Gamers' Challenge

by George Ivanoff

  Then it sprang back to life with a new voice,rumbling like oncoming thunder. ‘Devour!’

  Tee’s expression was grave as he snapped the communicator shut and looked at the professor. ‘We need everything you’ve got and we need it fast.’

  The professor shuddered. ‘Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Why is it coming here? It shouldn’t be coming here. That’s not good. Not at all. At all.’

  ‘Listen up, everyone.’ Tee climbed up onto a coupleof storage crates as the Outers gathered around him.

  ‘We’re in for a hell of a fight.’ He paused. ‘And, in all honesty, I don’t know that we can win it.’ He paused again, choosing his words carefully. ‘But we have to try. Not just for ourselves, but for all future Outers. Because if there is one certainty in this contrived, artificial, imposed world - it is that there will always be more of us. There will be other characters, other versions of ourselves -’ he looked directly at Tark ‘- who will stand up and say No. So for the sake of all these future Outers, as well as for ourselves, we now come to the point where we must again say No. We will not lie down and die. We will fight for our existence. We will fight for our freedom.’

  A cheer went up from the Outers.

  ‘Win or lose,’ continued Tee, his eyes moving about the common room, meeting gaze after gaze.

  ‘Whatever the outcome, we will achieve it withoutthe Designers. Win or lose, we are free!’

  As another cheer made its way through the crowd, Professor Palimpsest clasped his hands together.

  ‘Free,’ he whispered. ‘Are we really?’

  24: Antibodies

  ‘Time to play,’ announced Bobby, whirling around and transforming into the Pinball Wizard. ‘This time, you two can come with me and watch.’

  He waved his wand above him and a dome of glass enclosed the entire game. Waving it again, he rose into the air, Zyra and Hope rising with him.

  The VIs charged them.

  ‘Watch out!’ called Hope as the three of them sped towards the glass. Upon reaching it, they simply passed through, finally coming to a stop high above the pinball game. The VIs streaked towards them, but they collided with the glass, writhing angrily, trapped in the game.

  ‘Sudden Death Aerial Pinball,’ the Pinball Wizardcalled out at the top of his voice. He waved his wand yet again.

  Five silver balls spat from the mouth of the plasticclown and careened around the bottom level of the game. As the first ball bumped into a rubber ring, it bounced off and up into the air - straight for the closest VI. It collided and exploded in a shower of sparks, destroying its target.

  ‘Yes!’ The Pinball Wizard punched the air abovehim. The propeller on his tall hat spun excitedly. The other four balls were launched at the second VI, which zoomed off to the back of the game.

  The VI was trapped, four silver balls converging on it from different directions. They hit simultaneously. The explosion was huge, bursting apart the over sized pinball machine in a blinding flash, shattering the glass casing. Zyra and Hope raised their arms to shield their faces.

  As quiet descended, they opened their eyes and lowered their arms. They were standing in an endless meadow of golden flowers, a crystal-dear, blue-as blue-can-be sky above, with Bobby standing smugly beside them.

  ‘Had to move us,’ he explained. ‘There werebound to be more antibodies.’

  ‘What?’ asked Hope.

  ‘You’re not very bright, are you?’ Bobby said.

  ‘The balls of sparkly static. They’re not nice. They’re out to get me. Sooo ... I moved us to a different environment. Now they have to start looking all over again. They’re easy enough to fight if there’s only a couple of them. But they always call for help.’ He picked a flower and held it out to Hope. nd I thought you might like this place. I do. Good place to rest.’

  ‘I get it,’ said Hope, ignoring the offer. ‘But what did you call them?’

  ‘Antibodies,’ said Bobby, tossing the flower over his shoulder.

  ‘You mean those things aren’t viruses?’ There was a distinct, desperate edge to Hope’s voice.

  ‘Viruses?’ Bobby burst into gales of laughter.

  ‘Viruses!’ He clutched his stomach and bent double, falling amongst the flowers.

  ‘Would someone let us in on the joke?’ said Zyra,hands on hips, glaring at Bobby. Just what is so funny?’

  ‘They’re not viruses,’ spluttered Bobby, his head popping up above the sea of blooms. His laughter subsided. He looked from Zyra’s confused face to Hope’s worried expression. ‘You have no idea, do you?’

  ‘No idea about what?’ asked Zyra tersely.

  ‘I’m beginning to get it,’ said Hope slowly.

  ‘I’m the virus,’ said Bobby, beaming with pride.

  ‘I’m the one who doesn’t follow the rules. Heck, I make my own rules. I’m the one they’re trying to delete.’

  ‘They’ve been after us, too,’ said Zyra.

  ‘Well, yes,’ said Bobby. ‘Of course they have. You’re a corrupted file. You’ve chosen not to play. And as for her.’ He shifted his gaze to Hope. ‘Well, she’s the offspring of two corrupted files. Which, I guess, sort of makes her a virus too.’ He paused, then added, ‘But I’m a much more important virus. I cause a lot more disruption. It’s me they’re really after.’

  ‘Oh, no.’ Hope’s legs gave out under her and she sat down hard, disappearing into the flowers.

  ‘Oh, come on,’ said Bobby. ‘It’s not that big a deal.

  They’ve been chasing me for ... forever.’

  ‘No, it’s not that.’ Hope shook her head slowly and placed it in her hands. ‘It’s the weapon.’

  ‘What weapon?’ asked Bobby and Zyra together.

  ‘Professor Palimpsest has been developing a new weapon,’ explained Hope.

  ‘Palimpsest?’ A worried look crossed Bobby’s face.

  ‘He’s been working on a way of harnessing the substance of the Interface into a weapon. It’s all based on the theory that the VIs and the other static creature in the cave are viruses. My father was banking on this weapon giving us the advantage.’

  ‘What creature?’ asked Bobby, his face stony.

  ‘There’s this thing in a cave in our environment,’ explained Hope. ‘It’s much larger that the VIs. We thought it was a virus and that it might be controlling the VIs. Father had a force-field put around it to keep it there until we had something that could deal withit.’

  ‘No.’ Bobby shook his head gravely. ‘It’s the antivirus program and it controls the antibodies. It’s the brains of the operation and this is its standard MO

  - it hides, usually at the edge of some environment, where there are weak spots.’

  ‘Like the alcove in the common room, with the static,’ said Zyra, remembering her introduction to the Outers’ base.

  ‘It needs slow access to the Interface in order to strengthen and grow,’ explained Bobby. ‘Too much, and it could get overwhelmed. So it hides while it slowly charges up, until it’s ready to make an attempt at wiping me off the face of the game.’

  ‘How do you know so much about this antivirusprogram?’ asked Zyra.

  ‘We’ve met before.’ One corner of Bobby’s mouth curled up into an odd half-smile. ‘It almost got me. But I beat it. Chased it away. It couldn’t deal with my games. It couldn’t understand any game other than the Designers’ game.’ His expression became thoughtful. ‘It must have been rebuilding itself Getting stronger. Making a plan. And you Outers must be part of that plan.’

  Bobby paced up and down through the flowers, crushing them under his feet. ‘Palimpsest. An Interface weapon. Antibodies eating up corrupted files. Deleting them. And now it’s almost ready. Ready to get me. And if you use this weapon against it, you’ll make it stronger.’

  ‘Wh
at if the weapon has enough of the Interface to overwhelm it?’ Hope clutched at the idea as if it were a raft in a raging sea.

  Bobby shook his head. ‘Not unless it has a continuous connection to the Interface. And I’m betting it doesn’t.’

  ‘So, what do we do?’ asked Zyra.

  ‘There’s only one thing to do.’ Bobby stopped pacing. He looked steadily at Zyra and slowly shifted his gaze to Hope.

  ‘Time to play - for real!’

  Bobby threw his arms up and everything around them burst into colour.

  25: The Ultimate Gamer

  Blinded by an explosion of colour, everyone in the common room stopped what they had been doing. As normality returned they saw that a golden podium had appeared in the centre of the cavern. Standing on either side, looking as dazed as everyone else in the room, were Zyra and Hope.

  Tark immediately ran to Zyra, throwing his arms around her, hugging her tightly. Tee ran to Hope, enclosing her in a protective embrace.

  ‘Touching reunion,’ said a voice from atop the podium. ‘But really, we do not have time.’

  Everyone looked up. Three rotating loops of gold spun around a suspended black chair in which sat a figure of silver. Thin, shiny and human in shape, with a vaguely masculine form, he looked like he was made of liquid metal, constantly moving within an invisible mould - one perfect, seamless whole. He raised an arm with a fluid motion that was too perfect.

  ‘Correct me if I am wrong, but we are soon to be under attack.’ He had no facial features, even when he spoke. His androgynous voice seemed to emanate from him.

  ‘Is that ...’began Tark.

  ‘The Ultimate Gamer?’ asked Tee. Zyra gasped. ‘Bobby?’

  ‘I am the Ultimate Gamer,’ said the figure withouta mouth. ‘I am the ability to play, personified. I am instinct and reflex and speed. I am strength and intelligence. I am your only hope against the antivirus program.’

  ‘Antivirus program?’ said Tee. ‘What’s it talking about?’

  ‘That thing in the cave,’ explained Hope. ‘It’s an antivirus program. It’s been designed to find and delete any virus programs or corrupted files.’

  Tee’s eyes widened.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Hope. ‘To it, we are the corrupted files that need to be destroyed.’

  ‘I thoughts it wuz a virus,’ said Tark. ‘At least, that’s wot he says.’ Tark pointed to Professor Palimpsest.

  ‘Of course he said it was a virus,’ said the Ultimate

  Gamer.

  ‘Wot does that mean?’ demanded Tark.

  ‘What does that mean?’ asked Tee, turning to look at Palimpsest.

  ‘Ah, well, well, well,’ said the professor, fumbling with the buttons on his lab coat, and looking from one expectant face to another. ‘That’s what it told me to say. Yes, yes. Yes.’

  For a moment there was silence.

  ‘Ya is a traitor?’ Tark blurted out.

  ‘No, no, no.’ Palimpsest shook his head vigorously.

  ‘Most definitely no, no, no. It said that it would not harm the Outers if I did what it asked. Yes. It said that it was only interested in the Ultimate Gamer. Yes. It said that it would leave us in peace if I found some way for it to tap into the power of the Interface more quickly, without danger of overload. Yes. Because it needed that power to defeat the Ultimate Gamer. Yes, yes.’

  ‘The IDD,’ said Tark. ‘We wuz givin’ it power.’ The professor nodded his head apologetically. ‘Iam afraid so. Yes. Yes. But it was necessary. Now thatthe Ultimate Gamer has been found, all we need to do is hand him over. Yes. Then it, and the antibodies, will leave us alone.’

  ‘That will not solve the situation,’ said the

  Ultimate Gamer. ‘It is an antivirus program. It is designed to wipe anything that deviates from the will of the Designers. You deviate, as do I. As far as it is concerned, we are one and the same.’

  ‘No, no, no,’ said the professor. ‘That cannot beright. No.’

  A young man came running into the common room, panic in his eyes. ‘That static thing is only a few minutes away,’ he said, between panting breaths.

  ‘Tell everyone to fall back,’ ordered Tee.

  ‘Oh,’ said the professor. ‘Perhaps I was wrong to believe it? Yes, yes, perhaps.’

  ‘He could not help it,’ announced the Ultimate Gamer. ‘It is in his programming. His base coding is easily overwritten, making him particularly susceptible to outside influences.’

  ‘What, what, what?’ The professor took his glasses off and ran a hand over his eyes and brow. His voice dropped to a whisper. ‘No.’

  ‘So how is we gonna fights this thing?’ asked Tark.

  ‘I will play against the antivirus program,’ said the

  Ultimate Gamer.

  An image appeared, hovering like a large view screen in front of the podium. It showed the area outside the base. In the distance, they could see the spark and fizzle of the approaching antivirus program as it tore through the Forest like a tornado of static.

  ‘What makes you think that you are capable of beating the program?’ asked the professor. ‘Hmmm?’

  ‘I may not be capable,’ said the silver figure. ‘But we have crossed paths before. And since then, I have been preparing. As, no doubt, it has been.’

  ‘Are you sure this thing’s an antivirus program?’ asked Tee, still staring at the destruction on the screen. ‘It seems to be behaving more like a virus. It’s not just wiping corrupted files. It’s consuming everything.’

  ‘It is different from the last time,’ admitted thegamer. ‘But it still needs to be fought.’ He stretched his hands out in front of him. ‘Engage games mode.’ Numerous holographic keyboards appeared before him within the rotating loops. They surrounded him like a multi-levelled, techno church organ. As his hands flew over the keys, a three-dimensional grid made of green light took shape on the screen. Crisscrossing emerald beams filled up almost the entire area between the base entrance and the start of the Forest.

  Pixels of intense white light appeared within the grid, one by one, taking on a human oudine. As each pinpoint of light solidified, a new one would appear, filling in more details, and soon the shape had substance. Encased in shiny silver armour, with a sword o’light in one hand and a shield in the other, stood a knight.

  A holographic joystick, with a multitude of buttons across its body, materialised in front of the Ultimate Gamer. He reached out a silver hand and wrapped it around the insubstantial gaming control as if it were really there. The liquid silver of its hand seemed to meld with the hologram, becoming part of it. As the gamer’s hand moved the joystick, the knight on the screen raised its sword and cut a figure eight path through the air.

  ‘Sixty seconds to engagement,’ said the gamer.

  ‘Everyone out of here!’ shouted Tee. ‘Get as far back into the caves as you can.’

  There was a rush of people towards the storagearea that extended deep into the mountainside.

  Tark, Zyra and Hope stood their ground.

  ‘You too,’ said Tee.

  ‘Not a chance!’ answered Zyra.

  The professor scurried towards Research.

  ‘Not you,’ called Tee. ‘This is all your fault. You’re staying.’

  The professor hung his head and shuffied back. Tee flipped open his communicator and glancedup at the screen. At the edge of the image he couldsee a small group of armed Outers lying in wait by the boulders near the entrance. ‘Get inside,’ he ordered.

  There was no response. He tried again, flicking it on and off.

  ‘Devour!’ The vmce boomed from the communicator.

  ‘Damn!’ Tee flung the device across the room. It snapped apart when it hit the ground.

  Zyra looked from the screen to the gamer, back to the
screen and back to the gamer again, as the antivirus program moved closer.

  Are you Bobby’s avatar?’ she asked. ‘Or was he yours?’

  The figure glanced down at her. ‘Does it matter?’ On the screen, the edge of the Forest disappeared and the antivirus program was finally revealed - an amorphous mass with a huge, gaping black hole inits centre.

  ‘Let’s play!’ At that moment, the silver figure sounded almost like Bobby.

  26: Battle in the Light Grid Chimaera vs Knight

  The antivirus program ravenously careened into the light grid, mouth wide open, ready to consume. It touched the edge of the trap and, in a rush of static, was sucked into the grid, condensed to less than half its previous size. It screeched and howled as a multitude of manic faces momentarily rippled across its surface. It whirled like a tornado, throwing itself against the sides of the grid. Green energy crackled at every touch, coursing through the program and making it scream louder.

  Finally the program ceased its struggles. It settled onto the ground into a nebulous mass.

  ‘You want to play?’ A deep, gurgling sound emerged from the creature. ‘I have been learning to play.’

  The creature undulated and pulsed. A lion’s headgrew from its depths, roaring as it emerged. The static continued to take shape - a lion’s body formed, with muscular legs and sharp, sharp claws. From its rear, in place of a tail, snaked a serpent with wild eyes and long fangs, hissing and spitting as it thrashed about. From the middle of the lion’s back sprang the head of a goat, with fierce eyes of fire, twisted horns and snapping jaws. It was an impossible creature, three animals in one, with an ungainly appearance.

  The chimaera’s three heads gnashed their static teeth, sparking and sizzling, the creature’s bulk dwarfing the knight. It crouched low to the ground, its serpent tail flicking from one side to the other, forked tongue darting in and out of its mouth. It crept towards the knight as if stalking prey, then paused. Fixing three sets of eyes on its opponent, it leapt.

  The knight flung itself to one side, swinging thesword o’light. As the chimaera leapt past, the sword came down on its tail, severing the serpent from the rest of the creature. The decapitated snake shrieked and spat, writhing on the ground, before dissolving into nothingness.