ArcadiA: A Game Space FastRead

by Peter Jay Black

  I gaped at him. “The owner of ArcadiA?”

  He gave a modest bow. “At your service. Now.” Jax Newton straightened up, his expression serious. “What’s the problem?”

  Nix shrugged. “Like I said, no one’s here. Emergency exit door is open, but no sign of them. It’s like they bolted or something.” He motioned to me again. “Kira was just about to tell me what she thinks happened.”

  A slight frown wrinkled Jax Newton’s brow. “Thinks?”

  “I’ll show you,” I said. Feeling all eyes on me, I squeezed between the security guards, and everyone followed me across the foyer and back outside. Once we were a little way down the path, I faced the building and pointed at the alarm box. “If there was a fire, would that siren go off?”

  “Yes,” Jax Newton said. “I’d say it would.”

  “Wait.” Nix stepped toward the building, squinting. “Someone’s cut the wires.”

  The security guards peered at the box too and exchanged glances, their hands moving to their belts.

  “That’s the first thing they did when they got here,” I said. “Cut the wires, I mean.”

  “They?” Jax Newton said.

  I nodded. “Once they’d deactivated the siren, they went inside the building.” I marched back up the path and the others followed. Dazed, but trying to remain calm and focussed, I stepped inside the security building’s foyer. As soon as everyone was through the glass doors, I said to Nix, “Remember that burning smell when we first got here?”

  “Yeah.” He sniffed. “Can’t smell it now, though.”

  “We’ve been in and out a few times since then,” I said. “That’s cleared the air. But someone must have started a small fire earlier. Before we got here. Deliberately.”

  Nix’s eyebrows rose. “How do you know that?”

  I gestured at the ceiling and the sprinklers. “Because they went off.” I indicated the mop and bucket to my bemused spectators. “They set off the sprinklers so the guards would think there’s a fire, unlock the door, and came out to the lobby to investigate.” I then hurried back into the main security office. There, I pointed at the puddle on the floor and the wet towels in the cupboard. “I’m guessing there were at least three bad guys, and they were in a hurry.”

  “And how do you figure that out?” Nix said, with a look somewhere between amusement and astonishment.

  I held up a finger. “One guy to clean up the water in the lobby with the mop and bucket.” I held up a second finger. “Another keeping an eye on your security people. He must have had some kind of weapon.” I raised a third finger. “The third guy soaked up the water in here with those.” I pointed at the towels. “I figure they were in a hurry, otherwise they would’ve used the mop and bucket throughout.” I waved a hand at my surroundings. “Two of them working, covering their tracks as best they could, one aiming a gun at your security guys.”

  “How did they smuggle a gun into ArcadiA?” Nix asked in a hushed voice.

  Blank stares and an awkward silence.

  Jax Newton’s gaze moved to the CCTV monitors. “The only reason to clean up would be to buy themselves time when they left.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “They didn’t want to arouse suspicion.”

  “So that’s why they taped that note to the glass?” Nix said. “That wasn’t very clever, because that’s what made me skeptical in the first place.” He looked at his dad. “Our guys would never leave this place unmanned, unless . . .” He turned to the exit door. “They must be out there somewhere, tied up.” He moved toward it, but his father placed a hand on his shoulder.

  Jax Newton motioned to two of his men to check it out while he studied the CCTV screens. “Wait a minute.” He took a step toward them, frowning.

  “There’s something else.” I pointed to the screen showing me in the boat. “These are recordings, not live images.”

  “This isn’t live?” the remaining security guard said.

  I shook my head. “That’s me. I can’t be in two places at once.” Or can I? I thought, visualising my body sprawled on the Professor’s floor. Have I banged my head? Was all this an hallucination? It seemed so real, though.

  “Baytopia station feeds each security post around the park,” Jax Newton said, pulling me out of my thoughts. “If these images aren’t live, then none of them are, and no one has realised.”

  Nix walked over to the console, tapped a few buttons, and then peered underneath. “Er, Dad?”

  Jax Newton and I knelt, and peered under it too. Fixed to the back of the console, next to a set of wires, was a small, square black box.

  “I’m sure that’s not supposed to be there.” Nix reached for it.

  The security guard grabbed his arm. “Allow me, sir.”

  Jax Newton straightened up and jerked his head toward the back wall. “Stand clear.”

  Nix and I got to our feet and moved to the rear of the office, standing in the corner shielded by the metal cabinet.

  The security guard pressed his collar and armour radiated out from his chest, covering his torso, arms and legs. A mask slid up from his collar and over his face.

  “Not a bad idea.” Jax Newton stepped to the locker, reached inside and pulled out two black vests.

  Nix took them from him and handed one to me. Then he slipped on his vest and pressed the collar. Solid plates emerged, covering his torso, shoulders, arms, and legs in armour and heavily-woven black fabric. Nix smiled. “Now you.”

  I hesitated. “Is this necessary?”

  He looked as if he were about to step into a war zone.

  “I’m afraid so.” Jax Newton eyed us. “You never know how things will turn out.”

  That did not fill me with confidence. I slipped on the vest, then copied Jax and squeezed the collar. Panels moved and shifted, covering my torso, legs and arms in black armour.

  “Press the collar again if you want to activate the helmet and visor,” Nix said.

  “I’m fine,” I replied, flexing my arms.

  He grinned.

  “We’re ready.” Jax Newton stood in front of us.

  The security guard checked we were all standing clear, then reached under the console.

  I held my breath.

  There came a small click and he stepped back, examining the box in his hands. As he did so, the CCTV images changed, and it took a few seconds for me to realise what I was looking at. Then I gasped.

  Nix clapped a hand over his mouth and his father’s eyes widened in disbelief.

  On every screen, alien animals rampaged—breaking from their enclosures, chasing panicked guests, attacking each other and the park personnel, leaping, clawing, biting . . .

  Pandemonium.

  Twelve

  As we stared at the CCTV monitors in shocked silence, all I could think of was Matt. A chill swelled in my stomach, and I wrung my hands as I scanned the screens, searching for my little brother.

  Where is he? Matt must be somewhere.

  However, the panicked rush of movement on every display, from animals and park guests alike, made it hard to focus. Everywhere beasts of various shapes and sizes—some slithering, a few stalking, others running, flying and swooping—all with the same intent: to escape or fight to the death.

  “Why hasn’t anyone called me to say what’s happening?” Jax Newton raised his band to his face and his brow furrowed.

  “Mine doesn’t work in here, either,” Nix said. “I had to go outside to call you.”

  As tourists ran screaming for the exits, clambering over one another in a desperate bid for freedom, one man remained calm, leaning against a tree, seemingly without a care in the world—

  “Black Beard,” I muttered. “Again. What is it with that guy?”

  Black Beard held a circular device in one hand, dangling casually by his side. I surmised it must be a high-tech animal repellent, because none of them went near him. In fact, one hog-like beast the size of a cow, with giant tusks, gave Black Beard a wide berth as it bounded
past.

  “Who?” Nix asked.

  I glanced at him and Jax Newton, then pointed at a screen on the right. “That guy was on the boat in front of me,” I said. “He dropped something into the river.”

  “What did he drop?” Nix asked.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. A wallet, maybe? It sank straight to the bottom. I didn’t get a good look.”

  Jax Newton raised an eyebrow. “Where did this happen, exactly?”

  “Outside your—” I frowned. “Wait.” I glanced about the room, at the box in Nix’s hand, and finally at the screens. “This is all linked. It has to be.” I searched the displays for a few seconds, then pointed. “There.”

  The screen showed a live image of the temple. All three bear-like grondars were out cold, lying on their sides, chests rising and falling in slow rhythm. Clearly, the device dropped into the river had put them to sleep.

  Jax Newton’s grip tightened on his cane and he was just opening his mouth to speak when the two guards returned from out back.

  “No sign of the missing security personnel, sir,” the bigger of the two said. “But the gate was unlocked. They could be either still behind the scenes, or in the park itself.”

  “Never mind that.” Jax Newton waved at the CCTV displays. “We need to evacuate Baytopia. Now.” As the guards rushed from the room, he turned to us. “Stay here.”

  “No,” Nix said. “We have to help Kira find her brother.”

  Jax Newton addressed me. “I can assure you that our priority is every single guest here, and that includes your sibling.”

  “Dad.” Nix stepped toward him. “We want to go with you. We can help.” When his father shook his head, Nix balled his fists. “Why don’t you ever trust me?”

  “It’s not about trust,” Jax Newton said in a firm tone. “It’s about safety.”

  “I’m not a child.”

  “Yes, you are.” Jax Newton turned his back on his son, rested a hand on my shoulder, and his expression softened. “If your brother is still in Baytopia, I promise he’ll evacuate with the rest.” He gave me a reassuring smile. “It will be fine. We’re prepared and well-trained for emergencies. We’ll take care of everything, but we must follow our procedures.”

  I nodded. “But shouldn’t we evacuate with everyone else?”

  “You’ll be safer here.” Jax Newton marched from the room. “Lock the doors,” he called over his shoulder.

  Nix grumbled under his breath as he followed him into the foyer, but did as he asked before returning to me. Then he crossed his arms and glared at the screens. “So they’re doing all this just to break into Dad’s Bluestone vault?” He snorted. “I’d like to see them escape afterward. They don’t stand a chance.”

  I shrugged, still searching the displays for Matt.

  “When did you brother first arrive at ArcadiA?” Nix sat in front of the console and cracked his knuckles.

  “I’m not sure.” I pulled up a chair next to him. “Maybe an hour ago.” It had been such a whirlwind since I’d arrived that I had lost track of time.

  Nix swiped the fingers of one hand over the console like a conductor, while tapping buttons with the other.

  The four screens in the middle combined, showing the main entrance to ArcadiA, with its fountain and ticket barriers. Nix manually typed in a time, then scrolled forward.

  People streamed from the shuttle bay and through the main doors at several times normal speed.

  A minute later, I said, “Stop.” The image froze and my eyes narrowed as I pointed. “There’s the little sh-”

  My denim-clad brother gawked at his new surroundings like an idiot, and I ground my teeth as I stared at him.

  Nix hit Play and the recording continued.

  If only Matt had stayed right there, that side of the ticket barriers, we would have bumped into each other. And we wouldn’t be in this mess.

  Matt held back for a while, eyes darting about, and then he saw his chance. He ducked behind a group of ten rotund aliens wearing fur coats and fluffy hats the size of sombreros.

  The family moved through the glass barriers, and once on the other side, Matt reappeared from among them and strode away with a casual air.

  I balled my fists. “What an idiot.”

  Nix sped the recording onward. Matt got his picture taken in front of the fountain and then wandered around the atrium, gazing up at the holographic characters and the giant statue, with a big stupid grin on his face.

  “There you are.” Nix gestured to the left-hand part of the display.

  Sure enough, I entered, first studying the ticket barriers, then spotting Matt’s image on the screens. A few seconds after that the purple-eyed guard grabbed my shoulder.

  I braced myself.

  After a brief conversation, the security guard lunged for me, but I ducked and made a break for it, squeezing through the crowds and running. In a sudden flash of movement I streaked through the glass barriers, and a split second later slid to a halt on the other side.

  “Woah.” Nix paused the image. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know.” I said, wriggling under Nix’s confused stare. Then I sighed and pulled up my right sleeve, revealing the bracelet. “I think it has something to do with this.”

  I knew it did.

  “Wow.” Nix gaped at it. “Bluestones. They’re bluestones.”

  “Yeah.” I pulled my sleeve back down.

  “Amazing,” Nix said. “That’s really amazing. Where did you get them?”

  I shrugged. “My uncle.”

  “What powers do they have?” Nix asked. “Apart from phasing, that is?”

  “They let me see things up close,” I said. “My vision zoomed in to that alarm box outside.” I thought back to the pod ride. “And there’s some kind of repulsive force, too.” I remembered the pulse of energy from my hand and the way the door had buckled outward.

  Nix shook his head in awe. “Incredible.” His face wore a faraway look. “I wish I had a Bluestone of my own. Just one artifact would do. Anything.” He focussed on me. “Dad won’t let me try any out until I’m at least eighteen. I think that’s stupid.” He lifted his chin. “Bet I could bond with a Bluestone artifact easily, given the chance.”

  I nodded, not sure what exactly he was on about.

  “Oh, sorry.” Nix faced the screens. “Your brother. Right.” He hit Play and the recording resumed. We watched as I headed through the Baytopia archway, closely followed by the security guard. “Hey, look.” Nix gestured at Matt, darting out of the crowd and racing after me and the guard. “He saw you.”

  I leapt to my feet. “You have got to be kidding me. Matt was there all along?” My voice grew shrill. “He followed me into Baytopia?” I threw up my hands. “That’s just typical.”

  Nix worked the controls. Matt boarded a boat behind mine, and glided on down the river.

  “Wait a minute.” Nix changed the view, now showing the exit to the boat ride. He sped the recording forward, and we watched me emerge like a drowned rat, and head left with the crowds of tourists. When Matt showed up, of course, he went right. I huffed and crossed my arms.

  “Well, we know where you went.” Nix hit a glowing button and a square locked on to Matt. “But where did your brother go?” He sat back and as the square followed Matt, the cameras switched, giving us the best viewpoint.

  My brother made his way through the jungle, periodically stopping and gawping at various alien creatures, and chatting to guests. I was glad there was no sound, otherwise he’d have driven me even more crazy.

  Nix sped onward, following Matt from the jungle to a desert area with watering holes and giant animals resembling mammoths, but with long necks instead of trunks.

  Matt wandered into a souvenir shop, browsing the aisles of stuffed creatures. Then it happened. People ran past him, screaming, racing to the exits.

  My stomach tensed as I sat down and gripped the edge of the desk, seeing the fear in my brother’s eyes and powerless to hel
p him.

  “Run,’ I said, under my breath. “Matt, run.”

  Matt chased after the other tourists, but then several of them hurried back past him. I frowned, and was about to ask Nix what was happening when a tall figure in a long coat stepped into view. He wore a silver mask, and a contraption fixed to his grey, scaly forearm: a tube with sights mounted to it.

  The masked alien raised his arm, aimed at the retreating backs, and fired bolts of energy.

  One of them slammed into Matt and he fell forward, hitting the ground hard.

  I screamed. “No.”

  He twitched, and then moved no more.

  Thirteen

  Even with my eyes closed, Matt’s lifeless body was etched into my mind. My blood ran cold, and tears welled up, ready to burst.

  He’s dead.

  I couldn’t believe it.

  And it was my fault.

  How can this be happening? This is a game, an artificial world, not real life. How can Matt be dead? I pictured having to tell our parents. How will Mum and Dad ever understand? I couldn’t begin to explain—

  “Kira?” Nix took my hands.

  I swallowed, and with extreme reluctance opened my eyes, finding the world around me grey and hollow.

  “He’s alive,” Nix said.

  I blinked, not comprehending.

  Nix let go of my hands and pointed at the screen. “He’s stunned. That’s all. The Kraython hit your brother and the others with stun pulses. They’re non-lethal weapons. Must be how they smuggled them into ArcadiA. Probably in parts, hidden in other things.”

  Trembling, trying not to get my hopes up, my gaze moved to the display, and then I let out the biggest, most relieved sigh of my life.

  On the screen, Matt and several other park guests got shakily to their feet.

  Now I was crying—tears rolled down my cheeks—but I smiled, and my shoulders relaxed. Thank goodness he’s okay.

  Then my expression darkened as the masked alien in the long coat herded my groggy brother and the other terrified guests along the path.