“What should I call you, then?” Brandon asked.
Thorn shook his head slightly. “I don’t know. When you think of something, feel free to give it a try.”
Chapter 30
“Good morning, sir,”
“Morning, Harold,” Thorn said from behind his desk. “What have you got for me today?”
“An update on the time variance issue.”
“Ah, yes — I hope it’s good news?”
“It is,” Harold said. “Looks like we can stretch the time difference between the Sim and reality significantly.”
“How much?” Thorn asked.
“That’s up to you, really. We’ll encounter one significant problem as we go out of synch in time with the Sim, though. It will impede or eliminate our ability to have two-way communication.”
Thorn nodded and considered the implications. With no time variation he could sit at his desk and talk with subjects inside the Sim, which was very handy during development of the virtual world. To lose the real time communication would be a serious factor from a design and control perspective.
“Thanks, Harold. You’ve done a great job on this. Keep it quiet and let me think on it for a bit. I know we’ll be experimenting with it for sure, but I’m not quite certain how or when to do so.”
As Harold left, Thorn’s attention returned to his monitor. The children were inside the Sim for their second session. Their avatars had been calibrated and now they were ready to begin learning how things worked in the VR world. Currently the group was sitting in a classroom, listening to Wesley tell them about the basics.
Thorn’s gaze kept drifting to Brandon. He sat near the front of the room surrounded by his teammates. Brandon’s Hand looked more like Cooper’s Hand than a group of ten-year-olds. They possessed the poise and confidence of a mature unit. Thorn couldn’t wait to watch them work together in some of the games he’d designed.
Thorn reached for his VR helmet and put it on. With the flip of a switch he entered the Sim.
He stood up, closed his eyes, and pulsed a thought. Thorn opened his eyes and saw that Cooper was already here.
“We ready to meet with our boy then, Doc?” Cooper asked.
“In a few moments,” Thorn confirmed.
“You scanned them all the same way you did me?”
“Yes.”
“How many of them are true orphans?” Cooper asked.
“Of the twenty-five, all of them are General orphans,” Thorn said.
Cooper made a grim face as he looked at Thorn. A true orphan was a child who’d lost their parents to natural causes. General orphans were kids that had no parents because the General had killed them for his own purpose.
“Even the little one?” Cooper asked.
“Especially the little one,” Thorn said.
“Who were his parents?” Cooper asked.
“If you were one hundred percent with me on this project, Cooper, then you would already have that information.”
Cooper looked at Thorn for a few moments and then shook his head. He still wasn’t entirely sure Thorn was telling him the truth. He’d agreed not to reveal this line of discussion with the General quite yet, because he still hadn’t made up his mind about who or what to believe.
Thorn chuckled. “Well, then, perhaps soon.”
===
Brandon stood up with the others. So far his experience inside the Sim was the most boring thing he’d had to put up with for months. Everyone had grumbled yesterday when they exited the Sim. Although they were told to expect a boring time, they’d all hoped to do or see something exciting. Brandon was certain today would be much more entertaining, but so far it had involved listening to Wesley talk about how the Sim was exactly like real life.
“Make a line in front of that door and I’ll take us all to the basic exercise room now,” Wesley said.
The kids stood up and quickly formed a line. When everyone was ready, Wesley opened the door. The doorway was bathed in bright white light; it was impossible to see what lay on the other side.
“You’re all about to experience your first bit of fun in the Sim,” Wesley said with a smile. “The exercise room isn’t close to us, but this doorway will act as a portal. Step through it and you will come out in the exercise room, which actually lies many kilometers from here. When you find yourself in the exercise room, get out of the way for the next kid to come through, please. I’m going first. First in line count to three then step through, followed by each of you until we’re all there. Any questions?”
Wesley looked around but none of the children raised their hands. He nodded and stepped through the portal and disappeared.
When it was Brandon’s turn, he walked calmly into the light. He felt a slight sensation of movement which was followed by another feeling of thudding to a stop. He looked around curiously. Instead of being in an exercise room with the others, he was standing in a hallway with a white door at the end of it. Brandon shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the door. He knocked lightly then opened it and walked in.
“Hey, guys,” he said.
Cooper laughed and looked over at Thorn. “Heya, Brandon, how are things for you inside the Sim so far?” Cooper asked.
“Boring,” Brandon admitted. “Do we get to play some new games soon?”
“Yes, you’ll be playing soon,” Thorn said. “We have to make sure everyone knows the rules of the Sim first.”
“Wesley said the Sim is like real life,” Brandon said. “All of us know the rules of real life, so why make us listen to them again?”
Cooper looked at Thorn’s face and chuckled. “He makes a good point.”
Thorn grabbed a pen from his desk and held it in his hand. After a moment the pen floated upwards into the air.
“The Sim is mostly like real life, but there are some ways that it’s different. That’s why it’s important to go through the training and learn the basics.”
“Okay,” Brandon watched the pen float with excitement in his eyes. “What am I doing here, then? Shouldn’t I be with the others in the exercise room?”
“I’ve decided to give you some private lessons,” Thorn said. “Cooper and I will be teaching you things that the others won’t get a chance to learn right away.”
Brandon smiled at the idea of learning secret things that the other kids might not, but then he frowned. “Why teach me stuff and not the others?” he asked.
“Because you’re special,” Thorn said. “You’re going to do things that others can’t figure out anyway, so it’s best to guide you and make sure you don’t hurt anyone by accident.”
Brandon thought about it for a moment and decided not to argue. He shrugged and nodded his head. “Sounds good to me,” he said.
Thorn laughed at how easily the boy accepted the news. “I’m going to send you back with the others now, Brandon. I’ll see you again very soon, though. Go through the door and you’ll come out in the exercise room with the group.”
Brandon waved and walked back to the door. He opened it and stepped into the white light.
When he was gone, Cooper chuckled. “The boy seems much older than he is. “He’s so calm and sure of himself.”
“Much like you are, compared to others your age,” Thorn said.
“Yes,” Cooper admitted.
Thorn walked to the doorway which was still a brilliant white. “Come with me,” he said. “I think the boy will learn very quickly. If you’re going to teach him secret skills, then I guess I’d better make sure you know how they work first.”
“That would help,” Cooper laughed as he walked to join Thorn.
Chapter 31
“What is it that I’m looking at, Mr. Thorn?”
The General sat at the head of the table with a mug of coffee in his hand. He’d just spent the last few minutes flipping through the detailed report that Thorn had compiled for him. It was obvious from the way he skimmed through it that the General wasn’t impressed with the information he w
as reading. He looked at Thorn with flat eyes and a bored expression on his face as he waited for a reply to his question.
“You’re looking at the details of the project so far, General,” Thorn said.
“It’s thin.”
Thorn smiled and reached for the remote control. He turned the monitor on and both men gazed at the scene. The camera appeared to be placed high above a field covered by trees and brush separated in the middle by a small river, about fifteen feet across. In the middle of the gently flowing water, floating about two feet above the surface, was a ruby coloured globe the size of an orange. The camera view showed two groups of students kids making their way towards the river from opposite sides of the field. The three on the left were closer, and they jumped over brush and batted tree branches out of the way as they raced to reach the shore first.
“They have begun to play simple simulations,” Thorn said. “This one is a straight race to the centre where the goal is to avoid all obstacles as they appear.”
“We can do the same types of things in our gaming facility,” the General said.
Thorn arched his eyebrow and pointed to the screen. “Really?” he asked.
As if on cue, the earth in front of the lead player erupted forcefully into a solid column. The runner wasn’t quick enough to avoid it and collided against the surface with a heavy thud. After a brief moment of leaning dumbly against the earthen wall, she crumpled raggedly to the ground.
The General chuckled. “Ouch.”
Thorn smiled. “A benefit of being inside the Sim,” he said. “We can quickly fix any damage to her avatar to minimize downtime.”
“When can we step it up?”
“When we work out all the bugs,” Thorn said. “I also think it’s prudent to allow each new player to become accustomed to the Sim. There’s no benefit from going to high intensity overnight, General. We need to ramp them up gently.”
The General sat and watched the screen until the game was concluded. The winner jumped into the middle of the stream and grabbed the ruby. Instead of landing in the water, the girl floated above its surface and smiled as the others made it to the edge of the stream.
“I agree, Mr. Thorn,” the General said. “But I want updates at more regular intervals.”
Thorn nodded. “That’s fine, General. Whatever you want.”
“Yes.” The General looked from the monitor and met Thorn’s gaze. “Whatever I want…”
Chapter 32
“This is starting to get confusing.”
Brandon took a bite of cereal and looked at Alan from the corner of his eye. “What is?” he asked.
Alan pointed around him with his spoon. “All this in-and-out stuff. We come out of the Sim, then we go back in. Then we go in again and fall asleep inside. Then we wake up and come out. It’s all messed up.”
“Yeah, I agree,” Easton said. “Sometimes I don’t know if we’re in or out of the Sim.”
“We’re out,” Kay announced, nodding her head confidently.
“I know we’re out right now,” Alan said. “I’m just saying that it’s getting hard to tell sometimes. We eat inside the Sim, too, and the food tastes the same as it does in real life.”
“They’re doing it on purpose,” Brandon said. He bent over his bowl and continued to shove the cereal into his mouth. Sometimes they didn’t get enough time to finish meals, but Brandon made certain to eat fast. He never went hungry.
“Why would they be doing it on purpose?” Alan asked.
“To get us fully into the Sim so they can study us when we don’t realize we’re inside of it,” Brandon said.
“Why?” Alan asked again.
Brandon shrugged and drank the milk from his bowl, emptying it and putting it back down on the table. “Don’t know. Don’t care. Doesn’t matter.” He looked at Easton’s bowl with focused interest until Easton chuckled and pushed it towards him.
“Of course it matters,” Alan said. “There are lots of answers we need to know.”
“Why only matters if you can use the answer to change the now,” Brandon said. “We can’t change what they’re doing to us. So just be where you’re at and do the best you can when they give us a job to do.”
“You make it sound so simple,” Easton said.
“It is,” Tony agreed.
“We’ve barely done anything inside the Sim,” Kay said.
“That’s gonna change soon,” Brandon said. “I think we’re all aligned and tested now. It’s been, what… three days inside there?”
“That’s what I’m saying!” Alan laughed. “I’m not sure how long it’s been.” They all laughed.
“There’s one thing I know for sure,” Brandon said, putting down his second empty bowl of cereal. “The Sim isn’t exactly like the real world.”
“It seems that way to me,” Tony said.
“Then you need to look harder,” Brandon said. “It’s a computer generated program.”
“Maybe this reality is, too,”
Brandon made a sour face. “That’s weak, Tony. Trust me, guys, we can’t believe what they told us. The Sim is different, and we all need to believe it if we want to be number one. Accepting this fact is gonna be our biggest advantage in there.”
“It’s hard to believe you, Brandon, when we’ve seen it for ourselves,” Easton said.
“You’ve only seen what they want you to see,” Brandon said. “Next time we go in I’ll show you something. They’re lying to us all, and I can prove it.”
“How?” Alan asked.
Brandon shook his head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Just start telling yourselves that the Sim isn’t like real life at all. We can do whatever we want to do inside the Sim — if we believe we can.”
“I don’t know…” Kay said.
“When we get back inside, I’m gonna show you something,” Brandon said. “If you don’t believe me after that, then we’re doomed to be as crappy as the other teams.”
“Okay, everyone,” Wesley announced. “Breakfast is over. Time to get back into the Sim.”
Brandon smiled at the group and stood up. “Let’s go, kids.”
===
They opened their eyes and got out of bed. The players had begun to ‘park’ their avatars in beds when they exited the Sim. One kid had joked that it made real life seem like a dream, and the idea had quickly been accepted. Most of them now referred to real life as ‘the Dream.’
“Follow me, guys and gals,” Wesley said. “We’re done with the boring stuff. Now the games can begin.”
Brandon nodded and the others applauded quietly. His instincts were often right, and the team was always proud when one of his hunches came true.
As they were walking, Brandon’s group slowed their pace to lag behind. When the main group went around a corner, Brandon stopped and his team gathered around him.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small coin. He flipped it in the air a couple times then handed it to Easton. Easton inspected it then handed it back to Brandon with a nod. Brandon held his palm out flat and dropped the coin onto it, then he closed his eyes and squinted slightly in concentration. The coin floated up into the air and hung suspended above Brandon’s open palm. The others exclaimed in hushed tones of surprise.
“That’s unreal!” Alan said. He snatched the coin from the air and Brandon opened his eyes.
“It some kind of trick?” Tony asked.
“Yeah,” Brandon said and tapped his head. “That’s what I’m telling ya, guys. It’s different inside the Sim. All of us can use our minds to do this kind of stuff. But we have to be careful others don’t find out about it.”
“What kind of stuff can we do by floating a small coin in the air?” Kay asked. “I don’t think there’ll be a game of coin toss, but I guess if there is, we’ll win.”
Brandon grinned at them. “Stop it,” he said. “Stop thinking small. If someone told you that anything is possible in here, what would you do? Would you laugh and cal
l them crazy? Or would you agree with them and start to think of ways to use your powers to beat everyone else at the games?”
“We’d use it to win, Brandon, you know that.” Eason said.
Brandon nodded and pushed his way out of the circle that they’d formed around him. He pulled back his arm and threw the coin as hard as he could. It raced a few feet and then, suddenly, it stopped to hang in mid-air. Faster than any of them could see, the coin zipped to land with a loud slap into Brandon’s hand. He smiled and tossed the coin up again. This time it did a lazy figure eight in the air, increasing in speed along its path as Brandon waved his fingers below it. Finally he snatched the coin out of the air and looked at them with an excited grin.
“Anything is possible in here,” he said.
The rest of them nodded in agreement.
Chapter 33
Brandon’s Hand huddled together to stay warm while they waited for the game to begin.
It was cold, they were outside, and the ground was covered with deep snow all around them. Tall stone cliffs were on both sides of the area, and a single path wound its way through a dark pine forest.
Both groups had entered the field at midpoint through the silvery white doorway that opened and closed as they traveled inside the Sim.
They had been told this game would be cold, but they really had no idea what cold meant. Life in the Centres hadn’t exposed them to the harsh temperature fluctuations of either hot or cold. They’d also been sheltered from rainstorms and winds and all other types of weather that regular people took for granted. Centre children began to experience outside weather conditions at the age of fourteen through field trips. The older kids in the Sim would have a distinct advantage because of their experience with temperature in this game.
“I feel like my face is going to fall off,” Alan said.
“I can barely move wearing all these clothes,” Tony complained.
“It’s not that bad,” Easton said, although his lips were blue and his teeth chattered when he thought no one was paying attention to him.
Interlude-Brandon (The Game is Life) Page 11
