by Wells, JB
“Are you not playing then, Curly?”
“No, it’s not my kind of thing.”
Kieran, Dexter, Alfie and Owen were the blue team who were playing against Joey, Chris, Sam and Tommy who made up the red team. They knew they could practice against each other without it becoming a competition.
11
The lights above them were bright as they walked into the room. The floor was a dirty white colour with scuff marks dotted randomly. The walls resembled overturned beds, the thick padding reducing the size of the room. From the outside, the individual podium that each player was on looked very tall, but now they were in the room there were no podiums to be seen.
“Each choose a mark on the floor.” Thomas called through the window.
Kieran looked down and saw four X marks; they were set out in a two by two formation. He walked in and stepped on one at the back, Dexter was next to him with Owen and Alfie in front. The other four walked to the other side of the room and took up their places. The red line appeared and formed into a square around them once all the players were on their marks. Kieran placed the slim fitting helmet on his head with the visor down it. It was so black he couldn’t see a thing. He felt a sudden tightening around his face as the helmet moulded to fit and it made him jump. It was an uncomfortable feeling as he was not prepared for it.
“This is just a practice guys.” Alfie bellowed through his helmet and everyone agreed through the darkness.
“Players ready?” The voice could be heard in their helmets. “Random level selection.”
The podiums rumbled and lifted up out of the ground. Each one of them wobbled and tried to remain balanced as they rose up six feet off of the ground.
There was a long silence, out of the darkness a green light appeared in front of Kieran’s eyes. It ran all over the inside of the mask, like a scanner. The green light turned into a grid and then it materialised into a landscape. Kieran couldn’t get over what he was seeing, he was watching the virtual game load up around him. He could hear “oohh’s” and “ahhh’s” coming from the other players, he himself found it hard to not utter some words to express his excitement.
The ground under foot turned to a clay colour. He glanced to Dexter and he could see him standing there in his jogging bottoms and t-shirt. The black helmet made Dexter’s head look like an alien. Kieran lifted his hand and waved, Dexter waved back.
“Can you hear me?” Kieran asked in a dubious voice.
“Yeah, can you hear me?” Dexter replied.
“I can hear you both,” Owen turned around and waved.
Kieran was in awe, the sky was filled with twinkling stars. He looked forward and the ground was steaming with heat waves rippling in between him and his team mates.
“Guys, I’ve changed my mind…I don’t want to play anymore,” Alfie whined.
“Why, Alfie?” Kieran asked looking at him.
“Kiwi, look down!” Dexter yelled.
Kieran looked down and he nearly screamed, the ground shook like there was an earth quake. Although he thought he was closer to his friends, the gap between them was vast and the space appeared to be growing. The solid ground had crumbled away and left nothing but a bridge between them and the red team, the bridge split and branched out towards each player. Kieran could have moved forwards and backwards on his little patch of bridge but he remembered the red lines.
“Don’t move!” he screamed at Dexter.
“Why?” Dexter was shuffling forward and backwards on his own little stretch of rock.
“The red lines, step over it and you’re out!”
Dexter nodded and shuffled backwards until he was on his starting position. Kieran looked around and was faced with rocky red scenery, the sky above was slowly clouding over with a red mist.
“I don’t like this level,” Alfie called.
“Mars, Bridge to Doom!” The computer voice echoed around them. “Go!”
The friends waved their hands around, but nothing happened. Kieran watched each of the blue team waving their hands wildly, trying to conjure up a ball of burning energy. Dexter was re-enacting some form of Thai Chi, and Kieran started to laugh as he saw Dexter’s arms wafting up and down, his legs in turn doing the same thing. Owen and Alfie just seemed to be pulling off some badly rehearsed karate moves with their hands, neither of them were having any luck at creating the weapon they needed. Out of the corner of his eye, Kieran could see Dexter moving erratically and all he could do was laugh.
“Anyone know what they’re doing yet?” He called over to the red team, in between fits of laughter.
“Nope,” Joey called back. “I don’t get it.”
Kieran stayed firm on his thin concrete bridge, thinking hard about what they had to do. That’s when he remembered Megan’s advice, “Concentrate on your hand and focus.” With that in mind Kieran stared at the palms of his hands, he concentrated until they started to tingle. Before he knew what was happening, a bowling ball sized Cell had formed and was lightly floating in his hands.
“Whoa!” Dexter whispered.
Kieran looked over at him and shrugged, he thrust his hand towards the open space next to them. The ball didn’t move. He concentrated hard on the area he wanted the ball to land, and at what speed. The ball lightly lifted off his hand and floated, gently, towards the open space and disbursed.
“How did you do that?” Joey yelled above the rumbling noises.
“Just concentrate on your hand, concentrate really hard and then you’ll feel the tingling.”
Within minutes, they had all managed to create some kind of energy cell.
“This is awesome!” Owen laughed with joy as he threw his cell at Joey.
The cell hit Joey in his chest and he lurched backwards. In anger he threw one back at Owen who took it hard in the knees and fell off his bridge. As he hit the floor his character broke into millions of little pixels and disappeared.
“All teams even.” The computer voice rang out around them.
“Chill out, Joey.” Alfie launched a ball of energy at him. Joey ducked; it missed him by centimetres and landed in Chris’ face, who went down with a yelp.
“Hang on, this is getting a little competitive now,” Kieran grumbled to Dexter.
“Tell me about it,” he puffed and ducked out of the pathway of a rogue red cell.
“You’re going down!” Alfie yelled in anger, his hands shook as his cell grew.
“Not if I take you down first!” Joey replied from the other side of the bridge.
The pair were facing each other, their celestial globes burning brightly and large in their hands. They flung their arms forward, sending their cells at each other, but neither were prepared for the painful hit they were about to receive in the stomach. They both received a blow from each other’s weapon at the same time and were knocked off their platforms with no warning. Kieran and Dexter managed to duck as Alfie flew past, narrowly missing them and taking them out with him. Tommy and Sam were not as lucky as Joey flew back. He knocked them down and landed hard on the floor.
“Ouch!” Kieran gasped.
“Blue’s Win, Blue’s Win,” The male voice celebrated.
“Well, more like by default but hey,” Dexter shrugged. “Think I’m too tired for anymore.”
“Me too,” Kieran agreed, he was tired and this game physically drained energy from them.
Dexter stepped forward over the red line and turned into pixels. Kieran started to remove his helmet when the computer voice started up again.
“Round two, new opponent.”
“What?” Kieran screamed and watched as the scenery around him changed.
Outside the room Dexter turned to wait for Kieran and saw the door closing. “What’s he doing?”
“I don’t know.” Owen walked back a few paces and looked up at the screen. “Well, he’s started a new match.”
“On his own?” Dexter pushed passed Owen and watched as the Camera panned around Kieran.
Kieran wa
s now in the canyon map. Four flimsy columns made of dangerously balanced boulders were standing up like stalagmites, and Kieran was perched on one.
“New opponent? There’s no one else in there!” Dexter shouted and gripped Owen’s shoulders.
Many of the cadets in the commons room started to gather around and watch what was happening.
“Maybe it’s glitching out?” Alfie asked hobbling over.
“Nah, I bet you can play against the computer and…”
“No, you can only play the people who are in the room, this is a minimum two player game.” A voice said.
Dexter turned and looked at a cadet who was staring at the monitor. He had three stripes on each side, making him a high up cadet and his knowledge was not to be judged.
“Guys…erm guys?” Kieran was panicking; he had no clue about what was happening. He could hear the wind rushing past him and he could feel the cold breeze against his t-shirt and jeans. “What’s going on?” Kieran tried to lift his helmet off, but it was stuck. “The helmet won’t come off, can you hear me…anybody?” He began to panic, “Canyon Curse, Death Match!” The computer voice screeched.
Kieran stopped trying to remove his helmet and glanced over the hundred mile drop to where the red team should have been standing. “No, no. No death match, cancel game?” There was no one there. He lifted his hands to try and remove the gloves and as he did a huge explosion erupted just behind him. He spun around trying not to fall off his little spot, he looked back to see where it had come from and a player had appeared. Kieran squinted through the sudden dust storm that blew into his view and he could see dark clothing.
“Owen, Joey, is that you?”
There was no reply.
“I’m leaving the map,” Kieran put one foot forward in the hopes that he could leave his red box and end the game. As his foot slowly lifted off of the stone podium another blast hit just below, he quickly pulled his foot back in.
Outside the room Thomas pointed to the screen, “Who is that?”
“I have no idea,” The older cadet replied. His eyes were wide with worry and he ran to the wall and hit something. All the lights in the room went out, red lights flashed and a siren screamed throughout the entire Institute.
Back in the game Kieran was nervous, “I’m not prepared for this!” Kieran shouted to the other person, his feet slowly edging towards the back of the podium. “I didn’t know I was going to be tested. It’s only my second day, so I’m…I’m not trained!” The noise in his ears started again, but it was quiet like a faint whistle in the background.
“Deathcell!” The computer voice called with an evil laugh.
“What the….” Kieran saw a massive bright purple cell flying towards him. He dropped to his knees to protect himself. Once it had passed he jumped straight up and managed to throw his own cell out. The other player dodged the hit and jumped to another column.
“Multi Deathcell!” The computer called again.
Kieran could feel his heart beating faster as he watched four massive cells flying his way. The first hit the podium causing it to crumble and shake, the second went for his knees – which he managed to jump. The third and fourth were aiming for his head and chest. Kieran knew he wouldn’t survive a hit like that. In a split second decision he stepped back and took a tiny run up to launch himself at the podium opposite. In mid-air he thought he could make it, but as he started to land he realised he was falling short. He managed to grab hold of the platform and hold on with just his fingers. From his view he was dangling perilously off of the naturally crafted stone stalk, his gloved fingers were digging in to the stone as he dragged and clawed his way back up. The noise in his ears grew louder by the second, he twitched and shook his head to make it stop, but it didn’t. The wind rushed around him, making him sway as he tried to find his footing. It was so real, the depth and the realism made him forget it was just a game.
Outside the room the crowd was huge; most of the Institute had congregated to see what was happening, the alarms were still screaming in the background.
“He can’t get hurt can he?” Dexter asked one of the older cadets.
“Oh my god, don’t say that!” Isabelle winced and continued to watch on in shock
“I don’t think so, I don’t know…” The answer was vague and there was as much terror in their voice as there was in Dexter’s.
The cadets were all holding their breath as they watched Kieran drag himself back up. The camera angle panned all around and the computer voice was heckling in the background.
“What’s going on?” A loud voice bellowed from the other side of the room. All the cadets turned and watched Alpha One make his way in. “What happened?” He looked accusingly at Owen and Alfie.
“Sir, the game finished and we all left, Kieran was just on his way out when the door closed and another match started.” Alfie didn’t seem scared of Alpha One but the others were.
“Who’s he playing?”
“A player from the outside, Sir.” The third year cadet who raised the alarm was standing firmly at Alpha One’s side.
“Very good, Thistle. The door?”
“Locked, Sir.”
“Who’s the outsider?”
Kieran had managed to climb back on the stones and he was puffing and panting to catch his breath. The sky around him suddenly turned black and the ground beneath him disappeared. He was crouched down trying to calm himself as the beautiful canyon scene was taken over by darkness.
“What’s happening?” Kieran asked through heavy breaths. The noise in his ears was so loud, it was like the TV had been left on in his head.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Who are you?”
At that moment a swirl flashed around the room. Kieran watched as it flew behind him and settled back in front of him. The swirl spun fast like a Catherine Wheel and then grew into a big white skull, one that Kieran had seen before. The skull was laughing the same manic laugh as before and its eyes were rolling around. The words ‘PLAYER IS COMING FOR YOU’ started appearing around the infinite space. Kieran turned on the spot watching as the black space filled up with white writing. The sound got louder in his ears, until it was almost unbearable. He was sure he could hear people calling him and begging for help. He thought that it must have been the people outside of the room that he could hear, and he wanted to be back with them. When he tried to step forward again a few cells exploded around him. Kieran knew it was the Pied-Piper back again, this was his skull, his words and now he was here.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for you,” Adam snarled in a deep evil tone.
Kieran could see him growing nearer, so as a last ditch attempt he generated an Energy Cell and launched it at Pied-Piper. Kieran went to run but he remembered he was up high and would need to jump off. There was no way he would be taken by the Pied-Piper. He took a deep nerve-steadying breath and jumped, he landed with a thud on the padded ground. Backing away from Adam was all he could do, and six strides are all it took before he found himself pushing his back into the softened wall.
“Can someone please get me out?” Kieran shouted in the hope that someone, anyone would hear.
“The fail safe’s been cut!” Alpha One shouted outside of the room.
“Pied-Piper,” Thomas muttered as he stared at the screen, “Pied-Piper is in the game!”
“Ex, get Wing and his team to shut Intracell off from the mainframe.”
“Sir!” Ex ran as fast as he could through the growing crowd.
“Thistle, get to the Guiders. I want to know how he got in, now!”
“Yes Sir.”
“All of you, back off!” Alpha One’s long coat swished around him like a cape, his arms out wide and he pushed back all of the cadets.
Ex ran back into the room, he joined Alpha One at the window to the game room, “ETA two minutes until shutdown.”
“We don’t have that long.”
“What do we do sir?” Ex watched Kieran feel
ing his way along the wall with his hands. The screen above showed Adam still striding his way across to him.
“North,” Professor Wing’s voice came through the loud speakers, “We’re trying to cut the mainframe, but a wall has been put up. We should have it down in the next few minutes.”
Alpha One growled, he then looked up at the screen and watched as Pied-Piper closed the gap. Energy Cells were flying all over the place as Kieran tried to defend himself. “Break the doors and the windows!”
Ex and a couple of the other officers grabbed chairs and started trying to break the wall-length window, Alpha One used his shoulder to try and burst open the door.
Kieran was struggling to evade the Pied-Piper. The padding in the walls was thick, but it wouldn’t protect him for long, if at all. He backed as far against it as he could, and felt his way along; he had no idea where in the room he was or if he was near the door. The Pied-Piper was still in the same uniform he had on whenever he appeared in a game. His dirty green armour shone and twinkled under the white light of the writing that continued to scroll across the vast black space. The skull was laughing faster and faster as Adam approached Kieran, the closer he got the louder the static noise became. Kieran’s hands were feeling around and he felt the door handle, he pulled on it as he watched Pied-Piper slowly stalking towards him. Adam glided through the air as if he was walking along an imaginary bridge. Kieran was more scared now than ever before, the nerves coursed through his body making him shake. He could feel pulses through the door handles from where Alpha One was trying to barge it down. Adam was no more than fifteen steps away and with nowhere to run, he gave in. He glanced down at his hands in defeat, and they were glowing bright silver. Kieran couldn’t make it out; he crossed his arms and hugged himself as he slid down the wall giving up. Adam was in reach and Kieran’s instant reaction was to put his hands up to protect himself, all he could think was ‘Go-Away’. With that, out of his hands shot the biggest, brightest light that would give the sun competition.