Interlude- Brandon (8 page)

Chapter 22

“I don’t recognize any of these kids,” Brandon said.

“Me neither,” Alan said as he looked around the staging area.

“That’s okay, guys,” Easton said. He was sitting along the wall wrapping his hands with a length of blue cloth material that had been sitting on each chair when they came into the room. “They’re older than you. We knew this would likely happen.”

When they’d invited Easton to join, they understood that taking him into the group might mean competing in his age group instead of theirs. They had assured him that it didn’t matter; many of the games they played contained kids who were a year older than them anyway.

What they hadn’t fully taken into consideration was that some of the kids in here weren’t one year older than them — they were two years older. Brandon inspected the other teams around them. Some of these twelve-year-olds were big.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kay said. “We can still clean their clocks. I don’t recognize the game, Easton. What’s it called, and how does it work?”

“It’s called ‘Monkey See, Monkey Don’t,’” he said. “Pretty simple puzzle and action game, but tricky. We’ll enter the field and see fake trees spread around the room. The room will have different coloured hand rungs all over the walls and ceiling. Red, blue, and green. You can touch each rung a certain number of times before it disappears. When you touch them with your wrap, they change to the next colour. Red turns to blue, blue turns to green, green turns grey and then disappears into the wall.”

“How do we win?” Tony asked. The tank of the group, he was a fan of direct action. Many game tanks were big and they used their size and strength without bothering to think much about what they were doing. Tony was different. He was both strong and clever, a lethal combination against the competition. A smart tank was dangerous, and Tony was one of the most dangerous playing at their level. Despite that, he was still a fan of direct action.

“The team who captures the most trees, wins.” Easton looked around. “I see five teams, so there will likely be fifteen trees. You capture a tree by climbing to the top and tapping a pad with both hands. Doing that wins the tree, but it deactivates your wraps.”

“Putting you out of the game,” Alan said.

“Exactly,” Easton nodded. “Most teams can only get one tree, two if they are clever and have a good mix of talent. This game isn’t about winning; the goal is to get points to retain standing. Ties are the norm; wins are rare and only happen when a total bunch of Baggers come in and can’t figure out how to capture a tree on their first try.”

“Why play a game just to tie?” Alan asked.

“As we move up in age and level, the games aren’t just about winning.” Easton said. “They’re more about learning something. Sometimes you learn more from losing or a tie.”

“Losing should teach you how not to do something.” Brandon said. “Doing it differently might get you a win. You should always try to win.”

“Even when it’s impossible?” Easton asked.

Brandon flashed a grin. “
Especially
when it’s impossible.”

The rest of the group laughed and nodded. They followed Brandon because he knew how to win. He didn’t seem to see the world the way most kids did.

“Each tree has four hand holds,” Easton explained. “As soon as they are touched, a timer starts ticking, and when it runs out all of the hand holds disappear. Touching first the bottom, and then the next rung up with a different set of wraps, doubles the time they stay out. It takes two touches to get them to stay out long enough for a fast climber to reach the top.”

“So it takes three people to climb a tree,” Tony said. “Two to tap the rungs, and a third to rush to the top and capture it.”

“Exactly,” Easton confirmed.

“The person who captures the tree is then out of the game because their wraps no longer work,” Kay said.

“Yep.”

Alan looked around the room again, gauging the physical conditioning of the other teams. “That leaves four still on the ground. Some teams would have one more fast climber, so that’s how they get a second tree and not a third?”

“One more thing happens to prevent a quick try from the ground for a second tree,” Easton said. “Once our first tree is captured, we have one minute to get off the ground. Anyone still on the ground after a minute is kicked from the game and has to leave the area.”

“That means it’s very hard to get a second tree from the ground?” Brandon guessed.

Easton nodded. “If you want to stay in the game, you need to be on the rungs on the wall. Some very skilled kids can climb enough to take a chance on dropping on a tree from the ceiling. It’s not a huge drop, but the hand rungs are really tricky and far apart up there. Most kids go for one tree, get their points, and call it a day.”

“Anyone ever gotten three?” Brandon asked.

Easton laughed loudly. “No. Some kids tried at first, but it was just too difficult. Two is the best someone can do.”

“Did you see the points you can get for winning this game?” Brandon asked. “A win today will lock up our first place position and get us into the VR simulations.” He looked at the rest of his team seriously. “We’re going for four, but we can still consider this a success if we get three.”

Easton glanced at the others. No one laughed, and no one argued. They looked at each other briefly, then met Brandon’s eyes and nodded. Easton sighed and nodded as well.

“Good,” Brandon said. “Here’s the plan…”

Chapter 23

The door opened and the five groups entered the game area. The arena was just as Easton described it; fifteen tall trees were spread around the room. Each tree had four hand rungs on the trunk, and at the top was a flat, clear area with a glowing orb.  Spread along the walls and on the ceiling were a myriad of random coloured red, blue, and green rungs.

Brandon’s Hand spread out so they could see the entire room, but they didn’t move toward a tree like the other groups did. Since there was no time limit for staying on the ground until their team captured a tree, they had decided to stand and watch for a few moments.

One of the other groups began to climb their tree. As soon as the first kid touched the bottom rung, Tony started counting slowly out loud. “One…two…three…” When the team captured their tree Tony stopped counting; he had reached twenty-one.

A second group began their attempt and Alan counted the seconds off as they made their capture. He stopped when they succeeded… at 26.

The third and fourth remaining teams began their climbs and Easton and Brandon made the counts, one for each team. The team Easton was tracking succeeded at 19, but the other team was too slow and the rungs disappeared before they could make it to the top.

“Thirty,” Brandon said. “The rungs disappear at thirty seconds.”

A buzzer went off and the members of the first three teams who were still on the ground began to walk towards the exit of the arena. Two of the groups had a few more seconds, but they didn’t seem interested in using them. They all left at the same time.

The fourth group was busy attempting to climb another tree, but Brandon had seen enough. “The plan is good, let’s get it done.” He said.

Brandon dashed towards one tree. When he was halfway there he yelled out, “Now!” and Kay sprinted towards him as fast as she could. When she was halfway to him, Tony then began to run towards the both of them.

Brandon jumped and hit the bottom rung of the tree and he started counting the seconds out loudly. “One…two…three…” As soon as he landed, he began to run towards another tree.

Kay hit the rung of the first tree and reached up for the second rung. She dropped down and began to count as well. Once Brandon heard her counting he stopped his count but continued to head for his new tree. Kay got out of the way and headed toward the wall. When she got there, she stopped counting and put her head between her knees, panting to get her breath back.

Tony reached the tree just after Kay had dropped down. He knew that the two touches had gained him more than thirty seconds to make his climb, which should be enough for him to make it. He hit the bottom rung and climbed as fast as he possibly could towards the top. The other kids sitting at the tops of their trees were watching with interest. Tony made it to the top of his tree. Seconds later he heard a clunking as the hand rungs disappeared below him along the trunk. He lay on his back breathing deeply and smiling in triumph; most tanks couldn’t climb so fast.

Brandon was almost at the next tree and he looked quickly to his right. Easton was barreling towards him at a fast sprint. Brandon smiled and jumped up on the trunk, grabbing the first rung and quickly dropping back to the ground to get out of Easton’s way. Kay started calling out the seconds for Easton as Brandon trotted over to stand beside Kay and catch his breath.

The timing was perfect. If Brandon had been another second slower they would have collided. Easton was a fast climber but he knew he would need every second if he was going to make it to the top of the tree. There had been just one touch which meant he only had 15 seconds to do it.

“Nine…” Kay called out. Easton was already on the third rung and smiling. This was going to be cake.

“Twelve…” Kay called said as Easton climbed to the platform on the top of the tree. He grinned wearily as the others cheered loudly for his success.

After a few moments Easton stood up to view the rest of the field. Somehow the fourth team had captured two trees. That left them tied once Brandon’s group captured their two trees. The kids from the other team had activated their tree and their minute on the ground had already expired. They walked off the field, looking curiously at Brandon, Kay, and Alan standing near the wall.  

Brandon nodded to Kay and she jumped up to grab a rung. She swung from one to the next and the colours changed as she did so. A Red one became blue and then she grabbed a green and jumped back down to the ground. All the rungs changed colour like Easton said they would, the green one turned grey and the rung disappeared into the wall when Kay let go of it.

“The walls and rungs aren’t slippery.” She reported to the others.

“Good,” Alan said. He turned around and nodded to the two in the tree tops. Both Tony and Easton touched their wraps to the glowing orb and a chime sounded, announcing their trees were captured.

Alan, Kay, and Brandon jumped up onto the rungs and began to climb.

Kay pulled ahead of the boys, zipping along the rungs like a monkey as she headed away from them in the direction of the closest tree. It took her only a few moments until she was hanging as close as she could get to an unclaimed tree. She gauged the distance and started to swing back and forth. When her swinging feet almost touched the ceiling she let go and sailed outwards. It looked like she wouldn’t make the edge of the tree, but at the last moment she pumped her legs and arms and managed to somehow grab onto the lip of the platform. Everyone, including the other teams sitting in their tree tops, cheered as she stood up and waved with a grin on her face. Kay put both hands on the globe and the chime sounded again. They had three trees!

Everyone now focused on Brandon and Alan. Alan was in the lead and climbing carefully; picking rungs that would not disappear when he touched them so that Brandon could follow him. They made their way slowly to another tree. Alan was too big to swing onto a tree like Kay; she had barely made it and she was the best acrobat on the team. Brandon was simply too short to get the needed distance.

Alan got as close as he could to a tree and he called out to Brandon to hold on a second. Then he made certain his grip was as tight as it could be and he nodded to Brandon. “Okay, let’s do this,” he said.

“All right,” Brandon said. He began to swing like Kay had done. When he was swinging as hard as he could he launched himself towards Alan. There was no way he could have made it to the tree, but he managed to make it to Alan and grab hold of his legs tightly. Alan grunted from the added weight but he managed to hold on to the rungs. “Damn, you’re heavier than you look,” he said to Brandon. “Don’t take too long for the next swing, or we’ll fall.”

The boys were about fifteen feet in the air. The floors were padded, but
they would most likely get hurt if they fell on top of each other.

Brandon used the momentum from his jump to keep swinging. Alan helped by rocking his legs to match the motion. Three quick pumps and Brandon let go of Alan’s legs and sailed towards the closest tree. His speed was perfect.

Brandon landed lightly in the centre of the platform, bending his legs slightly and touching one hand on the platform to stop himself from falling forward.

The kids cheered as he stood up and looked around the arena.

With a large smile on his face, Brandon raised his arms in triumph before placing them on the orb.

The chime sounded for the fourth time.

Brandon looked at Easton and nodded with satisfaction.

Chapter 24

Cooper sometimes wished he could be a normal, ordinary person.

Normal people woke up late, strolled through life accomplishing very little, came home every night and ate a boring meal. They sat in front of a view screen and watched the news or some other mindless program, and then went to sleep safe and sound in their beds.

A normal person didn’t catch whatever snippets of sleep they could while lying in the cold, wet dark in hostile enemy territory. Normal people weren’t crammed into the back of a packed transport plane for twenty-three hours and then dropped from 60,000 feet in a pressure suit, in the dead of night, with no ground support or direction. No stress or pressure… how lucky normal people were to be ignorant of how the world really worked.

Millions dreamed of being as brave, strong, and popular as Cooper. Yet Cooper dreamed of being a dishwasher in a restaurant, working eight hour days and living in a small apartment above a store.

Cooper smiled as he shook his head and slowly rolled it around his shoulders in an effort to loosen the tight muscles. He stood, jumped up and down lightly half a dozen times, and shook his arms and hands to get the blood flowing. By the time he opened his eyes his silly little dream was tucked safely away into a small corner of his psyche. He knew the truth of the matter… mediocrity wasn’t for someone like him, and if he ever did find himself in that dream place he would quickly go insane. Cooper was exactly who he wanted to be.

He closed his eyes and summoned his glow, the golden tingling sensation he’d discovered years ago through meditation training as a student in the Game Facility. Cooper closed his eyes and envisioned a white office. He felt a slight movement, and when he opened his eyes he was standing in it.

“Thanks, Doc,” he said. “I needed that little bit of alone time.”

Thorn smiled from behind the desk and nodded. “No problem, Cooper. You seem to have gotten the hang of travel mode inside the simulation.”

“It’s simple,” Cooper shrugged. “I feel like I’ve been training my whole life to be inside this simulation.”

Thorn nodded. “You pay attention to my instructions and complete every task easily. I’ve never seen someone take to the VR environment so quickly. It took me two months to master teleportation in here, and I invented the technology.”

Cooper smiled at the compliment. “What’s next on the agenda, Thorn?” he asked.

“A confession,” Thorn said.

“I have nothing to confess,” Cooper said.

“I was talking about me,” Thorn said.

“Okay…?”

“I’ve been building a profile on you, since you came here. The computer recreates you exactly to make this as realistic as possible. It’s not just physical, Cooper, it’s also psychological.”

Cooper shrugged, “That’s fine, Thorn, I take psych evaluations frequently. I’m as crazy as I have to be and as sane as is required to walk the paths that I do.”

Thorn chuckled. “Yes, I’m fascinated by the contrasts inside that head of yours. I see a troubled area, however.”

Cooper frowned. “What area is that?” he asked.

“Your loyalty to the General is… questionable.” Thorn said.

Cooper laughed. “No. It isn’t. The General is the father and mother I never had. Without him I’d be dead, or worse.” Cooper stood up and walked to the bookshelf against the wall. “If there’s one area in my life where I’m crystal clear, Thorn, it’s my loyalty to the General. I would do anything for him.”

Thorn nodded and looked at Cooper for a moment. Then he shook his head in sympathy. “I’m sorry, Cooper, but the General has lied to you.”

“About what?” Cooper asked.

“About everything,” Thorn said.

Cooper picked a book off the shelf and looked at it. Then he placed it back on the shelf and looked at Thorn. His eyes were flat and cold as he spoke. “I don’t know you very well, Doc, but I like you. This is a line you don’t want to cross with me; not now, not ever. I won’t believe anything bad about the General, and there’s no room in my brain to stand by and listen to it. Us orphans get pretty fired up when you start talking trash about our father… so don’t bring it up again. We understand each other?”

“How are there so many orphans these days?” Thorn asked.

“Come again?”

“The Centres are full of orphans. Tens of thousands of kids without parents all over the country. Do you have any idea how many there are?”

“Times are tough, Thorn,” Cooper said. “People can’t afford to keep their kids. Lots of children have kids, and they just can’t give them a life. I doubt the volume of orphans has increased significantly, the General has simply put a system in place to save them.”

“Inside this simulation we have access to every memory from your life.” Thorn said.

“What? That could be dangerous for you, Doc. There’s knowledge in my brain that could get you killed.”

“I’ve got maximum clearance,” Thorn assured him.

“There’s no way in hell you have that kind of clearance.”

“Some of your memories are blocked. I don’t know how, but they are. I’m guessing they taught you how to do that.”

Cooper nodded.

“I want to show you a memory that you’ve repressed. Let me show it to you. You do that, and I’ll never bring the General up again. Deal?”

Cooper hesitated and Thorn held up his hand. “I promise it won’t be anything compromising from your career as part of the General’s Avatar. It goes back much farther.”

Cooper nodded. “Fine. If that’s what it takes to shut you up.”

Thorn nodded and pulled out his tablet. “This memory is an old one. You were less than two years old.”

The white office shimmered and was replaced by another scene. The two men stood in front of a large mansion. The lawn was immaculate and there were four very expensive cars sitting in the large driveway. Thorn led Cooper into the house and walked upstairs to the hallway. He stopped outside a door; they could hear voices in the next room.

“They won’t see us,” Thorn said. They walked into a children’s bedroom decorated in blue and white. The walls were decorated with cartoon animals and other happy scenes. A beautiful woman sat on the bed holding a small blonde boy tightly in her arms. He had his face buried in her shoulder. A good looking man stood over the two of them protectively, glaring at a man standing in front of them. Cooper and Thorn couldn’t see the face of the man who was facing the parents, but they could see that he had a gun pointed at them.

“My parents?” Cooper asked.

Thorn nodded. “Two loyal and wealthy citizens of the state who recently spoke out against a young man in public, challenging his ideas and criticizing his plans.”

“The man holding the gun on them?”

“Yes,” Thorn said. “An aggressive and newly appointed General Donovan.”

“You didn’t need to come into our house and start waving around a gun, Donovan,” Cooper’s father said. He appeared relaxed despite the dangerous situation; Cooper could tell that his father had military training. “If our support is so important to you, then I’m sure we can come to
an arrangement.”

“That’s good to hear,” the General said. “But I don’t require your public support, Charles, although you can help me in another area. You and Genevieve are both remarkable people… mentally and physically superior specimens.”

“What are you talking about?” Cooper’s father asked.

“I can see that no matter how hard we try, the three of us will never be friends,” the General said. “There’s only one acceptable solution to this problem.”

“You’re going to kill us in cold blood.”

“Yes,” the General admitted. “The news tomorrow will report the tragic story of your untimely assassination. Your deaths will be a great loss for our people, and another act of aggression from our warlike neighbours to the west.”

“You’re a monster,” Genevieve said. She hugged her boy tightly, and her eyes blazed with defiance and hatred.

“I’m more of a visionary,” the General said. “But I can see you will never understand that.”

“Is there no way I can persuade you to spare our son?” Cooper’s father asked.

“Officially, no, but I’m not a monster, Charles. I won’t kill the boy; he will come to live at one of our new orphan facilities where he will receive the best training and education. Knowing the genetic stock he comes from, I’m certain in a few years’ time he will be one of my best soldiers.”

Cooper’s father sprang at the General. Cooper was surprised by his speed, but unfortunately he wasn’t quick enough. There was a quiet spitting sound from the silenced gun and Charles fell heavily to the ground. Genevieve opened her mouth to scream but a second bullet pierced her skull before she could make a sound. Her head sank to the bed, the momentum pulling the boy from her grasp.

The General tucked the gun into a holster behind his back and walked towards the boy.

“There, there, little fella, don’t cry. It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

The boy said nothing. He was in shock, and too young to really understand what was happening. The General lifted him into his arms and walked towards the door.  “I’ll take good care of you, son,” the General said, closing the door behind him.

Thorn and Cooper stood in the room with the two bodies for a moment, then Thorn ended the scene and returned them to his virtual office.  

Cooper stood in the middle of the room and said nothing. Finally he looked at Thorn. “Why did you do that?” he asked.

“It’s important to know the truth,” Thorn said. “If you are controlled and manipulated for years then you are not to blame for the actions you commit. Once you see the truth, you are responsible for whatever you do from that point forward.”

“The General didn’t save me at all.”

“No.”

“How many others are there?”

“I don’t know yet,” Thorn said, “but I think there are thousands.”

“What do you expect me to do?” Cooper asked.

“Help me free them.”

“How?” Cooper asked.

Thorn chewed the corner of his lip. “I have no idea.”