Game Breaker

by Cheree Alsop

  “Jorie,” Breccan whispered. But the image didn’t look right. Her violet gaze had been so full of life and excitement. She had appeared just as enthusiastic as he to go to the ball at the castle. He was certain he hadn’t imagined it.

  “This is her?” Black Jack asked.

  “Yes,” Breccan replied eagerly. “Where is she?”

  Black Jack hesitated before he pressed another key. The picture switched to that of a person. Her eyes were brown and her black hair was cut to shoulder length, but there in the cast of her gaze, Breccan recognized Jorie’s light. The name Marae Hendricks was written across the top. His eyes flickered to the word at the bottom of the screen.

  “Deceased?” He shook his head. The word refused to make sense. “Why does it say that?”

  Black Jack leaned his elbows on his knees. He spoke with his eyes on the floor. “She’s not a shell and she’s not an avatar.” His hands closed into fists. “My guess is that she died outside of the Edge while she was still plugged in.”

  “Wh-what did you just say?” Breccan asked.

  Black Jack looked up at him. Breccan took an involuntary step back at the avatar’s expression that no doubt matched Minx’s.

  “Someone wanted what she had,” he said. His steady voice was betrayed by a tremor of emotion. “So they took it from her.”

  Breccan shook his head. He refused to believe what Minx was trying to tell him. “You’re wrong.”

  “Look,” Black Jack said. He tabbed to another page, then nodded at it.

  Breccan’s eyes flickered to the screen of their own accord. His breathing slowed at the sight of another avatar. “Marjorie the Third,” he read aloud. He shook his head. “But that’s not Jorie.” The color of her hair was slightly off and her jaw held nothing of the strength that had been Jorie’s. Even the shape of her face was wrong. It was subtle, but enough that he was certain.

  “You’re right,” Black Jack said.

  Before Breccan could breathe a sigh of relief, the avatar continued with, “That is the recreation of Marjorie the Third that Jorie’s murderer made so that he could use up her ECs before throwing her away.”

  Breccan’s stomach roiled. He felt as though he was going to be sick. He looked around quickly, but there was nowhere to throw up in the bland room.

  “But-but I met her, the real Jorie,” he said. His thoughts whirled. He couldn’t get his mind around what Minx was trying to tell him. He remembered how real it had felt to hold her hand, and how her eyes had sparkled when she walked with her entourage to the elevator in a dress fit for a queen. He thought of her hand on his shoulder when she found him after he lost Garrick. “She was real.” His final words came out as a whisper.

  “Yes, she was, and yes, she is,” Black Jack said softly.

  Breccan looked at him. “But how can that be?” He hated how his eyes burned. He felt as if he had just lost Garrick all over again. A lump thickened in his throat. He tried to swallow, but it wouldn’t go away.

  “She was plugged in when she was killed, right?” Black Jack asked.

  Breccan couldn’t speak. He could only manage a slight lifting of his shoulders in a shrug that spoke volumes about how lost he suddenly felt.

  “Hear me out,” Black Jack coaxed. “Maybe if she was killed when she was still plugged in, part of her soul stayed in the Edge.”

  Breccan rasped out, “Are you saying she’s a ghost?”

  “Something like that,” Black Jack replied tentatively.

  Breccan spun on his heels and stalked back across the room.

  “Breccan, where are you going?” Black Jack called out. The chair screeched when the avatar jumped up to follow him.

  Breccan stopped. His chest heaved as he stared at the door without seeing it. Black Jack’s footsteps reached him and then a hand touched his shoulder.

  Breccan shrugged it away and said without looking at Minx’s avatar, “I can’t handle it! I came here searching for an escape, and I still see Garrick following in my footsteps.” He saw Black Jack’s expression of concern out of the corner of his eye, but ignored it and pressed on to say, “And now you’re telling me that the girl I have fallen in love with is a ghost?” He shook his head and the tears he had kept at bay betrayed him by trickling down his cheeks. He surged forward without bothering to wipe them away. “I’m done. I can’t handle this place anymore.” He waved a hand. “None of this is real. None of it!”

  Jorie’s voice whispered in his mind and his thoughts were swept back to the moment when she found him at the wall and agreed to go with him.

  Her voice had felt so real when she said, “From now on, this is all pretend. Promise me you won’t forget that.” When he didn’t speak, she had repeated, “Promise me,” as if it meant everything to her.

  Breccan heard himself reply, “I promise.”

  He shook his head in an effort to banish the memory, but her violet gaze remained foremost in his mind. “She tried to tell me,” he whispered.

  “What was that?” Black Jack asked.

  Breccan let out a sigh that was too close to a sob for comfort. “I’m done,” he said. He looked at Black Jack. “How do I get out of here?”

  Black Jack’s expression was one of sad understanding. “You have to either be killed or wait out the time. In the Zone, you can unplug, but here you have to wait because of the avatar link.”

  “Where’s the closest building?” Breccan asked.

  Black Jack’s eyebrows rose. “Why?”

  “I need to jump off it,” Breccan said. “I’m getting out of here.” He walked back up the library hallway with certainty in his steps.

  “Why not face another Battle Boss?” Black Jack asked with an attempt at humor that fell flat.

  Breccan glanced sideways. “Because that worked so well for the first one?” He shook his head. “I made a promise that I wouldn’t go back to the Hedron.” The fact that Jorie had been there when he promised made him clench his hands into fists. A slight, lingering feeling of regret struck him at the thought that once he returned to the real world, he would no longer have his right hand. He piled that onto his stack of losses. His heart felt so empty he wondered that he could feel at all anymore.

  “Come with me to the meeting,” Black Jack urged.

  Breccan tried to muster any emotion at the suggestion, but failed. “Why?” he asked.

  “Because you have a different way of looking at things,” Black Jack said. “What do you have to lose?”

  To be fair, Minx had no idea how true her words were. Breccan wanted to tell her, but even those words failed him. She had put off going to the meeting herself because she wanted to help him. The least he could do was follow her to the Luz Café. Maybe he could find another way to get out of the Edge.

  “Fine,” he said in an emotionless voice.

  Black Jack patted his back and then hurried in front to lead the way to the elevator.

  “I know it’ll help you get your mind off things,” the avatar said. “We’ve hit a dead end in finding out who’s running the Techsecs, but I’m hoping the others have some ideas. At this point, anything is better than nothing.”

  Breccan stared at the metal wall of the elevator as they rose. The damaged, adventurous side of him missed seeing the levels pass by. Views of the ocean or dragon racing would at least give him something to occupy his thoughts other than what Minx had told him, but he was denied even that. By the time the elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal the food level, his mind was so numb he merely wandered after Black Jack. The avatar’s anxious looks were lost on Breccan’s uncaring, blank gaze.

  He didn’t realize they had reached the Luz Café until he found himself pulled into a back corner by Black Jack.

  “Just hang out here,” the avatar whispered with a pitying expression.

  Breccan couldn’t find the energy to sit in the chair Minx’s avatar pointed to before making his way to the front of the gathering. Instead, Breccan leaned against the wall amid lanterns that g
lowed in purple, yellow, and blue hues.

  Murmurs sounded and voices rose, but Breccan didn’t focus on them. He was lost in his own misery until a voice said, “Stop feeling sorry for yourself.”

  Breccan’s head jerked up and he met Garrick’s laughing gaze across the room.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Garrick?” Breccan said aloud.

  He felt a tingle run along his right arm and glanced down just in time to see it vanish. He pushed away from the wall and took a step toward his brother, but Garrick raised a hand. He didn’t speak again, but merely pointed. Breccan followed his gaze through the crowd to where Bullshark and another avatar were in a heated discussion.

  “I don’t care,” Breccan said. He took another step forward.

  Garrick shook his head. “Find a way to care,” his brother said.

  Breccan blinked. In the short span of time when his eyes closed and reopened, his brother vanished. A quick check showed that his arm had returned. Breccan searched the crowd quickly. His heart pounded with desperation as he scanned the faces, but his brother was nowhere to be seen. Breccan sighed and turned his attention back to his cousin’s avatar. The words of their argument became clear.

  “If we all unplug, they’ve won,” Jonny’s avatar nearly shouted. “You’re saying we should just give up!”

  “I’m saying we should choose life,” the other avatar shot back. The feathers on his head stood up in a display of ruffled purple and white. “You heard what they did to LionWaiting and Running Water Seventy-five, and they’re not the first by far.”

  Bullshark’s gaze lowered. “I know. I heard.” He shook his head. “But that’s what I’m talking about. We don’t want to sit by while they pick us off one by one.”

  “And if we’re not plugged in, they can’t,” the avatar replied.

  Black Jack spoke up from his place near the wall. “If we give up the Edge, we’ll never get it back. Are you ready to say goodbye to this place forever, StarDancer?”

  The avatar shook his head with an air of defeat. “You know I’m not, Jack, but we don’t have a choice. I don’t want to be killed out there for what I have in here. It’s not worth it.” He glanced around the room, then admitted in a quieter voice, “My parents are gone. I’m all my siblings have. I can’t risk getting killed over this.”

  “I understand,” Black Jack replied. “But I don’t think giving in is the right decision to make.” His pirate accent was thick when he said, “Look at our lives. School, work, violence, death, loss. The Edge is our escape.” He shook his head. “We can’t let them take that, too.”

  “But who are they?” StarDancer asked. He lifted a winged hand and smoothed down his feathers. “They’re eliminating more of us every day without just cause. If we knew who we were fighting, it would be that much easier to fight back.”

  “They control the Techsecs,” someone shouted from the crowd.

  “Yeah, and we can’t fight Techsecs,” StarDancer said.

  “Why not?”

  Faces turned to look at Breccan before he realized he had spoken.

  “Who said that?” StarDancer asked.

  The crowd moved back to leave only Breccan leaning against the wall. He straightened.

  “Who are you?” the bird avatar demanded.

  “He’s with me,” Black Jack said.

  StarDancer lifted a hand. “Let him speak for himself.”

  Breccan bristled at the avatar’s tone. He pushed off from the wall. “I’m Game Breaker.” Whispers rushed through the crowd at his name. He reached the edge of the group and paused. “I think fighting the Techsecs is exactly what we should do.”

  StarDancer crossed his feathered arms. “I can attribute beating Avit Torpedo to beginner’s luck.” At the surge of protesting that went through the crowd, he lifted a hand and acceded, “Not to take away an accomplishment. I don’t know how you did it, and you deserve your accolades.”

  Breccan gave of nod of understanding.

  StarDancer continued with, “But as a newb, we can’t expect you to view the Edge the same way we who have spent a lifetime in this place do.” He gestured toward Breccan’s arm. “You earned more ECs in a day than the majority of us have earned our entire time here.”

  “But he’s selfless with his wealth,” a voice said.

  Breccan looked through the crowd and found Sneedle Twenty-two near the back. The man gave him a grateful smile and tipped his blue top hat. Breccan fought back the urge to point out that he hadn’t given the ECs away to have it brought up in his favor.

  StarDancer waved a hand and changed the subject. “But here you are, barely more than a stranger to any of us.”

  His gaze challenged anyone to argue. Even Bullshark and Black Jack couldn’t debate that point, and Breccan didn’t blame them. They really were all strangers.

  StarDancer continued, “And your suggestion, with all of your vast knowledge of the Edge, is for us to fight the Techsecs.”

  “That’s right.” Breccan kept his voice loud enough for everyone to hear as he crossed to the bird avatar. “Maybe my newb status makes me reckless, or perhaps it’s the fact that I don’t have anything left to lose.” He glanced at Black Jack and his voice caught. His thoughts raced and he spoke the words aloud. “But actually, if you knew what I’ve been though, you’d understand that losing the Edge is the very last straw for me.” His words slowed. “In fact, if I lose the Edge, I really do lose everything.”

  Black Jack nodded at his unspoken question. Breccan’s heart thumped louder at the realization that if the Edge disappeared, what remained of Jorie’s soul or shell or whoever it was he had met the night before would also vanish.

  Breccan’s hands close into fists. “I’ll fight the Techsecs by myself if I have to.”

  “I’ll fight with him,” Sneedle called out immediately.

  “Me, too,” a familiar voice shouted.

  The avatar with quills stepped forward and Breccan smiled when he realized it was The Greatest Winston.

  “Count us in,” a high voice called out.

  Mrs. Diamond Tycoon stepped forward with her husband. He nodded at Breccan and Breccan returned the nod.

  “I would fight with Game Breaker.”

  Everyone turned to see who had spoken with such a small voice. When the crowd parted, a smile spread across Breccan’s face at the sight of the little girl from the elevator.

  “He turned my friend into a princess,” she said, her big eyes bright. “I would follow him anywhere.”

  Chuckles broke out across the crowd.

  StarDancer looked at Breccan again as more votes of agreement sounded.

  “You’ve made a lot of friends in such a short while,” he noted. He tipped his head toward Breccan. “And those horns weren’t earned lightly. I know the Count’s work when I see it, and he doesn’t give such honors without reason.” He looked at their audience who had fallen silent with anticipation, then turned his attention back to Breccan. “So what’s your plan?”

  A cheer went up. It quieted when Breccan raised his hand.

  “Has anyone here ever taken down a Techsec?” he asked.

  “You can’t kill them,” a man dressed entirely in black said.

  “Have you ever tried, Son of Diablo?” a woman with snake eyes demanded.

  The man looked as though he would give a snide answer, but then he glanced at Breccan and shook his head. “No, I haven’t. No one in their right mind would mess with a Techsec.”

  Talking broke out among the crowd of avatars gathered in the Luz Café. Breccan could read the fear on many faces. They had a whole lot to lose and no known way to fight.

  “They said that about Avit Torpedo,” Breccan reminded them. He looked at Black Jack. “They have to have a weakness.”

  “I’ll start researching,” Minx’s avatar said. “I’ll take a team. If there is anything about them in the library, we’ll find it.”

  Breccan nodded. “And in the meantime, the rest of us need to p
rotect each other. Have your friends band together. There’s safety in numbers. If you can’t kill the Techsecs, do anything you can to trap them or avoid them. It sounds like the number of avatars they’re eliminating is growing quickly.” Nods answered his statement. He continued with, “We’ve got to form teams to protect each other. Get as many avatars on board as you can. If you can’t depend on the Techsecs to protect you, then you must protect your own.”

  “And what are you going to do?” Son of Diablo asked.

  Breccan held his gaze. “I’m going to find out who’s behind this. Someone is controlling the Techsecs. If we can get to that person, we can end this and make the Edge a safe place to be again.”

  “What if you can’t find them?” a young boy asked.

  Breccan gave him a grim smile. “That’s one thing in your favor. I don’t know how to quit.”

  Laughter and cheers went up at his words.

  StarDancer stepped forward and held out a hand. “We’re glad to have you on our side.”

  “It’s good to have a side,” Breccan said. “I needed something worth fighting for.”

  The bird avatar shifted his gaze to where the crowd was already strategizing. “I think you’ve found it.”

  As soon as StarDancer left to join the others, Bullshark clapped Breccan on the back.

  “Now we’re unstoppable!” he whooped.

  Breccan couldn’t help grinning. “Did you bring me to the Edge just so I could fight your battles?”

  Bullshark shook his head. “I brought you so you could see what you were missing out on, and I figured the battle fighting would happen naturally.”

  Breccan grabbed his cousin’s avatar in a headlock and ran his knuckles across the bandana that wrapped his head.

  “Hey, not fair!” Bullshark protested.

  Breccan let him go with a chuckle. “I don’t mind that you set me up.” He glanced around and saw that nobody was paying attention to them. He lowered his voice anyway and said, “What I’m worried about is how are we going to find out who’s running the Techsecs? I don’t know anything about programming or hacking.”