by Terry Schott
Chapter 57
Earth has been a real mess since the 30th anniversary celebrations began. As a result of so many players entering the Game in such a short time period, Earth is extremely overpopulated. Add to that the fact that Mainframe allowed most players to be born in civilized countries, and the result is a severe stress being placed on the planet and its inhabitants.
Not enough schools for the children; not enough food for everyone. Not nearly enough jobs or housing or any of the creature comforts that the civilized areas have become so used to.
Crime, deaths, along with any other types of violence and mayhem you can imagine.
The masses are hungry, depressed and desperate.
Although it’s been difficult for avatars, it’s been excellent for Game fans. We have never had so much excitement to witness on such a scale before.
It’s incredible drama, and the Game’s fan base continues to grow at record breaking speed daily.
Don’t feel bad for all the sadness and pain, folks. Many of the players are earning a lot of credits as they participate in these scenarios.
Remember, it’s all just a Game.
30th Anniversary Game Update
“Good afternoon, everyone,” Brandon said. “I came as soon as I received the newest rankings. Many of you have seen this type of shift before, but some haven’t. Let's discuss where Trew is right now in the Game, and what the current situation means to the big picture.”
Brandon paused to look around the table. Some faces appeared mildly concerned, but most looked extremely worried. Brandon couldn’t blame them; each person here had their life savings invested in this play. Failure would lead to internment in the labour camps for some; others would be lucky and merely find themselves in a deep hole of financial loss that would take them years to dig out of. Brandon nodded at Michelle and she stepped forward.
“Thanks, Brandon. Good morning, everyone.” Brandon could see her smile was slightly strained, but she was hiding it well. “As we are all aware, Trew has dropped in ranking. As of this moment he is ranked number 6,065.” Michelle stood silently for a moment to let the number register with everyone, then continued. “He’s been number one for most of his play, and this drop is significant. Please let me summarize where Trew is in the Game at the moment, then I’ll open up the floor for any comments, concerns, or theories regarding how we might be able to help in getting him back up to number one.”
Michelle typed some commands on her tablet and the large screen beside her displayed a myriad of statistics and graphs detailing Trew’s last few years in the Game. “Trew is now 35, still happily married to Danielle. On his thirtieth birthday the two of them decided to go ahead and try to form a faith-based movement. The message they are sharing with the world is that Earthlings are computer generated avatars being controlled by players in another reality. We know this has happened before in the history of the Game, but it looks like our boy has been better at communicating and getting others to subscribe to his theories than ever before.”
She pointed at a portion of the screen that showed Trew standing on a stage, hundreds of people in the crowd all listening with rapt attention. “Although it is by definition a religion, they are calling it a movement. At this time in Earth’s existence, it’s a movement that’s growing fast. They call their movement ‘The Game is Life,’ to pay respect to the little book written years ago by George R. Knight, Trew’s last avatar. Sales of that book are exploding both on Earth and, of course, on Tygon, and Trew is using it as a means to introduce the theory in an organized way to new people.”
“Why is their movement being received so well, Michelle?” Brandon asked.
“Three main reasons,” Michelle said. “First, because Trew is keeping it very simple, but focused. His entire premise is: ‘If we are living in a computer simulation… then this is the explanation for this phenomenon, or that force of nature, or that spiritual philosophy, et cetera.’ He is able to look at the world and his surroundings and explain everything he sees from the perspective that it’s all a computer simulation. Secondly, Trew and Danielle have the Gift and are using it prove to the world that miracles can happen, and ‘magical’ things can be accomplished. They started off doing it on a small scale, but they’ve also managed to pull off a few larger ones. The more they practice, the better they are getting at it.”
Brandon smiled. “That seems to be the way with everything. What’s the third reason for their success in an arena where so many seem to fail?”
Michelle tapped her finger at another picture on the screen. “Raphael. When he first appeared on the scene as Danielle’s protector, those of us who knew him were very surprised. For a thousand years inside the Game he was one of the top ranked Infernals; most of us actually thought he had won the leadership title of Satan a couple hundred years ago, he was that high up. Then we were afraid he was still an Infernal and was working on Danielle to bring her to power with the intent of causing mischief in the world. It soon became obvious that he had switched over to the Eternal side once again. We hoped he would just be her protector, but it looks like he’s bringing his considerable experience to the table and helping Trew.”
Nadine asked a question. “I’ve never heard of Raphael before. I received only limited info on him when we were informed that Danni had unlocked an Eternal. What’s he experienced in?”
“Cults.” Brandon answered. “Cults, revolutions, and religions. If you look at every major —and most minor — religious movements in the past… five thousand years?” He looked to Michelle for clarification and she nodded affirmatively. “You will see Raphael close by. He just has a knack for it. The past thousand years he helped many historical avatars form some extremely dangerous and deadly groups.”
“Sounds like a strange grouping.” The marketing expert said from beside Nadine. “Cults, revolutions, and religions. All very different creatures.”
“Not very different at all,” Brandon said. “The only real difference is the motivator for the action. A cult is a religion that doesn’t gain popular acceptance. Revolutions follow a government or policy instead of a God. Religion centres around a God that becomes accepted by enough people to gain credibility.” He nodded to Michelle and she sat down.
Brandon stood up and walked to the main screen. “So here’s everyone’s real concern at the moment. Trew and Danielle, apparently as instructed by the Mainframe, have formed one of the fastest growing movements/religions/cults in recent history. Something like that should help him to maintain his ranking of number one, but almost overnight we see his rank dropping not just a few points, but thousands of points. Does that sound about right?”
Brandon scanned the room and everyone was nodding in agreement. He nodded and smiled. “Perfect. Let me assure you that there is no real problem here.” Everyone looked confused. Their lives and futures were dropping like a stone thrown off a cliff and here was their boss smiling, not concerned at all.
Brandon laughed confidently. “I’ve been at this Game for a long time, kids. Let me give you an example even worse than this one. On her last play, Angelica dropped over a million ranking spots. The computer ranking is a combination of many factors, some which I don’t even pretend to understand. One thing is certain though, the final rank of a player is weighed heavily by two things. One factor is how they affect those that they leave behind on Earth. If a child dies fifteen days after it’s born, but its death inspires people to get active and help others, by forming a charity or even just volunteering for instance, then the player who was that child ranks much better than a player whose avatar lives 80 years and contributes nothing to society. The second factor is based on how many Tygon viewers a player has during the entire duration of their play.”
Brandon could see the group relax visibly, many of them laughing in relief as they understood their futures were still very secure. “That’s right, team, Trew is breaking records for subscribers and viewers. If he continues on this path more will flock to view hi
m daily. He has, what? Another 40 or 50 years, if he lives an average lifetime in the Game? More, if our spent credits on Longevity work out properly. That’s another four to six weeks of Game time left for Trew, and millions of more fans to watch him.”
Brandon turned around and pointed confidently at the screen. “Trew’s going to continue on this path, it appears. It isn’t what we planned for him before he went in. So now we get behind this as best we can and help him in all the ways we are able.
“It appears he will not only finish the play in the number one position at this pace — this play could be recognized as one of the greatest sessions in the history of the Game.”