Player is Waiting... (Ultimate Clan Wars)

by Wells, JB

  “Do you know something, Curly?” Dexter probed.

  Thomas went red. He was never good at keeping secrets from his friends. He had a tell-tale sign when he was hiding something, he would go very red and then start scratching his head.

  “Look, either you have a bad case of the nits, in which case I would love to watch Satchell run a nit comb through that mop, or you know things and are not sharing.” Dexter edged closer and closer to Thomas until there was no space between them. Owen had enclosed him on the other side, both on a mission to find out the details.

  “Okay,” Thomas looked around cautiously, “but not out here. Let’s go back to the room and I’ll tell you what I know.”

  The group gathered their things and headed back inside. Kieran stopped and watched as the VIP’s left the grounds, each of them getting into their own car accompanied by security. As Kieran stared at the General’s fleeting shadow, General Walker looked back and gave a look of dislike in return. Kieran’s skin tingled, in a bad way, every hair on his arms stood on end.

  The commons room was buzzing with activity. There was so much noise as the four friends tried to hurry through.

  “There’s Izzy and Kaitlyn,” Owen pointed out.

  Kieran headed towards them and tried to talk to Isabelle. “Izzy, we need a clan meeting urgently.”

  “Oh,” Isabelle pouted. “Let me just see the end of this film, please because he’s about to tell her that he’s a werewolf.” She turned back to the holomovie that was being played from a table top that was in the middle of ten girls.

  “Isabelle, this is serious!” Kieran whispered urgently.

  “We can’t leave anyway. They’re calling out the leader board soon.”

  All the Level Points that the cadets of each year had earned through play and lessons, was counted up and listed every two weeks. Kieran wasn’t expecting to rank very highly as they hadn’t had a great amount of time in Plantranet to train.

  Ex and two officers marched into the room, silence fell all around instantly.

  “Right, the leader board for this week is as follows,” Ex pressed a button on his tablet and all the screens around the room changed. “Just remember, those in the top five get an extra four allowance tokens to be used in the shop. Congratulations to those who are meeting the grade, to the rest of you I hope to see your names up there next week.” With that, Ex left the monitors showing the list and the officers left the room.

  “Where am I?” Dexter could be heard over the voices as he pushed his way through to get a closer look at a screen.

  “Dex is fifteenth, I am tenth, oh yes,” Isabelle did a little dance. “Nothing wrong with a little competition,” she laughed as Dexter glared at her.

  Kieran wasn’t bothered where he ranked, but he checked the screen to see where the others were. “Curly is in seventh!” He smiled and patted him on the back.

  “No way, 191!” Owen yelled.

  Kieran glanced up and watched Dexter stand with his nose to the screen. He took a step back and pointed something out to Owen. With a wide-eyed disbelief they shook their heads and high-fived.

  “What?”

  “Kiwi, you are in fifth place,” Owen beamed.

  “What?” Kieran ran his fingers through his hair. “You must have misread it.”

  A few of the cadets walked past and congratulated him with a smile or a nod. In the corner of the room was a growing crowd, Richard was in the middle and he was shaking with anger.

  “Kieran, you beat Rich by one point. Look,” Dexter beckoned him over. “See Cadet 191 Kealey has 321 points. Cadet 878 Walker has 320 points. Ouch, that has got to hurt!”

  Richard barged through his crowd of friends and stormed towards Kieran, his face full of anger and his teeth gritted. “Watch it Kealey, I will not be beaten by someone like you. Just you wait and see!” With that Richard stomped out of the room, his two bully friends’ close behind him, throwing glares as they went.

  “Oh Kiwi, that was so worth it just to see the look on his face.” Isabelle squealed.

  Kieran felt great; out of all the cadets in the first year, he was in the top five. But he wasn’t there for the glory or the points, he was there because he wanted to stop Adam, he wanted to make a difference and help. That being said, nothing was going to wipe the grin from Kieran’s face that night. He could see Thomas was agitated, and wanting to get something off his chest. “Guys,” he interrupted their over excited buzz, “we need to get back to the barracks.”

  ###

  “Come on Curly, spill what you know.” Owen jumped on his bed and sat on his knees, eager to hear what had to be said.

  Thomas looked around the room, each one of his friends face’s had an eager expression as they waited with baited breath. “Well…”

  “Curly, it seemed important earlier.” Kieran moved from his bed to stand next to Thomas. “We’re okay in here.”

  Thomas took a deep breath and began. “Last week when you had your first training session in Plantranet, I was still assisting. So I asked Lieutenant Pimley if I could shadow Chloe and he said that was fine. I went to find Chloe’s pod but I ended up outside of the Lieutenant’s office. Ex was in there with Wing and they were talking about Adam, they were saying something about him infiltrating The Wall. Apparently he had mounted a huge attack at The Wall and he got through. Ex was saying that The Collective was on their way and they needed to have a meeting in The Vault. Adam had crashed the ventilation and heating system within WIPI. Ex kept saying, “Does he know about the Locator?” and Wing kept saying, “Yes”.”

  “So what has Richard’s dad got to do with it?” Isabelle asked, ushering Thomas to a seat.

  “I found this out from a few of the other Guiders. General Walker is on the Board. The Board funds the Institute and gives the go ahead for everything. The General, Alpha One and six other people make up The Collective, all the people that were in the Institute the past few weeks. They need to shut Adam down quickly and return him to his body, or delete him at any cost.”

  “So Richard would have basically gotten in, regardless of his gaming ability?” Dexter spat out in shock.

  Thomas nodded his head. “We then got called for an emergency briefing while they were in the vault and you were in Plantranet. As Guiders we have to protect all in Plantranet so we had to be told what to look out for.” Thomas took a breath and sat down. “Adam has an enormous amount of power but he needs two more things to unleash his ultimate power. He needs The Protocol, but most of all The Locator.”

  “The what?” Owen laughed.

  “Shh!” Thomas rushed over to Owen and placed his hand over his mouth, “I am not supposed to be relaying any of this. Look,” he removed his hand, “there are two people who have abilities like Adam. People that can do things in Plantranet that no one else could ever hope to do.”

  “Are they here, at the Institute now?” Isabelle asked, she walked over and sat on the bed with Owen and Thomas.

  Thomas nodded.

  “Do they know who they are?”

  He shook his head.

  “So, who are they?” Kieran jested, growing tired of the guessing game.

  “We don’t know who the Protocol is.”

  “So who is the Locator?”

  Thomas’s eyes rose slowly and met Kieran’s. “It’s you.”

  20

  “What...No,” Kieran shook his head and moved back towards the table, the whole time staring at the floor. “No…That’s wrong, you’re wrong.”

  “Think about it,” Thomas slowly walked towards Kieran, “he’s been after you for weeks. We know for a fact he’s been hunting you down for over a year. The private messages, breaking into the Institute and your abilities…” Thomas held his hands out like Kieran should be able to see what’s right in front of him.

  “Yeah, they all went funny when you created the Tetracell, Kiwi,” Isabelle whispered, she placed a hand on his shoulder.

  Kieran shrugged her hand away and moved towards the
far wall. “So I created a stupid cell, it’s not like I went into Plantranet and created the world in there. He did that, I am nothing like him.” Kieran turned to his friends, each of them were looking at him worried. “I am not a freak!”

  “No, you’re not, mate,” Dexter said calmly. He walked over to Kieran and sat him down. “You’re not a freak and none of us here think you are.”

  “But how do they know it’s me, I mean, are they sure?” Kieran’s voice was wavering.

  “You are the only one who has created the Tetracell and that was the icing on the cake.” Thomas sat at the table facing Kieran. “You’ve all been shown Pied-Piper stalking his prey, haven’t you?”

  “Yes,” Isabelle snapped, “not something I wished to have seen. That poor Mr…Mr…”

  “Sales?” Dexter laughed. “Oh wow, Izzy got something wrong. I’m going to remember this for ages.”

  Isabelle scowled, “Better make sure you stop copying my answers then!”

  “I told you, I’m making sure you are getting the right ones. This,” Dexter smiled sweetly, “is why.”

  “So what does it mean, am I going to be kept out of Plantranet?” He pushed his blonde hair off his face and knotted his fingers in his lap.

  Thomas shrugged, “I don’t know.”

  “I need to find out what this means,” Kieran made his way to the door. He stopped and looked at Thomas, who looked scared. “So if I’m the Locator, who is this Protocol person?”

  The group held their breath waiting for Thomas to answer, each in turn were hoping it wasn’t them.

  “We’re not sure, or if they know then they haven’t told us yet.”

  “I need to find Ex or Alpha One. I need to know what’s going to happen to me.” Kieran grasped the door handle and went to pull it open. Someone grabbed his arm and he turned to see Dexter.

  “Curly could get thrown out if they find out he told you.”

  “I know,” Kieran looked at Thomas who was sitting nervously scratching his head. “I’m not going to say anything. Seal told me the other day to ask Alpha One if I wanted to know why I could create things like Adam. I’ll just go and ask that, I promise Curly, I won’t say anything.”

  Kieran’s word was as good as a legal contract. His friends knew they could trust him. Kieran would never let them down.

  “Do you want me to come with you?” Thomas offered.

  “Probably best you don’t,” Isabelle said.

  “I’ll come or if not Ziggy could, let’s face it, he could do with the walk.” Dexter laughed trying to lighten the situation.

  “What?” Owen asked with a clueless expression. His last chocolate bar from the tuck shop was hanging from his mouth.

  Kieran laughed under his breath, but now he was angry. He was angry that everyone seemed to know more about him than he did. Why wasn’t he told when he joined? If he was in danger or some freak show, he felt he had every right to know. “No, I’ll be fine,” he snapped.

  “Well, maybe we could all watch a movie when you get back? I love Saturdays because we get to stay up late,” Isabelle tried to hide her eagerness in the current situation. But she let out a little excited giggle. “Maybe it’ll be good, you know, we can chill out?”

  “Yeah, fine.” Kieran snapped and left the room.

  The door opened behind him, “So, I’ll go get a movie, anything you fancy?” Isabelle called after him down the corridor.

  Kieran didn’t answer, as he didn’t hear her, a million thoughts were running through his mind. He moved with speed through the hallways, cadets laughing and running past him enjoying their Saturday. Some of his new friends tried to talk, some patted him on the back but Kieran couldn’t hear the noise around him. All he could hear was the white noise that surrounded Pied-Piper, the noise that haunted his dreams. It crackled and hissed in his ears as he stopped and found himself outside of Alpha One’s office. He approached the sliding door but it didn’t open. He raised his hand to the rippled glass, to where it said General North -Officer in Command, and slowly rapped his knuckles against it. He waited, patiently, knocking again but there was no answer.

  Kieran huffed, the noise in his head was getting worse. He held his hands over his ears and started to head back to his room. The whole way the noise was getting worse. As Kieran manoeuvred the gangways he was only a few metres away from Year 1 barracks, when he was grabbed by the scruff of the neck and pulled backwards.

  “Whoa!” Kieran was dragged into a little space that housed the janitor’s cupboards.

  “Listen, Freak!” Richard’s voice was low and angry. He cornered Kieran with a menacing look. “I am the best in this place and everyone knows it. I don’t even know why everyone is so interested in the freak show, I mean, even my dad is constantly going on about you. He wants you out of here as much as I do!” Richard closed the small gap between them and towered over him. “There are expectations, high one’s, for me in this place. I am expected to follow in my father’s footsteps one day and we will not let you get in the way of that.”

  “You may want to sort out that leak then,” Kieran cringed and laughed nervously.

  “What?” Richard looked puzzled.

  “The tears, Rich. A general is a strong leader, someone who can lead his team into battle. Not cry and hide behind them the minute there’s a loud noise.”

  Richard balled his fists and aimed to take a swing but someone was approaching from the corridor. Richard moved to the other side so Kieran looked like he had pinned him in. A cleaner appeared from nowhere and gestured that he wanted to get in the cupboard behind Kieran. He looked at the boys with a questioning expression, “Everything okay here?”

  Richard smiled sweetly, “Yes Sir, sorry are we in the way?” He grabbed Kieran’s shirt again and pulled him forward so the cleaner could get in the cupboard. The cleaner nodded, collected the tools he needed and left.

  Richard checked that the cleaner was out of earshot and continued to spit horrible words at Kieran. “I mean it freak, you showed me up one time too many, you and your stupid friends. One word to my dad and you’ll be kicked out of here!”

  “I’m not in the mood for this right now, Rich. Seriously, just go and play with your friends. Maybe try Risk or something, that way the holosoldiers won’t see you cry.” Kieran tried to get past but Richard pushed him back against the wall.

  “Enjoy this place while you can because it won’t last long.” Richard was grinning so smugly.

  Kieran grabbed his arm, “Why do you hate me so much?”

  Richard turned and snarled at Kieran, “let go of me freak! You and that Adam belong together.” Richard turned, but the cupboard door the cleaner used hadn’t been closed properly and had swung open. Richard walked face first into the cupboard door with a slam.

  Kieran was speechless, he could hear Richards stunned whimpers. “Rich, are you ok?”

  Richard was on the floor and he began screaming like a banshee. He was wailing as if he’d had his leg chopped off. Kieran jumped to the floor and tried to help him up, but Richard screamed and pushed him away. Blood dripped down his shirt and onto the floor, his hands were bright red.

  “Are you okay?” Kieran asked trying to help him up.

  “Just you wait freak show, you’ve blown it now!” Richard scrambled away from Kieran towards the wall.

  “What? You ran into the cupboard door!”

  At that moment, by chance or by very well made plans, Ex and Officer Seal were walking past. As they reached the entrance of the siding, Richard gave Kieran a glare and screamed.

  Ex stormed into the area. “What’s going on in here?” He looked down and saw Richard in a heap with blood everywhere. “Cadet, what happened?”

  “Sir…He…Cadet Kealey hit me!” Richard wailed and cried.

  Kieran shook his head, “No, that’s not right. He’s lying, sir!”

  Officer Seal took hold of Kieran and moved him out of the little cupboard sized area.

  “Seal, get Kieran back to
barracks.” Ex pulled his phone from his pocket and called Dr Satchell.

  If things couldn’t have gotten any worse, PTI Rickman came strolling around the corner.

  “Kieran, we have to go. Now, Kieran!” Officer Seal was desperately trying to pull him away but Kieran held his ground as he argued his case.

  “He ran into the door, I mean it, he really did. He pulled me in here and started shouting at me and then…”

  “What on earth has happened?” Rickman screamed and pushed past Kieran and Seal.

  “Uncle Stan.” Richard cried harder.

  “Uncle?” Kieran whispered. Seal tried to pull him away once more.

  “Cadet Kealey punched me. I just asked him if he was alright after being so close to Adam and he flipped.” Richard was working on an Oscar winning performance. “He slammed my face into the cupboard door!”

  PTI Rickman turned to look at Kieran, who was shaking his head. “He’s lying, please he’s lying!” Kieran begged.

  “Rickman, get Walker to Dr Satchell. Ex turned and glared at Kieran, “Olivia, get Kieran back now!” Ex ordered.

  “But he’s lying, sir, please why won’t you believe me?” Kieran looked at Officer Seal.

  “The CCTV will be uploaded now and we will be able to see what happened. Please Cadet, get back to barracks,” Ex nodded at Kieran and Kieran left with Seal.

  “I want to speak to my father, now!” Richard demanded.

  “First of all…” Ex started to say but was soon interrupted by PTI Stan Rickman.

  “Of course, here’s my phone.” PTI Rickman passed over his phone and Richard spoke to his father. “Just you wait, Cadet Kealey doesn’t know what’s hit him yet.” PTI Stanley Rickman held his nephew tightly around the shoulders, his eyes fixated onto the back of Kieran as Private Officer Seal took him away.

  21

  The corridor felt cold and dark as Kieran was led back to his room. His friends were waiting inside, anticipating his return and what more information he had found out.

  “I don’t know what went on…” Seal started to say.