Ahh, there he goes, turning up the dial a bit. Still, nothing I can’t handle. On a scale of 1 to 10, for a normal person this would be a 12. I cry out and scream and sweat and weep. That’s all involuntary; there’s not much I can do to stop these reactions. It’s actually a waste of energy to try. Let the body do its thing to eliminate the excess misery, allowing me to focus on keeping my core sane spark intact. The real goal of the master torturer is to make you lose control, to splinter your mind into so many pieces that your sanity flees. That’s when the interrogator wins, after that they just take their time to pick up the pieces, asking you whatever they want because you no longer possess the strength to resist them.
It’s been a long time since I broke. I was young and had no idea what was happening. I learned a lot. There aren’t many on Earth who could succeed in doing it to me now.
Unfortunately, I’m lying on the table of the most skilled master in the world.
“That’s it for today, old friend,” Shane says. He walks to the table across the room and pours a glass of water, then brings it back to me and holds it to my lips. I drink greedily, not sure what his angle is. Never one to mince words, I come straight out and ask.
“What do you mean, that’s it? I expected to be here for a lot longer. You can dish out more than this, I’ve had novices get lucky and make me twitch more.”
Shane chuckles at the insult. We both know I’m lying.
“I didn’t bring you here to torture you,” he says. “I simply wanted to show you what the first session is going to be like.”
Oh, crap. I hope I’m not understanding him correctly.
He smiles and nods his head. “That’s right, Carl. This will be Danielle’s first session on the table. You did fine; how do you think she will fare?”
“You’re insane,” I say. “If you put her through this on her first session, she won’t make it to a second.”
Shane looks at me and frowns. “Oh, I’m sure she will. I’m very good at this, Carl. She will spend days with me — weeks, even. Each day will be just a bit worse than the last. Eventually I’ll break her, but before I do she will suffer more than anyone I’ve ever had on my table.”
I look at him blankly. If he sees how much this upsets me, then he’ll be able to use it against me. “It’s your show,” I say. “You want to break her like that, no one can stop you.”
“That’s right, no one can.” Shane says. “I’ll come for her sometime after the sixth meal has been delivered. I’m looking forward to it.”
“We done here, then?” I ask.
He smiles at me for a few moments, then nods. He goes to the door and opens it. An inmate shuffles in and removes me from the table, slinging me over his shoulder. Shane says nothing more as the inmate takes me through the shadow doorway back to my cell.
***
Shane went to the sink, removed his gloves and threw them into the garbage, then washed his hands methodically. He dried them with a towel and walked over to a nearby monitor hanging on the wall.
The screen came on, displaying Seven in his cell. “Feedback indicates everything went well, Master.” Seven said.
“Excellent,” Shane nodded. “Let’s hope we’ve given him proper incentive.”
***
She looks concerned as the inmate dumps me onto my cot. I lay there quietly as he shuffles out, locks the door, and disappears down the hall.
“You okay?” she asks.
“I’ve been better,” I say.
“What did they do to you?” I can hear the fear in her voice.
“They tried to get information out of me,” I lie.
“How bad was it?” she asks.
“I’ve experienced worse,”
“Will they come for me next?”
There’s no way she can handle what Shane just did to me. She shouldn’t have to.
Maybe me being an Eternal is a good thing after all.
“Not if I can help it, Danni,” I say. Six meals. The idiot told me that to try and hurt me. What he really did was give me a time limit. I’m ready now, anyway.
“I need some rest,” I say. “You have plans after our dinner meal tomorrow?”
She laughs. “Not really. What did you have in mind?”
“The roast that I’ve been working on in the back of my cell.” The hole there, carefully dug away to remove the metal lining behind the stone wall.
“It’s finally ready?” she asks.
“Yeah. It’s time to get you out of here, Danni.”
Chapter 57
Trew
“Where are we going?”
“Out.”
“That’s a little vague.” Trew watched Brandon in the mirror of the elevator. “Danni's missing and there’s a ton of problems happening inside the Game right now. We can’t afford to leave.”
“We can’t help with any aspect of the Game at this point in time,” Brandon pointed out. We may as well get out for a few hours and take care of something on Tygon that needs to be done. You haven’t left the building since you were ejected from the Game, Trew. An hour out will do you good.”
“I don’t like it,” Trew said.
“Noted,” Brandon said. “Now come on. The rules have changed for someone and he needs to hear it.”
“Who?” Trew asks.
“You’ll see in a few minutes.”
The two men arrived in the main lobby and walked towards the exit. When they reached the doors, Brandon stopped. “Okay, walk outside by yourself. I won’t be far behind.”
“Is it safe?” Trew was aware that people wanted him dead. He didn’t know exactly who yet, but it was obvious from the failed attempt of a few hours ago.
“Of course not,” Brandon said. “Now go out and wait for me at the main gate.”
Trew could tell from Brandon’s look that things were under control, Brandon wasn’t going to knowingly put Trew in danger. He nodded and walked out the door.
He’d taken two steps when he felt a slight hum and a presence beside him. “What the hell is he doing letting you go out by yourself?” Cooper asked angrily.
“Where did you just come from?” Trew asked.
“From the place I disappeared to earlier,” Cooper said. “Where ya going, Leader Man?”
Trew laughed. Cooper had a way of sounding angry and playful at the same time. He was guessing that the man was both lethal and gentle in equal portions, and he didn’t want to be on the wrong end of that spectrum. “I was instructed to walk to the gate and wait for Brandon,” Trew said.
“He’s close by?” Cooper asked. When Trew nodded, Cooper shook his head in disgust. “Bloody waste of a summon, then, when Brandon is near, you’re as safe as you can be with me.”
“I needed you to appear, jackass!” Brandon shouted from the front door. As soon as Cooper heard him he began to move his fingers, summoning the doorway back into the light that he came from. “Hold on, don’t
go anywhere!” Brandon held up his hands. Cooper reluctantly dropped his hands to his sides and waited beside Trew as Brandon approached.
“What. In. The. Hell. Do you think you’re doing?” Cooper appeared extremely angry with Brandon, which made Trew want to ask why. The tension was thick, so he decided to keep his mouth shut.
“Trying to get your attention,” Brandon said. “Do you know how difficult you are to contact once you’re in the field?”
“Yes, boy.” Cooper’s jaw was clenched together very tightly. He didn’t appear to be angry at Brandon, but he was certainly angry
about something. “I know exactly how difficult I am to contact. That is one hundred percent the point. Did you hit your head, Brandon? Are you ready for the repercussions that will be caused by this?”
“Of course I am,” Brandon said.
The answer seemed to startle Cooper. His mouth snapped shut with an audible click and his look changed from anger to sadness. “Don’t, boy. I am good at what I do; I’ll disappear and pretend we didn’t talk. I can make tha
t a reality, but I need to go now.” He started to make hand gestures again, summoning bright whiteness around him.
“It’s already done, Cooper. Price negotiated and agreed upon. The next phase has been initiated.”
Cooper’s hands dropped limply to his sides, his shoulders slouched slightly, and he looked first at Brandon, then at Trew. He appeared disappointed.
“There’s that little time left, then?” he asked.
“Time’s running out,” Brandon said with a nod of his head.
Cooper nodded, looked around, then pointed to a nearby stone table. “May I?” he asked.
“Sure,” Brandon said.
Cooper sighed and walked over to the table. “Where’s he going?” Trew asked.
“To vent.” Brandon said.
Cooper screamed loudly and struck the table with his right fist. There was a loud thud as his fist met the stone surface. Trew was sure he must have broken his hand. The table began to shiver and make a whining sound. In the space of a couple heartbeats, it quickly dissolved into a fine powder and began to blow away in the wind like a bag of flour had just been thrown upwards. Cooper walked back to join the two men.
“Okay,” he said to Brandon, “give me the rundown.”
“You’re here full-time, with Trew whenever I’m not. Level one security. Any problems, you kill first, ask questions as a third or fourth option.”
“That it?”
“No,” Brandon said. “Trew gets the full package.”
“Why?” Cooper asked. “It’s a waste of time.”
“He gets it, and lose the attitude. It’s not a waste of time.”
“What’s the full package?” Trew asked.
“It’s complicated and you wouldn’t understand it if I told you,” Brandon said. “You will learn in small snippets what it means. You need to walk before you learn to run.”
“It looked like Lohkam would be first to this stage, Brandon.” Cooper said. “He’s going to be pissed.”
“Please,” Brandon snorted. “Lohkam was never any good. If you put money on him, that was a fool’s bet.”
Cooper chuckled. “Oh, I put my money on you, boy. I was just telling you what it looked like up until a few moments ago.”
Trew glanced from one man to the other in confusion. “I have no idea what you two are talking about.”
“That’s fine,” Cooper said. “We shouldn’t be talking about this right now, anyway. Okay, Trew, you heard the man. I’m with you as much as I need to be.” He looked at Brandon. “Are we going to see him now?”
“Yes, it’s as good a time as any,” Brandon said. “There’s a brief lull in the Game so we can afford to be away for one hour, perhaps two.”
Cooper nodded. “Let’s go, then.”
“Go where?” Trew asked.
“You’ve got a real live flier on Tygon, kid. Let’s go meet him.”
Chapter 58
I think everyone should read the chapter about success in George Knight’s (Trew’s) book ‘The Game Is Life.’ In it, he states that success leaves clues; the best way to achieve something is to find others who have done the same thing and follow their example. Spending time with Melissa was an incredible opportunity, and a perfect illustration of Trew’s point, although I didn’t realize it at the time.
As far as the specifics of flying, for me it all seems to boil down to the mind. Meditation and mindset are absolutely crucial; you need to believe with everything you are that you can do it. It’s difficult to put into words. When you think about flying you can’t say to yourself, ‘Yes, I can do it.’ Instead you have to think, ‘Yes, I do fly. I flew earlier and I’ll fly later as well.’ I’m not sure if that makes sense or not, but it is a key point for achieving success, in this and all goals.
The line between the dream and reality must disappear in order for one to become the other. If you tell yourself that soon you will fly, you never will, because you will never live in ‘soon.’
That’s the mental part of it.
Yes, there is also a physical part to it. Do you know that birds have hollow bones which make them light enough to fly? If you were to fill a bird’s bones with lead or some other non-lethal material which increased their weight, I don’t think they could fly. We fill our bodies up with poisons of all sorts, effectively killing our chances to soar. I take one sip of a product that contains aspartame and I sink to the ground like a deflated balloon. Yes, I know aspartame is a deadly
poison not fed to anyone on Tygon, but on Earth it’s put in everyone’s food and drink, so I knew I could try a sip here and not die. I won’t have any more, I promise. Yes, I know how dangerous it is.
My point is that there is a mind and body component to flying. I may be the first one on Tygon to fly, but I won’t be the last, and I wouldn’t have achieved it if it wasn’t for Melissa.
She wouldn’t have achieved it if it wasn’t for Trew. Of course, she does deserve most of the credit.
Interview with Andrew Young, Tygon’s first flying citizen
“I don’t remember Andrew from the Game,” Trew said. Brandon, Cooper, and Trew were enjoying a drink in the back of the private transport as it drove towards the boy’s home.
“I pulled his record,” Brandon said. “There was nothing special to speak of. He’s just beginning to play as a human, but he did very well. His avatar joined your movement and he spent some time with Melissa. Based on the amount of time he spent with her, I’m surprised that he brought enough information or motivation back with him to become our first flying citizen.
“That’s the thing about progress and miracles,” Cooper said. “You just never know where they’re going to come from, or when. Your Game being so damned true to this reality, that’s another miracle.”
“It was simple,” Brandon said. “It did require a significant amount of detail and execution, and a very complex operating system.”
“Are you going to let me meet it?” Cooper asked. Even in the relative darkness of the vehicle, Trew could see Cooper’s eyes gleamed with eagerness at the thought.
“Of course not,” Brandon snapped. “What’s wrong with you?” He looked seriously at Trew, “Under no circumstances is Cooper to meet Sylvia. Ever. Do you understand?”
“Okay,” Trew agreed. “Any specific reason why?”
Cooper laughed and slapped Trew on the back. “Of course there are specific reasons why, Trew. Don’t worry, I won’t ever try to sneak a visit with her, I was pulling Brandon’s strings a bit.” Cooper slapped Brandon’s knee. “Don’t worry, boy, I won’t get close to your little pet mainframe.”
It was amusing to see Cooper treat Brandon like a young kid, and surprising that Brandon allowed it.
“Can Andrew fly as skillfully as Melissa and Danni?” Trew asked.
“I don’t think so,” Brandon said. “We knew he could levitate, and it’s only been a short time since he exited the Game, so I don’t expect he’s been able to practice much or long. From what we can tell, his process matches that of the girl’s exactly; it makes sense that in a few weeks or months he’ll likely be zipping around the skies the same as them.”
“What does it mean?” Trew asked.
“You tell me what it means, Trew.” Brandon said.
Trew found their gaze unsettling. He shrugged his shoulders. “I haven’t really thought about it.”
“I think you should,” Brandon said. “Your followers are going to be looking to you for a response to this historic event. This changes the way the world works in most people’s eyes. They’ll be looking for some reassurance.”
“Then you should make an address, Brandon.” Trew said.
Cooper chuckled softly. Brandon shook his head.
“Some things appear to be changing on Tygon. Despite numerous accomplishments and successes, I don’t inspire millions the way you are able to. I brought the world together using entertainment, wealth and power. I use the Game and money to control everyone, and so far I think I’ve done a good
job.” Cooper nodded in agreement beside him. “Since you exited the Game, and even before that, it’s become obvious that the people of this world want more. They want a leader they can follow out of love; a leader who
cares about them and will guide them to new levels of thinking and existing. That leader isn’t me — it’s you.”
“I don’t think so,” Trew said. “The Gamers are just a bunch of kids who liked an idea in their last play and want to keep it going here for a bit.”
Brandon looked at him and smiled. “You’ve been isolated, focused on Danielle since you completed your play. In a few weeks, she will be done with her play and life here will go on. Reports are coming in from all over the world, for my eyes only. Everyone I trust and respect all recommend one course of action immediately.”
“What do they recommend?” Trew asked.
Brandon smiled. “They recommend that I assassinate you before you realize what and who you are to this world. They agree that you are the single largest threat to my leadership that has ever emerged.”
Trew was stunned by Brandon’s statement. It wasn’t conceivable to him that he would threaten Brandon, the man who was responsible for all of his success and standing. Confusion showed on his face,
the other two men laughed. “Don’t worry, Trew,” Brandon said. “I have no intention of eliminating you. This is exactly the result I hoped you would achieve.”
“I would never hurt you, Brandon,” Trew said. “Your advisors are wrong.”
“I know, my boy,” Brandon said. “I trust you implicitly. Never doubt that fact.”
“I think I’m going to cry,” Cooper said. He pulled an imaginary tissue from his pocket and pretended to wipe tears from his eyes.
Trew laughed. “So I will build my influence and help you in any way I can. Is that the idea, Brandon?”
“It is,” Brandon nodded. “But the first order of business is to get Danielle safely out of the Game.”
“Um…” Cooper said. “I am occasionally out of the loop, but last I heard, she’s gonna die. For good. And your Game is gonna cease to exist, killing billions of kids who get trapped inside. You’re on a collision course with big problems, Brandon, and time’s running out.”
Digital Heretic (The Game is Life) Page 22