Gamers' Rebellion (8 page)

‘Greats!’ said Tark, his mouth immediately feeling dry and dusty.

He slowly turned 360 degrees, eyes scanning the horizon. Nothing but sand as far as he could see, flat and featureless in one direction, dunes rising up in the other. He was beginning to sweat, his clothes feeling heavy and making him hotter.

Clothes?

He looked down at himself. Leggings. Boots. Tunic. Cloak. He was back in his old outfit. Tark lifted a hand, running his fingers along the scar that cut a path through the stubble on his head.

‘I is me again,’ he whispered.

‘You’re in!’ Josie’s excited voice rang in his head.

Tark whirled around. She was nowhere to be seen.

‘Where the hell is ya?’ he growled. ‘When I gets me hands on ya, I is gonna makes ya sorry.’

‘I’m not in there with you,’ said her disembodied voice. ‘There were some communications nanos in the mix. I’m still in the laboratory with your body.’

Tark clenched his fists and snarled.

‘It’s just a vocal communication,’ she continued. ‘Can you tell us where you are?’

‘I is in a desert,’ he said flatly.

‘What can you see?’

‘Sand!’

‘Anything else? Can you see any signs of life?’

‘No,’ said Tark, looking around again. ‘It don’t matter anyways. Zyra and me brokes the rules. We can’t interacts with anyone.’

‘We’re not certain of that,’ said Josie. ‘You’ve exited the Game and now re-entered as a player. Remember, you’re not a Game entity any more. You’re a real person, playing the Game. I’d say there is a pretty good chance that you’ll be able to interact and play.’

‘Well, there ain’t anyone here to play with!’ shouted Tark.

‘Change environments.’

‘How?’

‘You’ve just got to think it,’ explained Josie.

Tark was just about to tell Josie where he would like her to go, when he caught a glimpse of something – a flash of light on the horizon. He again held up his hand to shield his face from the harsh sunlight. Far off in the distance, something was moving. Coming closer.

‘I sees sumthin’,’ he announced. ‘Sumthin’ moving across the sand. It’s coming towards me.’

‘Excellent!’

Tark watched as the shape came into view. It was a huge ship with sails and masts, skimming across the sand at an incredible speed.

‘It’s some kinda ship.’

A cloud of smoke burst from the oncoming ship, followed a second later by a booming sound. Shielding his eyes, Tark saw a black dot sailing through the air. And it was getting bigger. He turned to run. The ground a dozen metres to the right of him erupted in a geyser of sand.

Tark threw himself to the sand, shouting, ‘They is shooting ats me!’

‘Excellent!’ cried Josie, her voice going up a notch. ‘They must be able to see you then.’

‘No kiddin’!’

‘So you can probably interact and play,’ added Josie.

‘I don’ts care!’ yelled Tark. ‘Gets me out!’

‘We can’t,’ said Josie. ‘Sorry! It’s time limited. You’re stuck in there for another seven minutes. You’ve got to change environments … or RUN!’

Tark struggled to his feet and took off as fast as he could – which wasn’t all that fast, as his feet kept sinking in the soft sand.

BOOM!

The ship fired again. Another cannonball came hurtling towards Tark. He heard it strike the ground behind him.

’I needs a gun!’ Tark screamed.

He ground to a halt as a holographic display popped up in front of him. Images of firearms floated in the air. Tark rubbed his hands together with glee and poked a finger at the image of a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher.

The image glowed red. Text appeared below it:
Access denied. Insufficient game points.

‘Not fair!’ Tark looked at the smaller weapons.

BOOM!

Tark took off, running through the weapons display, the images dispersing. The cannonball hit the ground and he felt a spray of sand.

‘Change environments,’ he mumbled to himself, struggling on. ‘Gotta gets away from ’ere,’ he continued to mutter between breaths. ‘Thinks of something. Not a desert. No sands.’

He risked a quick glance over his shoulder. The ship was much closer.

BOOM!

Tark put on an extra burst of speed. As the cannonball hit, he felt the ground shake. The force of the impact knocked him off his feet.

Tark tried to think about the absence of sand as he sailed through the air. The only image his mind could form was … grass.

14: Into the Game

‘Tark’s in the Game? How? Why?’ Zyra jumped up from the chair, ripping the headset off and tossing it to one side. She was back in Robert’s room, the images created by the headset, gone.

‘I cannot answer any of those questions.’ Robbie was standing by the wall of tech, hands moving across holographic displays, with a speed and dexterity that reminded Zyra of the Ultimate Gamer.

‘A downloaded Game entity re-entering the Game as a player,’ mused Robert. ‘I had considered the possibility, but …’ His voice rose with excitement. ‘Monitor it, Robbie. Record all the data.’

‘Monitoring and recording,’ said Robbie. ‘He is in the War of the Sands environment.’

‘What’s that?’ asked Zyra.

‘Dangerous,’ answered Robert, a hint of a smile on his lips. ‘He may need help.’

‘How do I get in?’ Zyra stalked over to Robbie.

‘It may be better if I handle this,’ said Robbie.

Zyra wasn’t convinced.

‘I have got a link on Tark’s vital signs,’ Robbie announced. ‘They’re highly elevated.’

‘What does that mean?’ demanded Zyra.

‘He’s under stress.’

‘Why?’

‘He must be in trouble,’ concluded Robert.

‘Get me in there now,’ demanded Zyra, striding up to Robbie. Then lowering her voice she added: ‘Or I’ll break every bone in your cloned body.’

Robbie stared at her, genuine surprise in his eyes. Then he glanced back at Designer Prime.

‘Let her go,’ said Robert, without any hesitation. ‘You go as well to gather first hand data.’

Robbie’s hands moved across holo-displays. ‘I am programming two doses of user controlled nanobots. This will allow us to change environments if necessary and exit when ready.’ He finished off with a flourish and took two syringes from a dispenser in the wall.

‘What are those for?’ asked Zyra.

‘You need to inject the nanobots,’ explained Robert. ‘They are what will enable you to re-enter the Game.’

‘You had better sit down,’ suggested Robbie.

Zyra returned to the seat and Robbie approached her with the first syringe. He brought it up to her face and she held up her hand.

‘What are you doing with that?’

‘It needs to be injected into your eyeball,’ said Robbie.

‘You’ve gotta be kidding,’ said Zyra.

‘I did say that entering the Game was difficult,’ said Robert. ‘If we had more time, we could set up an IV. But we don’t. So the nanobots must be injected as close to the brain as possible. Theoretically we could inject it up your nose. Or in your ear. But we find that the eyeball works rather well.’ He paused. ‘Do you still want to go in?’

‘Yes!’ Zyra snapped without hesitation, leaning back into the chair.

‘Excellent!’

Trying desperately to calm herself, Zyra concentrated on not blinking. Robbie leaned forward, bringing the needle towards her left eye. She watched it blur out of focus.

‘There are pain numbing nanobots,’ said Robbie. ‘Their effect is almost instantaneous.’

Pain exploded through her eye. And then disappeared.

The familiar grey static of the Interface rushed towards her and she was back in the Game.

15: Machines

Tark landed face first in a field of grass. He decided he didn’t like the taste.

‘Greats!’ he grumbled, staggering to his feet.

The grass stretched out in front of him towards gently undulating hills in the distance.

‘Where are you?’ Josie’s voice piped up.

‘How in heck is I supposed to knows,’ snapped Tark.

‘Describe the environment,’ ordered Josie.

‘Green,’ answered Tark. ‘Lots and lots of grass.’ He looked up. ‘Dark grey cloudy sky.’ He looked to either side, then behind. ‘And trees. There is a forest behinds me. I is going to goes there. I knows forests.’

‘No people around?’

‘Yar not on about that again, are ya?’ asked Tark. ‘I was being shots at in the desert. I thinks that means I is able ta interact.’

‘We need to be certain.’

‘Damnit!’ snapped Tark, looking off into the distance. ‘Here I goes again.’

‘What is it?’

‘There is some sorts of machine thing coming over them hills at me,’ he explained. ‘Big. Real big! Belchin’ out lots of smoke.’

It looked like a giant city-sized tractor, with massive wheels and enormous smokestacks reaching up toward the clouds. Tark followed the billows of grey up to the sky with his eyes.

‘They ain’t clouds,’ he whispered. ‘The sky is all covered in smoke.’

‘What was that?’

‘Neva minds.’ The loud, grinding sound of machinery brought his attention back down to earth. Tark looked back at the giant tractor-city. His eyes widened as he realised just how fast the contraption was travelling. ‘I got to gets to the forest. Nows!’

Tark turned and ran. Grass, at least, was a lot easier to run through than sand. Behind him, he heard the grinding sound of machinery getting closer and closer.

‘What’s going on?’ asked Josie.

‘Not nows.’

‘But –’

‘Shuts ups,’ Tark panted.

Reaching the safety of the trees, Tark stopped and looked around. The tractor-city was painfully grinding to a halt, steam expelling in gushes from exhaust pipes above the gargantuan wheels.

It was now close enough for Tark to see that it was indeed a city. Huge metal structures grew out from the tractor-like base. In the shadow of five enormous smokestacks, hundreds of smaller ones belched grey smoke and black soot into the air.

As Tark watched, an enormous drawbridge lowered from the hull. It crashed down onto the grass. Tark heard the clanging sound of metal on metal. It was like the sound of giant metal footsteps. And indeed it was.

A gargantuan metal man lumbered down the ramp, clanging with each step. It was a bit like a robot – and yet unlike any robot he had ever seen. It was box-like and cumbersome, with pistons and gears spewing steam with every movement. Its eyes were like searchlights and its mouth like a fiery hell, flames and smoke visible through the gigantic rectangular slot.

The metal man stepped off the ramp and came to a stop. The clanging continued … as another metal monstrosity lumbered down the ramp. And another. And another.

Tark didn’t wait around to see how many more there were. He ran!

The trees and undergrowth were not too thick and the ground was not overly rough. Tark found it easy going, so it was not long before complacency tripped him up and he landed flat on his face beside a particularly large and leafy tree. In the distance he heard the sound of metal men crashing through the forest. Muttering curses, he went to push himself up, when a booted foot planted itself on the raised tree root right in front of his nose.

It looked familiar. He lifted his eyes a little and saw a swish of red leather.

‘Tripping over your own feet? Lucky I’m here to help you up.’

‘Zyra!’ Tark gasped.

Zyra extended her hand. Tark grabbed it and she pulled him to his feet. Seconds later, he had her in a tight embrace.

The crashing sounds grew nearer.

‘Thank the Designers ya is okay,’ he breathed, then kissed her.

‘Don’t thank the Designers,’ Zyra spoke against his lips. ‘They’re not worth it.’ And then she kissed him back.

‘What’s going on?’ Josie’s voice shouted in Tark’s head.

‘Not now,’ Tark muttered.

‘Huh?’ Zyra pulled back from him, irritated.

‘No, no,’ said Tark. ‘Nots ya.’

The sound of someone noisily clearing his throat made them spring apart.

‘There is a time and a place for everything,’ said Robbie, standing a few paces behind Zyra. ‘But this is neither the time nor the place for that. My data indicates that there are several armies converging on this area. And it is only a matter of time before the security program tracks us down.’