by Wells, JB
“Good timing!” Isabelle called out.
The group looked up and saw Thomas making his way across the grass. He looked excited and very, very tired.
“I can’t wait to get in there,” Dexter laughed. “I can see myself with a blow torch clearing the pathway!”
“Yeah,” Isabelle rolled her eyes, “I don’t fancy my chances of looking after you for six weeks, you’ll be one crispy avatar.”
“Hey,” Dexter gave her a look but she ignored him.
“Maths next,” Owen shuddered. “I hate Maths.”
“At least you only have him once a day, Dex and I have extra tuition with Chumly.” Isabelle scrunched up her face.
“How was it?” Kieran asked just as Thomas sat down.
Thomas blew his mop of wild curls out of his face and frowned. “It’s crazy, but Isabelle was right.” He didn’t look up, he daren’t see her ‘I told you so’ face.
“So what do you have to do?”
“We have to follow everyone in Plantranet; we guide you to where you need to be and where to get out. We help you destroy enemies and so much more. The things I’ve seen today,” he puffed out his cheeks. “I don’t think you guys realise what you’re in for.”
10
After an hour of Maths and an hour of English, the group were exhausted. Kieran sat on his bed and stared at his surroundings while his dinner settled. Alfie, Dexter and Owen were all messing around by their bed sections, playing with a few elastic bands and paperclips they’d swiped from the Maths lesson. The laughter in the room had broken off as Officer Seal walked in unannounced.
“How did you all find the lessons with Corporal Chumly?”
“Long.” Dexter laughed as he flicked his paperclip at Alfie, scoring a top ten points for getting him in the arm.
“Ouch!” Alfie squealed and rubbed his arm. “Watch my asthma Dex.”
“A paper clip will not start that off.”
“It was okay, but he made us write things over and over. The maths was mainly stuff we’d all done.” Alfie was shielding himself from Dexter.
“He also said that he was going to do a times tables test next week.” Kieran groaned and laid back on the bed to stare at the freshly painted white ceiling.
“I remember the famous quizzes. My advice to you all,” she said sitting on the chair next to Kieran’s bed, “is to revise and perfect them. If not he will hold you all back from breaks, and give you extra lessons until you know your 6, 7 and 8 times table as well.” Seal frowned and looked at the group, “I was in his class six years ago.” She rolled her eyes and caught site of Dexter playing with his paperclip. “Another word of warning, if he finds you’ve been stealing stationery then he will make you stand in the grand hall with a sign around your neck.”
“Saying, please send me home?” Dexter pulled back his elastic band for a second assault.
“No, saying ‘I’m a thief’.”
Dexter withdrew his aim and placed the elastic band in the bin. “I’m bored of that game now.”
“Can we go to the Commons Room?” Owen asked.
“Sure, I think the girls are ready to go and check it out. There are some pretty cool games in there.”
Owen, Dexter and Alfie were met by the girls by the main door.
“Kiwi are you coming?”
“Yeah, I’ll meet you all down there in a bit.”
Owen shrugged and they left for the commons room.
“Are you okay, Kieran?” Seal asked, looking worried.
“I’m fine; this just all seems weird, really weird.”
“Tell me about it, I was fourteen and happily playing on my games when I was recruited. I felt like I’d been dumped into army cadets, but once the initial shock wore off, I loved it. It’s really fun on the Invirtuwear, and I mean so fun you won’t want to get off of it.” Seal laughed at the irony. “Well of course you understand, otherwise we wouldn’t be in the middle of this.”
“So they’ve been recruiting for years?” Kieran asked interested, he sat up and looked at her.
“Yes, they’ve always needed subjects to test the Beta versions of Invirtuwear. When I joined I was a tester and then they asked me to join full time. I did two years testing and four years training with Ex, and then I was moved to help the first years.”
“Do you enjoy it?”
She nodded, “Oh yes, this first few days for you may seem a lot to take in. But as soon as you are inside Plantranet, you’ll be playing the best game in the world.”
“Did you know Adam?” Kieran felt bad asking, but he wanted to know more about this guy that was hunting people down.
“Yes.” Her features dropped and her normally sparkling brown eyes began to tear up. She tucked a loosened hair behind her ear and cleared her throat.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”
“It’s okay,” she smiled. “Adam was recruited as a tester years before I got here. I believe he was brought in to give his gran a break and Alpha One had pretty much looked upon him as a son. When I got here we trained together and I guess I thought of him like a little brother. One day he was saying that he found he could do things in there, create things. I told him he was getting in too deep, we were only there to test the games, but he was getting dragged in. He started to change, his eyes became weird, he disliked the day light and never wanted to leave the Institute. It was like he and the computer became one person and he was a stronger person inside. Then one day the alarm was triggered, and they found him still in his chair. I’ve not seen his body since it happened.”
“Hasn’t his family been in touch, aren’t they worried?”
“His parents died in a crash when he was six and his Nan died just before he disappeared. It’s a lot for anyone to go through all by the age of seventeen. Come to think of it he’ll be coming up for his twenty-second birthday soon.” Kieran’s face must have shown how shocked he was. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he ran his hands through his hair and sighed.
“Put’s things into perspective, doesn’t it.”
“It really does.”
Seal’s pocket started to ring, she reached for her phone and smiled. “Anyway, don’t worry about any of that, take your friend and get going to the Commons Room before all the best games are taken “Curly…Curly?” Kieran approached Thomas and playfully closed the folder he’d had his face in all afternoon. “Let’s get down there before your eyes go square.”
“I’m taking this with me.” Thomas picked up the folder and carried it under his arm as they left.
The Commons Room was about the size of Kieran’s whole house, the floor was tiled, unlike the contrast between metal and glass. The walls were covered in screens, some showing films, some playing TV shows and cartoons whilst others had games being played. There were chairs all over, bean bags dotted around and vending machines in the corner.
Dexter and Owen were playing on the foosball table; Isabelle and Kaitlyn were sitting with some other girls from the first year reading magazines.
“Kiwi, have you seen this?” Alfie sprung up in front of him. His light hair covered his face only separating in the middle like a set of curtains.
“What?”
“Look at this,” Alfie was slightly shorter than Kieran and he bounced around him pulling him along. “It’s called Intracell, it looks blooming amazing!”
“Right?” Kieran’s reply was more of a question as he looked around at what else was going on, rather than in the direction he was being dragged.
“Look Kiwi, watch them.”
As Kieran was pulled to a window at the edge of the room, Dexter and the others joined him.
“This does look awesome mate.” Dexter was grinning from ear to ear and his hair even seemed to have grown with excitement.
On the far right side of the room, one-way mirrors ran the length of the wall. Kieran and his friends were standing along with other cadets as they peered through the glass into a padded room. Inside four cadets were standing on tall pl
atforms and four more at the other end, each of them had a helmet, gloves and a chest plate.
“I just read about this,” Thomas fumbled through the pages in his folder. He closed it briefly and started to explain the rules of the game. “Intracell is a team sport. You have two teams; each team member has a virtual visor, sensory gloves and a sensory chest plate. It’s like virtual Dodge ball, except, instead of a ball you have cells of energy. Basically, when you’re in the virtual game, there are different scenarios; each scenario leaves you and your team mates standing on columns. The idea is not to fall off, but you have to knock the opposition off. If you look at the individual stand they are on, there are red lines around them. If you over step the red line then you are automatically out, but as you’re in the virtual game you can’t see the lines.”
Kieran watched the teams play the match. From where they were, all they could see were the players moving their hands and bodies. It looked a bit futile.
“Watch the screen.” One of the other cadets poked him in the back.
Kieran spun around to find a young girl, about fourteen smiling back. She had long blonde hair like Isabelle. She swung her hair over her shoulder and smiled at Kieran then pointed to the screen above the mirrors again.
“Thanks.”
“No worries, I’m Megan.”
“I’m Kieran,” he could feel his face going red.
With that Megan turned and walked back over to her group of friends, as she joined them they all turned around to look at Kieran and then they giggled.
“What was that about?” Dexter asked. “Girls are just weird.”
“This place is just full of technology, it’s like the Xbox convention but a thousand times better.” Owen’s voice was all high pitched with excitement.
On the screen the two teams were perched on narrow columns; behind them the sky was blue and crystal clear like the sea. The camera panned around both teams and then overhead, showing the realistic drop of the canyon that would be their fate should they fall.
“Players Ready!” The computer voice called out.
Each of the team members took up a balanced stance, to try and ensure they didn’t fall off of their slim podium. It was green versus purple and all had the same black slender helmet and visor. The lead member of the purple team raised their hands and sent a ball of energy across the gap that separated them. The bright burning cell travelled at high speed over the canyon ravine and landed squarely on one of the rear players of the green team. As the ball hit their chest plate they flew back. Kieran looked back to the room and watched as the cadet flew backwards with force, and landed hard against the padded walls.
“Well that explains the padding then,” Dexter remarked and looked back at the screen.
One of the greens sent a green ball across, but it was weak in speed and landed gently in the hand of one of the purple team. The player held the green ball and raised his hands up; the energy cell grew rapidly in size before being sent back at the greens. The ball flew back towards its creator, hit them in the legs knocking them off their podium. On the screen the player disintegrated and was out of the match.
Kieran quickly glanced into the room; the player was on the floor slapping the padded mat with anger. The group watched the screen again with anticipation, it was four against two and the purple team were amazingly fast and powerful.
The leader of the green team was still standing firm, but his team mate was visibly shaking. Kieran could only guess that the landing really hurt, but the game appeared to make the pain worthwhile. The green leader made a gesture with his hand and his team mate produced an energy cell, they threw it and it zoomed around the Purples. Two of the purple team ducked and jumped to avoid it before the leader managed to catch it again. The leader of the greens had tried to use this as a diversion and sent out their own burning cell, it failed. The purples avoided the poorly created cell, and in return they sent out a shower of energy. The radiant globes violently struck the nervous green player who was sent plummeting into the ravine.
“Last man standing!” The voice called.
The extra-large cell was still sitting in the hands of the chief purple member. With the slightest movement of his hand, the glowing cell was sent across the canyon. It flew around the lone green cadet and then it struck the back of their legs. They managed to stay on the podium but they were on their knees. The purple leader sent out a small cell, no bigger than a golf ball which travelled at a controlled speed towards the green member, who was holding onto the perilously small surface.
“Soniccell!” The voice called.
The little cell floated over and erupted into a massive sonic wave as it connected with the player. Kieran stared in disbelief as the player flew across the scenery on the screen; he looked into the room and saw the player land full whack against the walls.
“Ouch!” Dexter and Owen groaned in unison.
“Game over, purple team wins!” The male computer voice shouted.
“Well, that’s one game we have to try.” Kieran couldn’t wait to get stuck in, it had been so long since he had played any game that this would be the epic way to start again. He had to admit though, it looked hard.
The teams left the room and slowly took off their helmets. The leader of the greens was a girl, which shocked Kieran and his friends. Most of those who had been on the greens were limping or holding themselves in pain.
“Good game,” Kieran smiled as they passed, but they looked less than impressed with their performance.
Isabelle had joined the boys after chatting with her new friends. “They’re third years, apparently they never lose. The leader of the greens was Zoe Franks and she is supposed to be one mean cookie.”
The purple team left the room and removed their helmets. The smug look on their faces was no surprise. Richard was the team leader, he and three of his friends gloated as they strolled through the room.
“That’s just typical!” Dexter hissed, “I am never being the purple team when we play for fun.”
Kieran could hear a crackling sound, it was loud and it drowned out every other noise. He placed his hands over his hears and wiggled them to make the noise stop.
“What’s that noise?” he called out, but his friends looked at him strangely.
The sound grew louder and louder until it was almost deafening and then it stopped.
“If you nerds feel like taking us on, just say the word. I’d be more than happy to knock you down a peg or two!” Richard laughed and walked off with a swarm of girls behind him.
“Eurgh,” Isabelle grimaced. “He needs knocking down a few pegs!”
“Fancy a game, Alfie?” Owen called typing their name on to the screen.
“Yes brilliant!” Alfie started to pat himself down worriedly. “Wait, I forgot my inhaler.”
“Well you can quit if you start having an attack,” Dexter nudged him. “Kiwi?”
“Yeah sure,” Kieran was wiggling his finger in his ears. “Did you hear that noise? It was so loud.”
“What noise, the TV?”
“No,” Kieran’s ears were still ringing. “I need some air.” He made his way through the room and through the open double doors that led outside. He looked around, searching for the source of the noise but it was now completely silent, and his hearing was back. Birds were settling down in their nests and badgers were slowly emerging from the bushy undergrowth. It was a struggle for him to understand how there was such a natural light, almost like moonlight, that lit up the dome sky above them. There were even bats flying around swooping and flying past the trees, the sound of crickets could be heard in the distance.
“It’s all experimental,” A voice called softly from behind him.
Kieran turned around to see Megan smiling at him; she had a folder in her hand and a little metal plate.
“The plants, wildlife, all of its experimental. You see as we’re so far down, they are testing to see if things can exist without the full natural daylight and how well the
y develop.”
“Cool. What’s that?” The plate that she held in her hand took his attention.
Megan laughed, “This is Kerplunk.”
“No it’s not,” Kieran laughed nervously.
“I’m a second year here, trust me it is.” Megan placed the plate on the floor and pressed a button. In front of his very eyes Kerplunk sprung up in holographic mode. “It’s completely interactive,” she gestured to it and ran her hands through the whole thing. Slowly placing her fingers over a straw, she pulled one out.
“Wow,” Kieran got on his knees and pulled one of the straws, his hand went through the green light.
“Concentrate your hand on the area. You can feel the energy, just concentrate on that feeling and slowly move it back towards you.”
Kieran followed her instructions and slowly pulled a holographic straw out. All the marbles tumbled to the bottom and the words ‘Game Over’ bounced up.
“Kerplunk,” Megan called with laughter, and picked the plate up. “Our clan won them last camp, but the bigger prizes are given after summer camp.”
Kieran was impressed, “That’s really cool…”
“Kiwi we’re on,” Thomas had appeared at the door way and interrupted them.
“I have to get back, but I’ll see you around?” Megan smiled and Kieran felt himself going all red. No words would come out of his mouth, he could only smile in a rather goofy way.
“Right,” Thomas began to explain, “it’s one round. You have to master the art of using your energy and the gloves to create the cells. Take out the other team as quickly as possible using your own energy cell. You can make an Ultracell when you catch one of the other teams Cells...” Thomas took a breath and looked at the teams, he could see he was confusing them. “Basically, its five points for a chest hit, three points for a hit on the rest of the body. Then its ten points for a knock down, and instant game win if you can create the Tetracell which will take down the whole of the opposition. But it’s rare so just practice creating a Cell. The helmets, gloves and chest plates are electrical, they count score and the helmet creates the virtual world you’ll be in. They mould to the players face so you can’t take it off mid game, only when the game is over. If you get worried and need to leave,” Thomas looked at Alfie, “Just step over the red line and you’ll be out. As it’s only a normal game you play one round and you can leave the room once you’re out. If you’re playing in the league that’s usually two or three rounds, you can’t leave until the final match is played.”