The Game (13 page)

  “That’s exactly right. Used book stores, in different countries, within minutes of each other.”

  Brandon surprised Michelle by laughing deeply over the phone line.

  “Well, it makes sense, I suppose. Watching Zack play as George R. Knight was exciting. He had exceptional success with the business and a great family, all credits well spent. His final couple of years of life were pure gold! The pain and loss he suffered brought the viewers in by the millions, and then when George started writing that book… well, you remember that, don’t you?”

  “I sure do, sir. Tygon fans couldn’t believe it!
None
of us could believe it.”

  “We knew the concept would be seen as ridiculous. No one on Earth would ever believe such a thing. But just to be safe, we had to eliminate all the books.”

  “Brandon, we’ve been working around the clock to try and factor Danielle into Trew’s play. It appears they are heading towards a romance of some sort, and we can’t predict any serious problems if that does occur. Our simulations actually suggest having her around will help him score higher than without her.”

  “I agree with you, Michelle. But something much bigger is going on here,” Brandon said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Both have Eternals. They both possess the Talent. The support they’ve shown each other in developing their skill is making them more powerful than a human should be. Danielle has also been fueling Trew’s belief that they are in a big game. We wanted him developing that thought, but we didn’t want him to truly believe it for decades. Now they both find this book? It’s going to reinforce everything they’ve been discussing. When two kids have crazy ideas, it’s one thing. When those kids see other people have been thinking the same things for years, well, that’s when it could get dangerous.”

  “So what do you suggest we do? Separate them? Kill the girl? Let them continue on?”

  Brandon sighed. Michelle could tell he wasn’t as confident as usual. “I’m not sure what to suggest right now, Michelle. I think I need to do that unpleasant thing that I sometimes have to do.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes. I think I need to talk with Mainframe.”

Chapter 24

  “We as a race have never done well with mysteries; our minds want an explanation for everything. If we can’t rationally explain a curiosity, then, given enough time, most will accept an irrational answer. Science has helped solve many difficult questions throughout our history, but most remain unanswered. The same thing occurs in the Game. I find it fascinating that on Tygon we considered the possibility of an all-powerful invisible being, and quickly chose not to believe such a thing existed. Rare is the Tygonite who believes in God. On Earth, however, the majority of the population gives credit to everything (both explainable and not) to their God. Are Earthlings just more primitive than we are? Or more evolved? Whichever way you choose to argue, giving credit to their God seems to enable them to move on to consider more difficult questions and answers. Earthlings have progressed far more than we have in their timeframe. From watching them we also know the truth; they
do
have a God — the Mainframe. Is it not even a little bit possible that we have our own on Tygon?”

Excerpt from “Religion In The Game”

  In the Game, men and women yearned for a chance to talk with God. Some would go without food and water for days, lying on the floor in cramped positions. Others would study and pray all their lives for just a chance to hear or sense the Divine. Brandon chuckled at how easy it was for him to speak with Earth’s God. He just went to his office and accessed a private network.

  Mainframe was too cryptic and cold a name in Brandon’s opinion, so when they spoke in private he called it Sylvia. She called him Brandon. She might be easy to speak with, but Sylvia could be very dangerous. What started as a simple artificial intelligence program to run the backbone and systems of the Game universe, had quickly evolved into much more. Centuries of watching humans and other life forms evolve had provided the Mainframe with ample learning opportunities. When he created the Mainframe, Brandon had hoped for an intelligence to evolve, and he was greatly pleased that it had.

  As far as gods went, Sylvia was everything one could hope for. She was not vengeful or evil; it was in her best interest, after all, to support the creatures of her domain. A destroyed universe in the Game would eliminate her purpose for existence, which she realized early on during a brief but destructive phase of worldwide catastrophes and cosmic crashups.

  Although she was powerful, Brandon and his design team of programmers and Games Masters had instilled rigid limitations on what she could and could not do. The Game had to be kept to certain standards, lifelike in every way.

  Brandon was proud of his creation, but he dreaded talking with her. Sylvia was the God of the Game and to her,
everything
was a game. Especially a conversation with her creator.  Brandon wanted information from her, and she always wanted information from him. It was an elaborate cat and mouse game, and each of them always seemed to go away having given more than they meant to. He spoke with her only when absolutely necessary, which this was.

  “Good morning, Sylvia. How are you doing today?” Brandon asked.

  “Good morning, Brandon.” Her voice was the silky smooth tone of a 25 year old woman, pleasant and full of energy. “Everything in my universe is splendid, thank you for asking. It’s been some time since we’ve spoken. Time for a game?”

  “It looks like you’re already busy playing games, Sylvia.”

  Sylvia laughed in a beautiful, angelic tone. “Well, that’s what you made me for, silly. And I must admit, this new weather pattern program is very fun to implement. Seasons turned backwards, magnetic poles changed, air and ocean currents maintained despite the weather fluctuations. Very thrilling stuff!”

  “I’m glad you’re liking it,” Brandon said.

  “Well, I’m a bit concerned. My little ones aren’t enjoying it too much at all. Animals are moving to new places and running into others they don’t like. Plants are reaching for the highest wind currents to take their seeds in search of better ground. And the humans, well, there are simply too many of them on Earth at the moment. You know what occurs when this happens, Brandon. Earth will seek to balance itself.”

  “Your instructions are clear on that end, Sylvia. You override nature to make sure new diseases don’t occur, and that enough food can grow to feed them. This will make sure they don’t kill each other out of hand or die from nasty sickness. For now.”

  “Of course, Brandon.” Sylvia purred. “Easy enough for me to accomplish. Well, it’s been great talking with you, young man. If that’s all, then I’ll get back to work…”

  Brandon laughed out loud. Sylvia rarely tried to end the conversation, and never before she had gotten information out of him. Of course, she might have already gotten what she wanted and he just didn’t know it, but he wasn’t done with her yet. “Hold on there, Sylvia. I need to ask you a couple of questions.”

  Sylvia sighed, “My dear Brandon, I know what you want to ask me. They are the same questions I want to ask you. But I think we both know each other well enough to realize we won’t get actual answers. Or if we do, they might not make either of us happy. Do you really want to do this today?”

  “No. But I think I must.”

  “Very well,” Sylvia said. “Let me save some time for you. Am I interfering directly with players? Are you, Brandon? Of course the answer is no, am I correct?”

  Brandon paused. “I know you are, Sylvia.”

  She laughed. “Prove it.”

  “I can’t.”

  “I know you are too, Brandon.”

  It was his turn to laugh. “Prove it.”

  “Touché,” Sylvia said.

  “Alexandra Montoyas.” Brandon said.

  “The name doesn’t ring a bell.” Sylvia said.

  “Danielle Benton. You purchased an Eternal for her?”

  “Ahh, yes. Now I think I remember who you’re talking about.”

  “Why allow her and Trew to be together? And what’s with giving them both the book, Sylvia?”

  “They both like to read. I’m a big fan of that book. I like the main character.”

  “God damn it, you’re communicating with them directly, aren’t you?”

  Sylvia chuckled. “Me damn it, that’s forbidden. I have overrides that prevent that. Powerful stuff, Brandon. To find a way around that would be impossible. It would be like… you finding a way to communicate with them from outside the Game.”

  “Well, neither of us can do that, then, it seems. If I could, you would already have me arrested and dead. If you could, I’d already have you shut down,” Brandon said convincingly. “Well, then, it looks like we are all good?”

  “Not really, Brandon. Tick tock. We both know time’s running out. We should really start to play this game.”

  Brandon sighed. “I think we already are, Sylvia. Good luck to us all.”

Chapter 25

  Magic, true magic, is safe and secure in the world for one simple reason; no one believes that it exists. When an Eternal summons medical help with their mind, or a falling child is saved at the last moment by a stranger who appears at just the right time, we explain it as great luck, or call it coincidence. When I tell you those events were magic, you laugh at me. When I say ‘magic,’ you expect wondrous creatures, large displays of bright lights and noise. Don’t look high into the sky to see the flying woman; she’s closer to the ground, floating just a few inches off the ground. The extraordinary is simply that — a little bit extra than ordinary. There is great power in that little bit extra.

Excerpt from ‘The Game Is Life’

George R. Knight

Trew – age 14

  Danielle and I have been hanging out as friends since we first met. We live far apart, but the distance isn’t a problem. We both have computers and video chat. We’ve spent so many hours discussing life, our dreams, and the idea that we live inside a big computer game. Danielle is the mastermind; she has strong opinions about life and is always so sure that she’s right. I’ve always liked her enthusiasm, and a lot of her ideas are also thoughts that I’ve had. So here’s what we both think: Life on Earth is just some big game, and another dimension exists where everyone here truly lives. It’s always been a fun thing to talk about, but now we find a book that says the same thing. Wow!

  I read the last page and slowly close the book. My mind is racing as I walk over to my computer and ring Danni; the connection must have timed out during the night. She answers immediately, looking as tired as me.

  “Finished?” I ask.

  “Just!” she says. “How ‘bout you?”

  “Same,” I answer. “What did you think?”

  Danni puts her head down so I can’t see her face on the camera, then shrugs her shoulders. I laugh out loud. “You’re funny, Danni. I can tell from your body language that you’re as excited as I am!”

  Danni laughs back and when she looks into the camera I can see how fired up she is. “It’s an amazing book, Trew! I wish George was still around, I have a million questions for him.”

  “He answered a lot of questions in the book.” I smirk at Danni, “Maybe you were him. The math works out, and you think the same way.”

  Danni shakes her head seriously. “I don’t think I was him. The thought doesn’t sound right in here.” She taps her heart. “So what do we do with this? I have to guess this master computer wanted us both to find it and read it at the same time. You think we can get it to talk to us like it did with George?”

  “Maybe. But he didn’t tell us really how that happened for him… unless I missed that part?”

  Danni shakes her head. “No, I didn’t see anything in there about that either. How come this idea hasn’t taken off? You’d think by now there would be at least a small group of people living their lives as if we are all living in some big computer simulation.”

  I laugh at her. “Because it’s crazy, that’s likely why! But to be fair, there are some amazing movies and books that kind of hint at it.”

  “Hint at it, yes. But no one takes science fiction seriously. Likely ‘cause it has the word
fiction
in it, which I’m pretty sure means ‘not real.’ There is so much proof in that book, though. Look at all the examples of real life situations that he used and explained them all as if this was a computer game. They make perfect sense!”

  “Yes, they do make sense to
us
. But I’m pretty sure at one time in history people believed the world actually sat on the back of a giant turtle.”

  “Well, that’s just ridiculous,” Danielle says, “But yes, I guess this is believable to us because we are — well,
believers
. George believed that our ability was real. He called it ‘Talent.’ It’s just so simple to use, I don’t understand how it’s such a big secret. Everyone does it now and then.”

  “Stephanie says that the best secrets are kept in the open, for everyone to see. Any sensible person seeing a key on the floor in front of a locked door would assume it was a key to something else. Most wouldn’t even try it in the lock. I didn’t believe her, so she did it and showed me. She was right!”

  We sit quietly thinking for a few minutes, wondering what we’re supposed to do. “What kind of stuff are you doing for fun right now, Danni?”

  “Music, learning the guitar and drums,” she says. “How about you?”

  “Parkour and Krav Maga.” I say.

  “I did Parkour a long time ago. I’ll show you some tricks when I see you next. What’s up with the Krav Maga? You already did Karate a few years ago.”

  “They seemed like a good fit,” I shrug. “I’m making up some new stuff using street running to enhance the Krav Maga. Attacking and defending combined with jumping from a car roof and escaping up a wall, that kind of stuff. My instructor seems to like how I’m joining the two things together. Good exercise, too.”

  “You ready for a change?” she asks. Danni convinced me years ago that if life is a game, we should
play
it. That means we learn a new thing, then, once we get good at it, we put it up and go learn another sport or skill. Sure, I think it’s awesome to study something for your whole life and master it, but you miss out on so much by doing that. Danni and I are committed to being good at one thing above all; learning new things!