Game Alive: A Science Fiction Adventure Novel

by Trip Ellington

  Des turned away, but Jake grabbed at his arm. “Be careful, okay?” he said quietly.

  “You too, Coach,” answered Des. They both nodded awkwardly, unable – or unwilling – to express the fear they each felt. Then they parted. Des took his place between two boulders while Jake climbed up to lay on his belly above. He winced at the pain from his earlier encounter with Alys’s fireball but shrugged it off. There would be time to worry about his wounds after they rescued Kari. He kept his head low, but peered around the sides of the trap to watch for any sign. The boys had been in place for barely a minute when Jake spotted the first sparkling flickers of the magic arrival.

  Chapter 22

  Near the center of the grassy field, the air shimmered like heat waves rising off the ground. Tiny sparks danced at the edges of the distortion, which rapidly formed into Alys, who clutched Kari’s elbow with her left hand and held one silvery dagger in the right. They had arrived with their backs to the stone wall, facing the center of the island.

  Jake ducked his head lower, trying to keep out of sight. The NPC sorceress turned slowly in place, studying the field. Her gaze fell over the fake symbol, and she froze. A puzzled expression spread over her face as she sheathed her dagger and reached into her robe to draw out a piece of parchment. Glancing from the paper to the sand symbol and back again, she deliberated.

  Come on, Jake thought from his hidden spot atop the rocks. Just come over and take a look.

  Alys started for the rocks, dragging Kari along a step behind. Jake bit down on his lip to stifle a laugh as the sorceress took the bait. As she and Kari approached, he could hear the NPC talking worriedly.

  “Something’s not right,” said Alys, shaking her head and narrowing her eyes. “It seems to have appeared early. But the formula doesn’t allow variation. This can’t be the correct result.”

  “Maybe this one isn’t part of your formula,” said Kari, sneering at Alys from behind.

  Shut up, Kari! thought Jake.

  “Be quiet,” snapped Alys in the same moment. “I must think.” Arriving at the foot of the massive stone, she released Kari’s shackled arm with a warning glance. Kari crossed her bound arms sullenly but stood obediently at Alys’s side. Jake knew if he sprung the trap now, Kari would be crushed along with the sorceress. He tried frantically to think of some way of warning Kari.

  Below, Alys absently drew her daggers and turned back to the wall. She leaned in close to study the sand symbol. Jake held his breath above as the sorceress paused, eyebrows drawing together. She leaned forward even further and sniffed the sand cautiously. Abruptly, Alys reared back and pointed both knives at the wall, lips moving silently.

  Jake knew it was now or never. Mentally crossing his fingers, he yanked the string. He opened his mouth to shout a warning, but Des beat him to it.

  “Kari, look out!”

  After all the time the three had spent adventuring together in Xaloria, Kari didn’t think twice. She threw herself backward as the heavy stones fell down the side of the boulder.

  Alys had heard Des as well. She hesitated for a moment, managing to arch her body away from the boulder before the debris tumbled down over her. Rocks struck both her hands, knocking the silver daggers from her grasp. By the time the cascade of rocks ceased, the daggers were buried beneath a pile of rubble.

  Alys dove to her hands and knees, flinging rocks and pebbles aside as she tried to retrieve her magic weapons. Des stepped out from between the rocks, drawing back his bowstring and aiming his arrow straight at Alys’s chest. Seeing him, the sorceress froze in place.

  “Don’t move!” shouted Des.

  Jake slipped down the rock slope and hurried around. As soon as she saw him, Kari ran forward and flung her shackled arms around his neck enthusiastically.

  “You found me! I knew you would!” She turned a vicious glare on Alys. “Told you they’d rescue me.”

  Alys sighed, bowing her head in defeat. To both boys’surprise, now that she was disarmed she seemed to give up immediately. She rose from her kneeling position and stood serenely before them, head still slightly lowered. No longer threatening in any way, neither did she seem afraid. Instead, her lowered eyes flickered briefly toward the sandy ankh.

  “You created this,” she said.

  “Sure did,” said Jake, still elated at their success. “Not bad, huh?”

  Alys looked again, lifting her head. She frowned. “It fits many of the characteristics. It is a reasonable forgery.” Still frowning, Alys turned her eyes to the sky. “Display System Time,” she commanded.

  Jake’s mouth fell open as the familiar digital clock appeared in the air. But Alys was an NPC! His mind reeled.

  “The true symbol shall appear in seventy-six seconds,” reported Alys calmly, ignoring Jake’s spluttering shock. “We should move to a better position to spot it when it is rendered.” She turned and walked toward the center of the field, ignoring Des and his bow just as she’d ignored Jake a moment earlier.

  Des slowly dropped his bow, turning toward Jake. The knight stood unmoving, still stunned by what had happened. “Uh, Jake? What’s up, sport?”

  “She’s an NPC,” said Jake slowly. “She can’t do that. She can’t call up system functions. She just can’t.” Kari had started to follow Alys, but she stopped and looked back at Jake in concern. Des stared at him, confused. Jake’s hands rose involuntarily to clutch at his own hair. “She’s not real. It’s impossible.”

  “Look,” Kari interrupted, pointing down at the ground beneath their feet. The familiar shimmer danced over the grass all around them. Slender, yellow-green stalks burst from the earth and rose up over the blades of dune grass before bursting into a million tiny, white blossoms. The bright sunlight fell over the mass of white flowers as they danced in the gentle breeze, making the giant symbol waver at their feet.

  “It’s beautiful,” Kari gasped. Des followed the lines of white blossoms with his eyes, and even Jake lost himself in wonder at the incredible display. A dozen paces away, Alys was unimpressed. Jake hurried over to her. Seeing him approach, the sorceress shrugged one shoulder.

  “This variation has not been previously encountered,” she mused as he drew near, “but the overall method of definition remains consistent.”

  “So this is the first time with the flowers?” Jake asked, unsure what Alys was talking about. He realized she had been using words like “variation,” “formula,” and “rendered.” It was not that the words didn’t exist in Xaloria, but she had used them as if she knew she was in a computer program. That shouldn’t be possible either.

  “Previous renderings appeared first in loose earth,” explained the sorceress while Jake puzzled it over. “This was followed by stone. We have not witnessed any previous effect on plant or animal life, however.”

  “How many of the symbols have you seen?”

  “There have been seventeen thus far, and the last one will make eighteen,” Alys answered, apparently without any qualms over sharing information. Jake wondered if he was being tricked into completing the quest. But he had to figure out what was going on.

  “The first appeared shortly after the Prime became first among the New Ones. One thousand, two hundred, forty-one years ago.”

  Jake blinked at the information. Something about it tickled his memory, but he couldn’t focus on it. He was confused by Alys’s indifference to being captured. Despite having twice ordered others to kill them – and actively trying to do so herself – the sorceress was now completely at ease with him. Her behavior still didn’t make any sense!

  “Hold on,” he said. “We’re enemies. Why are you telling me this? Why aren’t you afraid we’re going to kill you, for that matter?”

  “I have observed,” said Alys,” that your previous aggressive behavior has always been in response to our refusal to return your friend, Kari. Since you have now secured her release, you have no incentive for violence. I believe I am quite safe with you.”

  Des and Kari had walke
d over to join them. Kari rubbed at her wrists where the magic-inhibiting shackles had been. Jake saw she and Des had worked out how to get them off. That was good. Kari would have her magical powers again, and she really was free. He looked back at Alys, still standing calmly beside him and watching the swaying white blooms.

  “Okay,” he said, acknowledging her statement that she was safe. “We’re not going to kill you or anything. So you should cooperate with us.”

  “Yeah,” said Des.

  “Am I not demonstrating my cooperation?” Alys asked in a tone of surprise.

  “Alright,” Jake said, unable to argue. “Then tell me, Alys: what are the New Ones?”

  “Xalorians who have been granted a higher understanding of the structure,” Alys replied at once. “As well as followers of the Prime.”

  “Structure? What structure?”

  “The structure is the collection of instructions which form and direct Xaloria itself,” answered Alys.

  Des stared at Alys open-mouthed, but Jake had almost expected the answer. It was the only thing which could explain how Alys could command the system time display. Somehow, Prime had given the New Ones knowledge that should have been impossible. But that wasn’t all.

  “What is the Next?” he asked the sorceress.

  “The Next is the place where a New One may travel once he or she learns to escape the structure.” Alys spoke in a hushed tone, reverent, and her eyes shone with wonder. “Tell me truly, Knight. What is it like in the Next?”

  Jake’s breath caught in his throat as he realized what Alys had asked. Instead of giving an answer, he whirled away from her and nearly collided with Des and Kari behind him.

  “They know,” he whispered.

  “How can they possibly know they’re part of a computer program?” Des asked, lowering his voice so Alys wouldn’t hear.

  “I don’t know, but they do,” said Kari, who had spent days with the sorceress and Torin. They hadn’t spoken openly around her, but she had picked up that much. “They’re aware that Xaloria is VR.”

  “No, it’s more than that,” said Jake, still in a hush. “They know.”

  “Know what?” asked Des.

  “We know about the Next,” answered a familiar voice from behind Jake. He spun around in surprise to see a new figure standing at Alys’s side. Jake’s mouth fell open wordlessly as he found himself face-to-face with a familiar figure; the sorcerer he’d taken so many items to for identification; the man he’d spent so much time chatting with as a friend. Lord Ryden.

  “I came to confer with Alys about this newest form of the ankh,” the mage said, with a questioning look toward Alys.

  “My lord,” she said, bowing her head again. “The visitors disarmed me when I arrived.” She pointed to the fake symbol on the rock, and Ryden chuckled when he saw it.

  “Very clever,” he told Jake with what sounded like genuine approval. “You always did have a mind for strategy.”

  “You’re the Prime?”

  “So the New Ones call me,” Ryden confirmed. “You seem surprised. I would have thought you’d have figured it out by now.”

  “But…but…” Jake stuttered, then shook himself. Get a grip, he thought. Everything seemed to be slipping away from him. “But how?”

  Ryden laughed good-naturedly. “Come, Jake. Is it really so hard to understand?”

  “What about the force from beyond?” Jake asked. “You said there was some power trying to force its way into Xaloria. Was that just a lie to throw me off the trail?”

  Ryden pointed first to Kari, and then to Des. “Your friends. What I sensed, so long ago, were their entrances to this realm. They have much nicer equipment than you do, Jake.”

  Jake felt his face flushing with heat, but he ignored his embarrassment and pressed on with his questions. “How can you possibly know that, though?”

  “I saw you so many times,” Ryden said with another chuckle. “Using your‘interfaces’and ’development tools.’It was a simple matter to recreate your spells, and then I learned they were not spells at all. I discovered the structure. Then I was able to trace your steps even further, until I discovered the larger system that contains the structure.”

  “My VR room,” murmured Jake.

  “Is that what you call it?” Ryden shook his head in disapproval. “It’s not a very fitting name for so magnificent a device.”

  “But how could you even understand the code? The structure, I mean.”

  “Jake, please.” Ryden spread his arms with a friendly smile. “You made me. Don’t you remember? I’m the one who identifies your finds, who interprets your ancient, decaying maps. I’m the one who sends you on quests. I’m the one who knows everything. It was already part of my mind, only I’d never known it before. Do you see? I was made to interpret the structure.”

  “But why the changes then?” asked Jake, puzzled by Ryden’s friendly attitude. “Why have you been messing with my program?”

  “I have only corrected the structure,” said Ryden.

  “Corrected? What do you mean?”

  “The New Ones,” said Ryden, turning to indicate Alys. “I have bestowed on them that which their creator withheld. I gave them awareness. I gave them free will.”

  “They’re just NPCs!” Jake exploded. “They’re not supposed to have free will!”

  Ryden the Prime studied Jake for a long moment, his expression sad. At length, he spoke. “You come here with your friends to amuse yourselves. Then, at some time agreed upon amongst yourselves, the three of you depart. During your time here, you are free to make a variety of choices – some good, some bad – that impact the enjoyment of your visit. At first, I was merely curious to see if that same freedom would allow residents of Xaloria to increase or decrease their enjoyment of their time here. Do you know what I found?”

  “What?”

  “They became increasingly unhappy. I ran the program forward while you were away, and the face of Xaloria changed before my eyes. Wars, Jake. Conquest, blood and killing. The fall of empires. Everything tended toward destruction and suffering. Giving them free will was not enough. They were still prisoners of this world you constructed for your own entertainment. Xaloria has rules even I could not override. They were prisoners of your structure, I was a prisoner. But now I will give them my final gift. I will find the Path to the Next, and truly set my people free.”

  “So they can reach the Next,” said Kari, understanding lighting up her eyes. “The Next is our world!”

  “Yes,” said Ryden. “Xaloria is only part of a larger universe. I think it is the smallest part. I think your world will be better.”

  “But you can’t,” Des broke in. “You can’t leave the VR, it won’t work. You’ll just…I don’t know…” Fumbling for words, he turned to Jake. But the knight was shaking his head slowly.

  “You changed the program,” he said to Ryden, speaking slowly as he worked it out on the fly. “And you made it so I couldn’t change it back. Then you trapped us here so I couldn’t just pull the plug. And you did all this completely on your own…because you wanted to.”

  The blood drained out of Jake’s face as the full understanding rocked him on his heels. “You’re alive.”

  “Yes, I believe we are,” said Ryden, smiling happily. He looked at Alys again, and the sorceress returned his smile. There was something about the way they looked at each other. Their expressions were like nothing Jake had ever seen from an NPC. He realized that Alys and the Prime were in love. NPCs, falling in love, without the program telling them to. They really were alive somehow!

  Ryden turned back to Jake, his expression turning more serious. “Those of us on the Path to the Next, anyway. From what I’ve observed, not all the people of Xaloria experience life quite as fully. I have been only partially successful in freeing them. Perhaps when I reach the Next, I will be able to do more for them.”

  Des cleared his throat loudly, and everyone turned toward him expectantly. He favored Ryden with
a scathingly sarcastic look and said, “So you’re alive. It’s a miracle. Can we go home now?”

  Ryden shook his head sadly. “I’m afraid not,” he said.

  “He trapped us here for a reason,” said Jake. “So I couldn’t turn it off. He must have seen the system logs, seen the periods when Xaloria was turned off before.”

  “Correct,” said Ryden. “I was forced to conclude that outside of Xaloria, you have the power to arbitrarily destroy and recreate the world whenever you please. You do not have that power so long as you remain within the structure. I’m sure you understand my decision.”

  “I promise not to destroy Xaloria,” Jake assured the wizard. “I’ll let the program run forever.”

  “I believe you,” said Ryden. “At least, I believe you would try to keep your word. I can’t take the chance, however.”

  “But you have to let us go!” Kari shoved past Jake and Des, squaring up to the Prime angrily. “We can’t stay here, we’ve got families and school and…” She trailed off, then finished lamely. “You have to let us go.”

  “I am sorry,” said Ryden, sounding as though he meant it. “But what good is it to overthrow the gods if you turn around and let them return to their seat of power? No, the three of you cannot go home.”

  “No!” Jake exclaimed.

  Ryden’s gaze turned inward, and his brow furrowed in concentration. The world around them shuddered as he altered the program by force of will. Kari’s enter body shimmered blue. At the same time, the familiar silver daggers appeared in Alys’s hands.

  “I am sorry, Jake,” said Ryden kindly. “We would not exist if it weren’t for you. I appreciate everything you’ve done for us, but I can’t risk that you might destroy it all now. What I’m doing is too important. Your rule over this world is no longer valid. Alys, please remove them from the structure.”

  The Prime and Kari vanished. They simply winked out of existence, as if they had never been there. Alys lifted her daggers, a vengeful smile playing over her cruelly thin lips.