‘A bit more involved than I would have liked.’
He shrugged. ‘Winning comes with its own challenges.’ ‘Did I even really win? Was I supposed to jump off that chasm or not?’
‘You tell me.’ He gestured at Zane. ‘Would you do it in real life?’
Beth shifted her weight off her sore foot. Could she even climb that tree right now? ‘Anyway,’ she remembered, ‘this isn’t real life. I’m back in a simulation.’
‘If you want to take that chance,’ he looked at her foot. ‘Was your foot always sore?’
‘No, a snake bit it.’
‘And has the pain gone away, as it would in a simulation?’
Beth paused to think. No, it had hurt in that virus-victim hospital, and in the Neptune cocoon, which meant…what? Had the gateways all been real after all, including the cocoon? It could have been a different dimension of Earth. The captain had never said what the simulated tests had involved. It could have been standard survival camp stuff for all she knew.
‘I’ll tell you what,’ the Chameleon said, his smile turning oily, ‘defeat me and you can have your friend back. After all, life is just a game, don’t you think?’
There was a flash of steel and a thump at her feet. Embedded in the ground was a sword.
Beth quickly picked it up. It was much lighter than any tribesman’s and she could swing it with some control.
‘That’s the way,’ the Chameleon said with a terrifying smile, gripping his own sword in both hands. ‘You know, anyone else would have accepted the honour of travelling the universe as Earth’s representatives. Why didn’t you? You could have gone home after travelling the universe.’
‘I wasn’t worthy of the honour.’
‘Let’s find out. Prepare,’ he said, slowly moving towards her. Then, without warning, he lunged.
Beth blocked him, then stepped back.
They circled each other, then Beth charged. The Chameleon blocked her so hard she almost lost her grip altogether. Coming at an angle this time, he tried to prick her side, but she ducked out the way. He edged closer and their swords tapped a few times, testing. From watching VODs of Kumdo battles, Beth knew real sword fights could be over in seconds. All it took was one slash across a hand or a strike on an arm, and she mightn’t be able to hold her sword at all. So she didn’t dare raise her sword too high, lest he lunged underneath. She concentrated on anticipating his next move instead.
‘Come on, Bethlyn,’ the Chameleon teased. ‘Why are you waiting?’
‘Where’s the gateway back home, is it in one of these trees?’
‘Defeat me and I’ll tell you.’
Tightening her grip, she lunged at his left shoulder. He blocked, winking at her as they both recovered. ‘I thought you were a winner.You aren’t even trying. Maybe you’re just playing after all, a loser.’
Her face flushed as his words struck home. ‘I am not a loser,’ she growled. ‘I won!’
‘Some champion you are,’ the Chameleon’s face twisted into a sneer, ‘can’t even beat an old man like me.’
‘Less talking, more action,’ she snarled, trying to spike his left shoulder again.
‘Is that all you want, my shoulder?’ He lowered his sword and leant forward. ‘Go on then, take it. Slice it if you want, jab it, whatever, I don’t care—just get this party started.’
Beth held her sword steady, although her arms were tiring.
‘Coward,’ the Chameleon jeered at her, his face reddening. ‘You’re a disgrace to my game. Where’s all your fight?’
‘I don’t see much fight coming from you either,’ she spat back.
‘Beth?’ A weak voice floated over the chasm. Zane was waking up. ‘Oh no—Beth, where are you? Get me down! Help! I am not dangling above a chasm,’ he chanted. ‘I am not…nope. Beth!’ He twisted his legs to face the clearing. ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’ he said when he saw who she was fighting. ‘Run!’ he yelled at her. ‘Get away!’
‘No!’ she shouted. ‘I won’t leave you again!’ Swinging wildly with her sword, she ran at the Chameleon. Her attack took the Chameleon by surprise and she got him—just a short slice on his upper arm, but it was something.
‘Very good,’ he congratulated her. ‘What else have you got?’
Roaring like a Witheng tribesman, she ran at him again, swiping with all her might. He blocked her and his sword went flying, disappearing into the bushes.
‘Go Beth!’ Zane yelled in excitement.
The Chameleon smirked. ‘You have to kill me to defeat me.’
‘What? You don’t have a sword. I’ve won. Now let Zane down and show us the gateway.’
‘You think being without a weapon will stop me overpowering you?’ He stepped closer. ‘I could easily take your sword with my bare hands.You are no match for me. So strike me down now or you and your friend will die.’
Beth shook her head, confused. Would they die? Was this real life or a simulation? Surely it was a simulation?
‘Let me guess, you’re thinking that you can’t die in a simulation, right? Ah but you can,’ the Chameleon tapped his head, ‘you can die in here. It’s not all bad, losing your mind. Think about Kira—she seemed happy, right? DaveT and Jumbie. What is waiting for you anyway, back home? You think people will simply like you now you’re a winner?’ he taunted. ‘At least here you might grow to think you had real friends.’
Beth growled. She had real friends—she had Zane. He was real. Wasn’t he?
Either way, if there was one thing she’d learnt more than anything since entering that house on Daintree Street, it was that killing was never the answer—even if people said it was. If she struck the Chameleon down now, without him having a weapon, it wouldn’t be self-defence anymore—it would be an execution.
She waved her sword at him, hoping to drive him back.
He simply stood his ground. ‘Do it,’ he hissed, his hands by his side.
‘Do you want to die,’ she tapped her head, ‘in here?’ ‘You want to go home, don’t you? I’m only trying to help. This is the way.’
Beth bit her lip, then stared at the Chameleon and let the tip of her sword drop to the ground. ‘No, killing you is not the answer.’
‘Yes, it is!’ His eyes flared with anger.
‘All I want is my friend back and to go home.’ She stepped around him, closer to the tree. ‘I don’t want to kill you. I’m not going to kill you.’
‘You have to!’ Flecks of spit shot from his mouth and stuck to his moustache. ‘That’s what winners do, they kill their enemies!’
Beth nodded at the bushes where his sword had disappeared. ‘Then make me!’
‘Argh!’ he grunted, stomping off toward the trees. Once he was rummaging through leaves, Beth quickly hobbled across the clearing to the sloping tree. She jabbed her sword into the bark as high as she could, then clawed her way up the trunk until she was within reaching distance of Zane’s ropes. Once steady, gripping onto the trunk with her legs, she reached down, grabbed her sword, then paused. What was she thinking? If she cut Zane’s ropes, he would fall!
‘Beth?’ Zane interrupted her thoughts, his eyes staring into hers. ‘One of the best gamers I know taught me that a real warrior sometimes has to take chances to win, remember?’
‘What?’
‘Cut me down.’
‘But you’ll fall.’
Zane pointed his foot at the base of the tree. ‘See those roots sticking out?’
Beth examined the twisted roots jutting over the chasm searching for earth. She nodded.
‘Once you cut me, I’ll fall directly on top of those and grab on.’
‘No way, you’ll miss!’
‘Don’t you trust me by now?’
Beth searched the chasm and the tree for another solution. ‘There has to be an alternative.’
‘Just cut below that knot so my hands are free when I fall.’ He began swinging. ‘Ready? One, two…’
‘Wait! There has to be a…’
‘Aha!’ yelled the Chameleon, brandishing his sword.
‘Found it.’
‘Quick, Beth,’ Zane yelled as the Chameleon sprinted to the tree. ‘We can overpower him together!’
Beth took a deep breath, braced herself against the trunk, then angled her sword and sawed under the rope’s knot just as the Chameleon began to climb.
His weight bounced the tree just as she cut through the rope’s last strand.
Zane’s hands parted, but with the Chameleon’s extra weight, the trunk bent too far out for Zane to reach the tree roots below.
He fell with only air below him.
‘Zane!’ Beth screamed, reaching for his hands. Only, with the vibrations from the Chameleon’s climb, she lost her grip on the tree.
‘No!’ cried the Chameleon.
She plummeted into the chasm after Zane, screaming as she fell.
Chapter 24
Beth’s screams turned into shrieks as the chasm’s sides rushed past. Zane was just below, falling and screaming too as the ground rushed up fast to meet them. This was it—the end of everything—and yet…it was the most unreal experience of her life.
She stopped screaming.
This couldn’t be happening. Who had duels with swords at the edge of chasms? Who tied people to trees then taunted others into killing them? Something hadn’t felt right to Beth as they were leaving the Neptune cocoon, and now she felt it again. It simply wouldn’t happen. Why would a gamemaster want to kill her and Zane anyway?
Life is just a game, the Chameleon had said.
And so was this. It had to be. ‘No more games,
Bethlyn!’ she screamed.
She glanced up at the shrinking sky. The sun even beamed a little brighter just for her. Then it flashed and she slammed into hard ground.
Only it wasn’t a massive slam, more like a thud, as if she’d only tripped over, and as the sun’s flash faded, she wasn’t at the base of any chasm, but in a small windowless room in a house, lit by heated glass tanks.
Beth’s eyes adjusted in the dim light. A steady hum filled her ears—the hum of tiny filters in the tanks—and an odd whispering sound.
‘What’s that noise?’ Zane asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
‘Zane!’ She nudged his arm, gleefully. ‘You’re okay!’
‘I am okay,’ he said, looking amazed.
Beth was so glad to have him back she couldn’t stop smiling.
‘Hey,’ he said, looking around, ‘I think we’re actually home this time.’
Beth looked too. Wooden floorboards. Flaky floral wallpaper covered three walls with a thin white coat of paint. Was this really, finally, Kaleski’s house on Daintree Street?
Zane pulled up his top and checked his chest. There wasn’t a scratch on him. He checked his neck and wrists. No lights, no sheer webbing coating his hands, just plain white wristbands, like a memento of a bad dream.
Beth’s hands and wrists were the same—no webbing, only the bands. She stood up and tested her foot. It felt fine. ‘So it was simulations all along?’ she murmured. ‘The luminous virus-victims, the giant fish, the Neptune Space Station—everything?’
Zane nodded as if realising it for the first time. ‘Must have been one virtual world after another, ever since we went through that Black-Door-With-No-Doorknob. So I never dangled you over a pit of snakes using only tree roots, or fired an arrow into a sun?’
Beth crouched beside him. ‘I guess not.’
‘Wow,’ Zane looked down at his chest, ‘that was one really, really good simulation. I was slashed by a monster, bleeding and everything! And on that tree just now, I really thought I was going to die!’
‘Me too.’
For a moment they were silent, Zane slowly straightening his top.
‘It’s actually not a very nice feeling,’ he said eventually. ‘It feels like I’ve been cheated of something.’
Beth nodded. ‘We never agreed to it.’ ‘And what is that noise?’
The whispering was getting louder.
As Beth moved to get a closer look at the tanks, she noticed a damp musky smell, just like the cave. Her nose wrinkled, then she sucked in her breath. The tanks were full of writhing snakes. She backed away, not taking her eyes off the creatures. Dozens of scaly heads turned her way, their beady eyes following her every move. Beth jumped as something clammy touched her fingers, but it was just Zane’s hand.
‘I hate snakes,’ he moaned. ‘Hey, can you hear that?’ ‘What?’
‘Exactly. Nothing.’
Beth found herself holding her breath. Zane was right, apart from the humming and hissing from the snake tanks, there were no sounds at all. ‘Time to leave,’ she said, scanning the walls. ‘Where’s the door?’
‘Um,’ Zane looked around as well, ‘there?’
Behind the snake tanks was a glass partition dividing their room from another dark one. A slim glass door stood closed in the corner. Beth edged around the snake tanks and Zane followed, screwing up his face in distaste.
‘Is anybody there?’ Beth yelled through the glass, her heart pounding as she tugged on the door handle. It was locked. Her chest felt tight.
Then, a faint clunk.
‘Who’s there?’
Silence.
Strange lights flickered, then multiple transparent figures began to move through the glass wall towards them—tribesmen, mutts, luminous virus-victims, snakes and mammoth fish, even Captain Lang, all mumbling to themselves or snapping at something.
‘Watch out,’ Beth hissed, pulling Zane out of the way of a desert warrior—except Zane didn’t move fast enough and the warrior walked straight through him. Where were all these figures coming from and why were they still seeing them? Beth cupped her hands between her eyes and the glass. It was hard to see, but there seemed to be a large metallic table on the other side, with eleven creatures hunched around it.
Each creature held a small box with strange bulbs on the edges. When a light glowed in the middle of the table, they looked directly up at Beth and Zane, then frantically began tapping at the bulbs. Their eyes were black and twice the size of a normal person’s. Their skin was smooth and ghostly pale.
‘What are they?’ she whispered to Zane, pointing. Zane cupped his own hands against the glass. ‘I don’t know. But look at their hands.’
Beth narrowed her eyes. The creatures’ hands were coated with the same sheer webbing that used to be on her and Zane’s hands, and the boxes were physically stuck to the creatures’ white wristbands.
‘And what is that smell?’ Zane said, grimacing. ‘It’s like when you overcharge your game console with the wrong plug and fry it.’
‘Like electric trains.’ Beth nodded. Now they were away from the snakes, the smell was getting stronger too, as if something electrical was smouldering nearby. Beth glanced down. Puffs of smoke were spiralling up from the bands around their wrists. ‘Quick,’ she yelled, ‘we’ve got to get them off!’ This time when she tugged, the band stretched like rubber, although still too small to slip over her hand. Whereas the mesh she thought had gone became visible again, shrivelling and lifting from all over her body. She could feel it on her face, arms, chest— everywhere! She ripped at it and nudged Zane. ‘Look, it’s coming off!’
‘Finally.’ Zane tugged at the fibres over his own body. ‘I thought it was just on our hands, it’s everywhere! No wonder we felt everything—all the fibres criss-crossing over our bodies. Imagine the technology involved! It was practically invisible most of the time!’
With each piece they removed, more transparent images around them faded.
Poof!
A flash made them freeze. Then more smoke. The glass wall behind the snake tanks was disappearing, flickering until it didn’t exist anymore, and instead of eleven creatures there were now eleven kids sitting around a conference table staring at normal computer screens, each of them wearing simple white bands around their wrists. On the far wall hung two Jingum swords. Under those, another
snake tank hummed.
Crackle!
Flash!
Then everything was still and silent again.
Beth and Zane finished pulling off their webbing, though the white bands were still too tight to pull over their wrists.
‘Who are they?’ Zane said, tugging at his bands as he crept through the smoke closer to the kids sitting around the table.
They were all tapping at keyboards and randomly touching the dual screens before them, completely ignoring Beth and Zane. One screen showed the market place of Sheikh Zidan, another showed the grass play area with the hanging swings, while the twinned screen of each showed lines of code. Further along was a monitor for the rice paddy. Another showed the Neptune cocoon.
‘This is real time now, right?’ Beth whispered, studying a monitor and watching luminous virus-victims fighting over what looked like brains.
Zane pointed at a guy sitting on the far side of the table. ‘Isn’t that Jumbie with the scar from the desert?’
‘Yes!’
‘DaveT!’ Zane yelled at one of the boys, waving a hand in front of his face. But he didn’t even look up from his screen.
Beth moved behind DaveT’s chair and studied the forest scene. The screen next to it was filled with lines of code and more was appearing as DaveT’s fingers moved without a break. In the top left corner of each screen was the name of his Tordon character, ‘DaveT’. ‘He’s recreating the forest for the game of Tordon,’ she guessed.
‘So what’s the point of it all?’ Zane snapped.
Chair legs scraped across floorboards as a boy got up and moved to the far end of the room, where a control panel was mounted onto the wall. Underneath it was a long narrow refreshments table full of drinks and snacks. While the boy helped himself, Beth hurried over to jump in front of him, waving her hands and yelling. He didn’t respond.
‘They can’t hear us,’ Beth said, standing still again to listen to the snake tanks humming. ‘Wait, what’s that?’ The snake tanks weren’t the only noise. From the other end of the table, someone was muttering and whimpering.
Zane looked up. Then he grabbed Beth’s arm and pointed to an old man crouched beside a young girl that looked very familiar.
Into Tordon Page 16