, we don’t know what we’ll do!”

  When it was his turn to be with his brothers, Pedro let out a sigh when he saw them motionless, with only their chests rising and falling with artificial breathing. Hang in there, my little brothers! Just a little longer! He noticed one of the physicians coming up close.

  “Doctor!”—he drew near—“Doctor, please. If we get the money for the procedure, then how long will it be until it can be performed?”

  “A few hours, since we’ve already got the material at the hospital. We did what we could to try to start it before, but the lab that made this technology won’t allow any treatment to start before it’s paid for. They do that so they can build new treatment kits and continue their research.”

  Pedro grimaced.

  “It’s unfair, I know,” the physician went on, “but you should be happy that, at least, there’s this possibility. A few years ago, your brothers’ disease didn’t even have a cure. Now, there’s a hope.”

  Pedro nodded, pensively. He turned back to the boys. I’m going now, my little brothers. There are three flags I’ve got to capture for you.

  Chapter 21

  All around the world, people were getting in position in front of their computers and tablets waiting to watch online the final match for the Flag Race pro championship.

  Pedro’s parents were two of those people, anxiously waiting for their son’s game to begin, as his body lay unconscious on his bed. Now this was practically the only chance they had to get treatment for their other two children.

  Ace smiled to Mary, as they sat around their table at the Flag Race server. They had arranged to arrive right in the nick of time so they wouldn’t spend a single percentile point of their stability idly waiting for the match to begin.

  Asuka was smiling too.

  “We’re in the fin-al, we’re in the fin-al! This is gonna be awesome!”

  Kerah soon arrived.

  “Hey, guys! Ready to kick some butts?”

  “Of course they’re ready!” said Dante, who had also just arrived, “They’re Dante’s Chaos! The best Flag Race team in the world! And we’re gonna prove that tonight, aren’t we?”

  “Yeah!” everybody screamed.

  They all felt an incoming call through their Neurolinks.

  “Good luck, you guys,” said Bobby. “Put down these jerks for me, will ya? Thank you for having been my friends.”

  “We’ll always be your friends!” Dante said. “And I’m going to wait for the day we’ll get to play again!”

  “I’ll be rooting for you. I’ll help you out, even though I’m out of the game! Dante’s Chaos is the best!”

  They laughed. Bobby terminated the call.

  “Attention, players!” a metallic voice echoed through the server, “Please head to the court now! The Flag Race final is about to begin!”

  “Where’s your Hitter?” Dante inquired.

  Ace and Mary looked at each other with concern, while the girl’s red hair grew pale.

  “He’ll show up,” Ace said at last. He has to.

  They could hear the crowd’s cheers echoing while they left the blue base toward the court. Everyone was being carried away by the excitement of that moment. It was truly wonderful being in the final!

  Across the court, by the red base, Blazkowicz was talking to h
is team.

  “I want you to destroy them! Let’s win the way we always do! I want you to crush and wreck and obliterate each one of them! But leave Ace for me. For once and for all, I want to teach him where he belongs, that is, out of my damn way!”

  He laughed then, before concluding, “And be quick, since they’re one player short. There’s no chance they can win!”

  The play-by-play announcer began laying out the final information for the viewers before the game started, while the players went to their marks.

  Dante’s Chaos was getting restless. Where was their final member?

  Dante took a deep breath, then smiled.

  “Even if we’re not here to win, let’s show them we’re no weaklings! We’ll put up a great fight for these guys!”

  “On your marks, players!” cried out the announcer. “Count down with me!”

  “Three!”

  “Two!”

  “Here comes a new challenger!” said a metallic voice.

  “Guys, it seems like the last member of Dante’s Chaos is finally here!” the announcer celebrated. “There’s not the remotest doubt this is going to be an unbelievable final!”

  Ace and his friends looked back.

  Coming out of the blue base, they could see a handsome blond warrior covered by shiny white medieval metal armor. He held a gigantic sword in his hands, which was even longer than he was tall. Asuka’s large eyes opened wide when she saw their new teammate. Blazkowicz was cursing out loud from across the court, as he watched him enter the court through the big screens.

  “Sorry I’m late!” said the warrior with a booming voice, while positioning himself for the game to start. “But now Sigurd is here!”

  “Where the hell were you?” Ace asked his friend directly, as soon as the access between the Neurolinks in the team was allowed.

  “Well, why, I did what a good player was supposed to do and followed through all the instructions the metal gnome from the tutorial gave me!”

  Ace grimaced. His friends laughed. They had never known anybody who’d seen the tutorial through.