Interlude-Brandon (The Game is Life)

by Schott, Terry

  I spit into the sink, turn away from the other two, and walk quickly out of the bathroom. Everyone wants to ignore me? That’s fine. I’ll get into the Sim and show them what I can do. I’m excited to be here. When they see how well I do — when I start beating them at their own games — then I bet they’ll want to talk to me. That’s how it was for Brandon. That’s how it’s gonna be for me.

  I follow a couple of kids, hoping that they’re going to the mess hall. I don’t get many looks on the way. No one is very friendly, but that’s nothing new living in the Centres. New kids get ignored until someone is interested enough to say hi. I walk behind the kids as if I own the place. The kids who look like they belong get talked to sooner than quiet scared ones. I’m not a scared kid.

  “You going to the birthday party today?” the girl ahead of me asks her friend.

  “Wasn’t invited.”

  She laughs at him. “It’s gonna be a huge event. I don’t think you need to be invited. I'm going.”

  “I guess I might go, then.” The boy tries to sound like he doesn’t care, but it’s obvious that he does. I wonder who’s having a birthday party? In the regular Centres we don’t get birthday parties. A small chocolate and a taped message from the General is what most of us get. If you’ve done something special, then you might get a message where the General says your name, or a little note from him.

  “Will the General be there?” the boy asks. That gets my attention. The General being at a birthday party must mean it’s someone important.

  The girl laughs. “Are you nuts? The General never goes inside the Sim.”

  That’s interesting information. I’ll tuck that into my memory in case I ever need it.

  “Cooper will be there, and maybe Thorn,” the girl says.

  We enter the mess hall and the two walk towards a table filled with other kids. There’s no way I can stay close to them and hear any more, so I look around for an empty table to sit at.

  I see one table far from the other kids. There’s one boy sitting at it, but no one else is at any of the tables nearby. Maybe I’ve found someone even more alone than me. I walk over and he looks up at me.

  “Mind if I join you?” I ask.

  He smiles at me and nods. “I don’t mind at all.” He spreads his hand to show the emptiness all around him. “Lots of room here; grab a seat.”

  “Thanks,” I say and sit down a couple seats away from him. I look around and watch what’s going on. That’s how I like to work; look around first before I make any moves.

  “Not hungry?” I look over at the boy and he’s watching me as he takes a bite of his food.

  “Yeah,” I say. “Just getting an idea of how things work around here. First day.”

  The boy smiles and keeps eating. “Welcome to the Game Centre,” he says. “Go get something to eat, and if you want, I’d be happy to show you around.”

  “Really?” I ask.

  “Sure,” he shrugs. “I don’t have anything to do until this afternoon. Might as well show a Bagger around the place.” He grins, “Maybe someday I’ll need a favour in the Sim and you’ll remember how kind I was to you.”

  “Likely,” I say. “Can’t wait to get in the Sim.”

  “They used to make us wait before they put us in,” the boy says. “Now they throw you right in, don’t they?”

  “Yeah, I go in this afternoon. They gave me a couple of hours of free time to check the place out and try to meet some friends.”

  “How’s that working out so far?”

  “About as good as it ever does for a new kid coming into a group of orphans.”

  He laughs and I stand up to go get some food. “Be right back,” I say and he nods.

  I come back with a tray of food, and as we sit, he shares the basics about the Game Facility while I eat. When I finish eating, he stands. “Okay, let’s take the quick tour and I’ll show you the places you’ll need to know.”

  We spend the next hour and a half exploring the different areas of the Centre. Turns out my life here will be about eating, sleeping, and playing in the Sim. When I ask him about books or videos to watch, he just smiles and tells me that’s all inside the Sim. There’s a big exercise room with kids working out. We stop and watch them from the hallway outside.

  “You gotta make sure your body stays fit and healthy out here,” he says. “The better you get at playing in the Sim, the longer you stay in it. Your body out here will lose muscle and so they kick you out to make sure you don’t get all weak and sick in the Dream.”

  “The Dream?” I ask.

  He points to the ground. “Yeah, we call this place — reality — ‘the Dream’.”

  “Why?”

  “Because after a while, the Sim seems more real than being here,” he says. “Before long, you’re gonna be spending so much time in there that this will seem more like what you call dreaming.”

  I nod, “So they make us work out here?”

  “Yeah,” he nods. “We all get that done as quickly as possible and get back inside. If you get really good, they will assign medical people to help kind of exercise your muscles a bit while you’re out, which lets you stay in there longer.”

  “Are you any good?” I ask.

  He shrugs. “I’m not horrible.” I can tell he’s better than that, but I let it go. I’m sure I’ll see him sometime in the Sim.

  I tell him it’s time for me to get into the Sim, and he walks me to the ready room.

  At the entrance, I shake his hand again and he smiles. “I’ll be going in a bit later. Maybe we’ll run into each other.”

  “That would be great,” I say.

  He starts to walk away and I call out to him. He turns around and looks at me.

  “I never got your name,” I say.

  “That’s okay,” he says as he turns around and walks away. “I didn’t get yours, either.”

  ===

  “Three… two… one…” I open my eyes and look around. I’m in the same white room, but the doctor and nurse are gone.

  I stand and walk to the door. I walk down the hallway like they told me to do and I see the big door at the end. There’s a boy standing there. His name is Alan and I met him just before they put me in.

  “How ya feeling?” he asks.

  “The same as I always do,” I answer. “You sure we’re inside the Sim?”

  He laughs and nods his head. “Yeah, but don’t worry. Everyone doubts it when they first come in here. Over the next few weeks you’ll play some cool games that’ll prove we aren’t in the Dream any more.”

  He pauses, likely waiting for me to ask him what he means by ‘the Dream’ but I just nod because I’ve already heard it.

  He shrugs his shoulders and faces the door. “I’ll take you on the big tour, don’t worry, but first we have to make a stop somewhere.”

  He closes his eyes and suddenly a bright white light appears behind the doorway. This must be the ‘travelling’ I learned about from the prep info they gave me to read. Alan’s eyes open and he grabs the door handle, turning it and swinging the door open. “After you,” he says.

  We walk through the doorway and find ourselves in a large, open field of green grass with big oak trees all around. Birds fly through the sky and the clouds are white and fluffy. It’s a bit scary — I don’t think I’ve been outside like this for quite a long time. It also feels very comfortable, though. Strange. There are a lot of people standing around and there’s a big table in the middle of the area with wrapped gift boxes and streamers everywhere. A big banner that read, ‘Happy Birthday!’ is strung up in big colourful letters. I look back at Alan and he smiles.

  “There’s a birthday party today that I won’t miss,” he said. “We’ve been waiting a long time for this day, and it’s time to celebrate.”

  I follow him as he walks towards the crowd, which parts as people recognize him and let him through. We work our way to the front table where there are three others standing there who wave and call him over.


  “Thought you weren’t gonna make it,” the girl smiles.

  Alan laughs and shakes his head. “You know there’s no way any of us would miss this, Kay.” Then he turns to me. “Guys, let me introduce you to the Bagger I had to show around today.” He points to each of the people and introduces them. “This is Kay, and that’s Tony, and Easton.”

  I nod and shake hands with each of them. Before I can tell them my name there’s a commotion off to our right. A bright white light in the shape of a doorway appears, and three people walk through. I gasp in surprise as the last person comes through and the whole crowd screams, “Happy Birthday!”

  I recognize them all. The first man is Mr. Thorn. The second is Cooper! I can’t believe I’m standing so close to him! The third person I’ve seen before… I just spent the whole morning with him. I guess he’s the birthday boy everyone’s been talking about.

  I stand to the side as the kids I’m with walk over and greet the boy with handshakes and hugs. He laughs and smiles as he returns their hugs warmly. A few moments pass and he waves at the cheering group, then he sees me and winks. After he hugs Kay, he walks over and pats me on the back.

  “I’m surprised to see you so soon. How did you get here?” he asks me.

  “He’s my Bagger for the day,” Alan says. “You know him?”

  The boy grins and nods. “Met him this morning when you all exiled me to a lonely table. Obviously, you were planning this party!”

  I stand there a little confused as everyone laughs. The boy is still looking at me. He extends his hand again.

  “Looks like we should formally meet, Bagger. I’m Brandon.”

  I can’t believe my luck! On my first day I get to meet my hero! I’m a little nervous but I grin back and shake his hand.

  “Great to meet you, Brandon,” I say. “My name’s Carl.”

  Chapter 46

  “Good place to take a nap?”

  Brandon jumped in surprise. “How do you always manage to do that?”

  Carl smiled as he walked up behind him. “Do what?”

  “Sneak up on me like that,” Brandon said. “There are very few people who can sneak up on me. Cooper, Thorn, Kay… yeah, I think that’s about it. Oh, and I guess you.”

  “I’ve just got a gift for moving quietly,” Carl said. He squatted down beside Brandon and poked his head around the corner. Brandon quickly yanked him back; immediately a small feathered dart whizzed past the space where Carl’s head had been.

  “Whoa!” Carl exclaimed.

  “Yeah,” Brandon said with a grin. “Things are not going so well at the moment.”

  “Where’s the rest of your Hand?”

  “We split up. At first this seemed like an easy contest, so we decided to split up and meet at the goal.”

  “Then the pixies showed up?” Carl smiled.

  “Yes… then the pixies showed up.” Brandon nodded toward the far corner of the room. There were three tiny figures lying lifeless on the ground, tiny people about the size of Carl’s hand, with wings and colourful clothes. Each one had a small bow in their hands. Tiny feathered arrows were scattered on the ground beside them. The wall above them had a dark stain on it — a combination of blast powder and blood.

  “You catch ‘em by surprise?” Carl asked.

  Brandon nodded. “Surprise, followed by a blast,” he patted a nasty looking shotgun lying on the ground beside him. “They had another group around the corner, though; almost returned the favour of surprising me, clever little buggers.”

  “It’s clear where I just came from,” Carl said.

  “That’s the wrong direction,” Brandon said. He continued to scan the room as he spoke, his gaze freezing when he looked at the ceiling. Pointing towards the far corner, he said, “What do you think that is?”

  Carl squinted to get a better look. “It’s too far away, is what it is,” he said. The ceilings were quite high in this particular game. If he had to guess, he’d estimate that it was at least forty feet above them.

  “It’s an air duct or something, right?”

  “Yeah,” Carl agreed.

  Brandon nodded and carefully took a step backwards before standing up. “Okay, Carl, I need you to do something for me.”

  “I don’t think I can throw you that far, Brandon.”

  Brandon chuckled. “I need you to turn away and close your eyes. Then count to ten before you open them.”

  “Why?” Carl asked.

  Brandon looked at Carl silently. Carl remembered that Brandon was the leader of one of the best teams in the Sim, and he nodded his head obediently. “Okay, fine,” he said, turning his back and closing his eyes.

  Carl felt a disturbance in the air behind him and was sure he could hear wings beating. Carl frowned but kept counting. When he got to ten, he opened his eyes and looked behind him. Brandon was gone! Quickly looking upwards, Carl saw Brandon holding onto the grate and turning the screws to loosen it.

  “Hey!” Carl whispered as loudly as he could. Brandon looked back at him. “How’d you get up there?”

  Brandon held his finger to his lips as he smiled.

  “Did you fly?”

  Brandon looked surprised. “Did you see me fly?”

  Carl was confused. “This isn’t a flying map.”

  “How do you know?”

  “They would have told us.” Carl said.

  Brandon chuckled and shook his head. “Carl, you’ve been playing for a little over six months now and doing amazingly well. Don’t make the mistake, or it will ruin you.”

  “Which mistake?”

  “THE mistake,” Brandon said. “There’s one thing you have to remember above everything else.”

  “What’s that?”

  Brandon dropped down and quickly activated his wings, landing gently beside Carl.

  “I like you, Carl. Every time we’re in a game together, you help us out. I’ve never seen anyone become a ghost like you; it’s a great talent. I hope you don’t join another team and have to play against us very often, ‘cause I think you would make life more difficult for us.”

  Carl swelled with pride at the compliment; to have one of the best in the Sim praise him was a big deal!

  “So let me tell you something I don’t tell many people,” He leaned in close as if other people could hear them, then he whispered, “The biggest mistake you can ever make is to believe that anything they tell you is true.”

  Brandon leaned back and flashed a grin, waiting for Carl to react.

  Carl nodded slowly, “Okay, I’ll remember that. Thanks, Brandon.”

  Brandon turned back to face the grate. “No problem, Carl.” With a tap he popped his wings again and said, “and as soon as you can, be sure to get yourself some wings. They come in handy a lot more than most people think.”

  “Maybe I don’t even need them,” Carl said. “Why believe they’re required to fly inside the Sim, Brandon? That’s something they tell you, isn’t it?”

  Brandon’s body whipped around. Taking a quick step closer to Carl with squinted eyes, he raised his hand, but said nothing. Finally he smiled and wagged a finger at Carl. “Carl, I think you just blew my mind.”

  “Hey, what are you two doing standing here yipping at each other?”

  The boys looked towards the front doorway. Tony stood there, a dead pixie dangling from each hand as he panted heavily. “It’s clear up ahead,” he said. “Let’s move.”

  Brandon nodded and walked past Tony, slapping him on the back as he did. “Good stuff, Tank. Come on, boys, lets finish this. I’m getting hungry.”

  Chapter 47

  “How long we been in this time, Brandon?” Easton asked.

  Brandon finished his set with the weights and placed the bar on the rack. He looked at Easton, then each of the other Hand members. They all watched him expectantly, but he shook his head.

  “Are you kidding me?” Alan asked. “We’re for sure in the Sim right now Brandon. It’s been days since they put us
inside.”

  “We’re in the Dream,” Brandon assured the group as he grabbed a towel and wiped his face.

  “I’m not so sure, Brandon,” Kay said. Brandon started to reprimand her but saw that she was serious and paused with concern. There was no joking when it came to calling out the Blurr; determining where they were was the key factor to everything they did. Brandon knew the controlling powers were trying to do something dangerous that depended on players losing their perception of reality. His group’s primary concern was to always know which side of the veil they were on, and they’d never once been wrong. Kay and Brandon had always been able to tell the others exactly which reality they were in, but Brandon could tell from Kay’s confused look that even she wasn’t sure. He shook his head softly to confirm he was right and she swore under her breath.

  “They must have brought us out while we were sleeping,” Tony muttered. He accepted Brandon’s call on this without question; they all did.

  “I don’t know,” Easton said.

  Brandon noticed Easton’s demeanour was… different. He walked quickly towards the mat room. “Follow me. Now.”

  They got to the mat room and formed a circle with Brandon sitting cross-legged in the centre.

  “Ten minutes,” he said, “then we re-assess the call.”

  Everyone nodded and closed their eyes. Brandon examined them as they began to meditate; he wouldn’t be meditating with them. He would be watching.

  He’d recognized that look in Easton’s eyes; knew the older boy was close to cracking. Brandon pursed his lips in concern. He wasn’t going to lose one of them like this.

  Brandon was now twelve, which meant the others were all close to their magic number of eighteen. Easton would hit it first, at the end of this year. By the old rules of the Centre, they would leave when they turned eighteen, but there was rumour of new rules allowing expert players to remain at the Centre and play in the Sim.