“That’s enough to make a furnace¸” Harper said. “And with a furnace, and some wood to burn…”
“We can make charcoal¸” Morgan finished. “And then a torch! Let’s do it.”
It was now fully dark outside. In the distance, Morgan heard the unmistakable groan of a zombie.
“And let’s do it fast¸” he said.
Jodi was the first one to step out into the night.
All was silent. The only sources of illumination were the moon above and Morgan’s torch behind her. The pixilated moon was cold and eerie. But the light of the torch was warm and soft.
She listened for the sounds of creatures. She watched for any movement beyond the torchlight.
“It’s all clear¸” she whispered. “Let’s go.”
They had come up with a plan while huddled in their burrow. Whenever any of them were ready to quit a game, they would go to sleep in a bed. It was how they would set a new respawn point. Morgan thought it might be the closest thing they had to “disconnecting.”
They weren’t sure it would work. But it was the best plan they had.
To make a bed, however, they would need wool. To get wool without hurting the sheep, they would need shears. To make shears, they needed iron. Which meant digging deeper into the burrow. Exactly what Morgan had warned them not to do.
But they got lucky: they found iron ore before they found anything dangerous. To mine it, Harper upgraded her pickaxe from wood to stone.
That was how Survival mode worked, Harper explained to Jodi. Getting stuff to make stuff to get better stuff. And hoping you didn’t run into any monsters while you were unprepared.
It set Jodi’s nerves on edge. “I just want to remind everyone that I voted for Creative mode¸” she whispered.
At least they were on the final stage of their plan. They only had to get back to the sheep they had seen earlier in the day.
It was a short walk to the clearing where they had first spawned. But when they got there…
“No sheep¸” said Morgan.
“Baa¸ humbug¸” Jodi said. “Get it? Baaaa—”
“Maybe we should wait until morning?” Po suggested.
“I don’t think we can afford to wait,” Harper said. “I’m getting hungry. Anybody else?”
The others nodded. Jodi realized she was hungry, too.
“I see what you mean,” Morgan said. “If hunger works here like it does in the game…”
“Then we’ll start losing health soon¸” Harper finished.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Po said.
“We know how the game works, at least,” Morgan said. “If we really are stuck here, we can hunt for food and build a better shelter.”
“Let’s call that plan B,” said Po. “I still want to try the bed thing.”
Morgan nodded. “Jodi’s bleating gave me an idea. Let’s be quiet for a minute.”
Whenever Morgan told her to be quiet, Jodi liked to do the opposite. But just this once, she decided to go along with him.
She was glad she did. They stood in silence for only a few seconds before they heard sounds in the distance.
“Those are sheep!” Jodi said. “This way.”
Jodi hurried forward across the grass. The others were right behind her. They all paused when the plain ended at a line of trees.
“It’s darker in there¸” Morgan whispered, lifting his torch.
Sheep bleated just beyond the trees.
“We have to be brave¸” said Jodi. Her voice quavered a little. She didn’t sound convinced. It was definitely scarier being here in person than it was watching it all on a screen.
They passed through the trees. Luckily, they found that it wasn’t a full forest, only a small grove. They quickly reached the other side. The sheep were grazing in a clearing.
Harper pulled out her shears and handed them to Jodi.
“You’ll have to be quick¸” Harper said. “Don’t let them get away.”
“You’re right,” Jodi said. “Just this once, running with scissors is a good idea.”
* * *
Jodi managed to get three tufts of wool before the sheep escaped through the trees. It was only enough to make a single bed.
Back at the burrow, Harper arranged the wool and wood planks in the proper sequence. There was a clunk, and suddenly a bed stood in the middle of the room.
“All right¸” Harper said. “Who’s first?”
“Jodi’s the youngest,” Morgan said. “She should go first.”
“What does my age have to do with anything?” Jodi said crossly.
“Shhh!” said Po.
The moaning sound was back. It was closer than before.
“No arguments¸ Jodi¸” Morgan said. “You go first.”
“All right,” Jodi said. She stepped toward the bed. “But if you expect me to be able to sleep with all that moaning—”
Before she could finish the thought, everything went dark. Jodi felt the weight of the goggles on her face.
She quickly removed the goggles. She was back in the computer lab back in the real world.
She looked around. Morgan, Harper, and Po were all wearing their goggles and sitting completely still. She poked Morgan, then pinched him. Nothing happened. It was as if his mind was elsewhere. But anyone watching would just think he was very interested in the game.
There were sharp whispers coming from the corner of the room, and Jodi turned to see Ms. Minerva and Doc Culpepper. Although they kept their voices down, they were waving their arms and wagging their eyebrows. It looked like they were having an argument.
Ms. Minerva saw Jodi watching them. A huge smile broke out on her face. “Jodi,” she said.
“Ms. Minerva!” Jodi said. “Doc! The game—it’s real. We were really inside Minecraft!”
Doc chuckled. “Yes, virtual reality can certainly seem real.”
Jodi shook her head. “You don’t understand. It was…We were—”
“We really enjoyed it,” Morgan said. “Doc Culpepper, your VR goggles work perfectly.”
Jodi turned around. Morgan was standing at her shoulder.
He winked at her, as if to say Trust me.
“You didn’t notice anything unexpected?” Ms. Minerva asked. “Doc’s inventions are sometimes…strange.”
“No, ma’am,” Morgan said. “It was a normal game of Minecraft. Just a little more realistic, that’s all.”
A little? thought Jodi.
“You see, Minerva?” said Doc. “There was nothing to worry about.”
Ms. Minerva looked unsure.
“Do you…think we could use them again sometime?” Morgan asked.
Jodi couldn’t believe her ears. “You want to go through that again?” she asked him.
“I hope you will,” said Doc. “I need a thorough list of any glitches you find. Anything that seems strange or broken. Until the project is complete, I’m leaving all six pairs of goggles in your care.”
“Awesome!” Morgan said.
Both teachers gave him a look.
“I mean…you can trust us to be responsible with them,” Morgan said.
“That’s better,” said Ms. Minerva.
Jodi saw that Harper had removed her goggles and was rubbing her eyes. Po was moving, too.
She pulled her brother aside. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“What are you doing?” he demanded. “That was amazing. If the adults think it was dangerous, they’ll take it away.”
“It was dangerous,” Jodi said. “Five minutes ago, I thought we were going to be eaten by a zombie.”
“Zombies aren’t that dangerous if you know how to handle them,” Morgan said. “We were just unprepared. Next time, we’ll be ready.”
Jodi frowned. “Zombies aren’t that dangerous” sounded like famous last words.
Morgan turned to Harper and Po. “So. Want to meet back here after school on Monday?”
They both smiled.
Jodi was outvoted again. But in the end, she couldn’t help herself. She smiled, too. Their fearlessness was contagious.
And she was already trying to decide what she would build first.
Normally, Morgan loved weekends. But all he could think about now was getting back to Doc’s goggles—and back into Minecraft.
He was able to play at home, without the goggles, of course. But his screen time was limited, and Po and Harper weren’t available to join him for multiplayer. He logged on for a bit and reviewed crafting recipes. He even fought some zombies. It was all good practice.
They needed better gear in their shared VR game. Weapons and armor would keep them safe. He’d suggest it on Monday.
In the meantime, he saw Minecraft everywhere he looked.
On Friday night, he went to the grocery store with his dad. In the cereal aisle, he crossed his eyes. The cereal boxes blurred. Now they looked like blocks of colorful ore. He saw emerald and gold and his favorite, lapis lazuli.
On Saturday morning, he helped his parents with yard work. Trees swayed in the breeze. He saw the trees as green blocks stacked on top of brown blocks. He imagined all the things he could build with their wood: a shield, a raft, an entire cabin.
On Sunday afternoon, he felt his life force drain away as surely as if a venomous cave spider had poisoned him: Ash Kapoor was having a party. And as his sister kept reminding him, he was invited.
“It’ll be fun,” Jodi promised. “Ash is so nice. And our whole class will be there.”
Morgan grumbled.
When he and Jodi arrived at Ash’s house, they heard shrieks of laughter coming from the backyard. They followed a narrow sidewalk around the house and through an open gate.
Their entire class was there, just as Jodi had promised. Kids were climbing up, sliding down, and crawling all over a huge structure.
“What is that thing?” Morgan asked.
“It’s a tree house!” Jodi answered. “It’s the most glorious tree house I’ve ever seen!”
Morgan had to admit it was impressive. The tree house was big and colorful, with rope bridges and trapdoors, a big plastic slide, and turrets. Through the second-story window, Morgan could see cozy cushions and a bookshelf. It was like two playgrounds and a library all shoved together.
Po was in a tire swing. He waved madly at them as he swung past. Harper looked down on them from an upper level. She waved, too.
“Hey, come on up!” she called. “You’ve got to see this view.”
Morgan and Jodi grinned at each other.
“Race you up,” said Morgan.
“I’ll go up the climbing wall!” said Jodi.
Jodi beat him to the top, but only by a few seconds.
Harper wasn’t kidding. It was a great view. Ash’s house was next to a big stretch of woods. The tree house looked out over a bright green canopy.
Morgan noticed the letters QAV etched into the wood railing. “What’s that mean?” he asked. “Quite a view?”
“Quinn Alice Vega,” said Ash. Morgan turned to see her standing close by.
“Quinn was a friend of mine back in California,” Ash said. “She helped me make this platform and the railing. She said the best part about being in a tree house was being able to see for miles around.” She paused for a second. Morgan noticed she was absentmindedly rubbing the Carpentry badge on her scouting sash. “Here. Follow me.”
Morgan, Jodi, and Harper all followed her to the other end of the platform. She stood beside the door to the cozy reading room. She pointed to another set of initials ornately etched into the old doorframe: LWE.
“Luanne was a big reader. She said a tree house needed a space for books.”
“Hold on,” said Morgan. “You built this whole thing with your friends?”
Ash nodded. “I built it with my Wildling Scouts troop back in California. We all worked together. A little bit of each person’s personality came out in the section they worked on the most.”
“No wonder it’s so great,” Jodi said. “It’s a house of friendship!”
“Also, it’s very sturdy,” said Harper. She hopped up and down and nodded her approval.
“That’s a compliment, coming from her,” whispered Jodi.
“But how did you move this thing all the way from California?” asked Harper.
Ash smirked. “It wasn’t easy, but my parents found a way. When they told me we were moving again, I told them I refused to go with them. I said we couldn’t just leave the tree house behind, not after all the work I’d put into it. So my mom had some of her engineering friends take it apart, and they gave us instructions on how to put it back together.”
“Sounds like a fun puzzle,” said Harper. “Like the coolest jigsaw ever.”
“That’s pretty clever of your parents, too,” said Jodi.
“Yeah,” said Ash. Her voice was a little sad. “After that, they said, ‘Now you have no good reason to want to stay in California.’ As if my friends weren’t a good reason.”
Harper and Jodi both nodded. They were probably imagining what it would be like to move away and start over somewhere new.
For the first time, Morgan realized how difficult things must be for Ash. He understood a little better now–even though he wasn’t quite ready to welcome her with open arms. He was always afraid someone cooler than him would swoop in and take his friends. And at the moment, Ash seemed pretty cool.
He noticed Jodi making a weird face. She sort of scrunched up her nose and bit her lip while rocking on the balls of her feet.
Morgan knew that face. She was struggling not to say something. She wanted to tell Ash about their Minecraft adventure!
But Morgan had made her promise not to tell anyone about it, and he knew she would keep their secret.
Ash would be just fine on her own. They shouldn’t feel sorry for her. She had this amazing tree house, after all. And when the class went home for the evening, she’d have the whole thing to herself. How cool was that?
Harper wondered if the VR goggles would work a second time. She still couldn’t wrap her mind around the science of how they worked. What if the whole adventure had been some strange dream?
She met the others in the computer lab on Monday afternoon. Ms. Minerva was there, reading a book—the kids knew she loved science fiction and fantasy novels—in a little office off to the side. The teacher waved hello to Harper through the glass.
Doc Culpepper was nowhere to be seen. Harper thought their science teacher had probably already moved on to her next project. Most geniuses were like that—they didn’t stand still for long.
But Harper could never leave a puzzle unsolved. And right now, these goggles were the biggest mystery around.
She held her breath and put on the goggles. There was a flash of light. And then she and her friends were back in the burrow. The bed, the torch, the crafting table, and the furnace were just where they’d left them.
“Cool¸” Harper said.
“Way cooler than that tree house,” Morgan said.
“Morgan¸ I’m trying to stick my tongue out at you¸” said Jodi. “But I’m not sure I have a tongue here.”
Harper dug a hole in the dirt wall. Daylight poured into the burrow.
“The sun’s out,” Po said. “We should go exploring.”
“I agree,” Harper said. “I want to see as much as possible. I want to figure this place out!”
“I already know how this place works¸” Po said. “It’s magic.”
Harper turned toward him. She was going to tell him she didn’t believe in magic. But Po was gon
e. He had been replaced—with a wizard!
“Who are you?” Harper asked. “What did you do with Po?”
The wizard laughed—with Po’s voice.
“It’s me¸” he said. “I just changed my skin. Ta-da! Want me to show you how?”
“No¸ thanks¸” Harper said. She looked down at her arms and hands. “This whole thing is strange enough. I’d like to stay…me.”
“Suit yourself¸” said Po.
Harper stepped through the narrow opening, and the others followed her outside. They climbed to the top of the hill. They couldn’t see very far; the hill was surrounded by trees.
“Which way should we go?” asked Morgan.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter¸” Harper said.
Po stroked his wizard’s beard. “Aye¸ forsooth¸ thou art wise. Magic is in the journey¸ not the destination.”
Jodi giggled. “Po, why are you talking like that?”
“I’m getting into character!” he said.
“I’d give you a thumbs-up,” Jodi said, “but, well, you know…”
“No thumbs¸” said Po.
“I wish I could make a compass¸” Harper said. “That way we could find our way back here. But I don’t have the materials.”
“We can just pack up the bed and table and furnace and go¸” Morgan said. “If we have the bed, we can exit and come back whenever we want.”
“Let’s take the torch¸ too¸” Harper said. “Just in case.”
“Goodbye¸ burrow¸” said Jodi. “Thank you for keeping us safe from ALL THOSE zombies.”
“Forsooth!” said Po.
* * *
As they walked, Harper picked up everything she could: Dirt. Flowers. Apples. She knew that anything might prove useful later.
Into the Game! (Minecraft Woodsword Chronicles #1) Page 3