by Terry Mayer
"Really Notch? I had hoped you would have remembered by now, but never mind, I will explain. When you started to develop this game many years ago, you dreamt of actually being able to submerse yourself in the world of Minecraft, not just watch the game on a screen. Alas, virtual reality was not advanced enough to allow you to pursue your dreams but you never forgot and have been working on the idea subconsciously ever since. I am your subconscious Notch and I, we, have found a way to actually play the game."
"But that's impossible."
"Is it Notch? I seem to think that the events leading up to this moment disagree with you. Look around, are you viewing this 'game' on a monitor?"
"I'm dreaming, I just hit my head, that's all."
"Now Notch, shock is one thing but self denial is another. Were you disorientated when yourself and Steve spoke to me through the laptop in the server farm?"
"No, but how can this be?"
"Don't worry about how for now, it will all come back to you in time. What is important is The Tournament, it has already begun."
"The Tournament, of course, how many are left?" And as the words leave Notch's mouth a rush a memories, ideas and dreams rush forth into his consciousness. "OMG, is this for real, have we really accomplished all this?"
"Yes Notch, all that you now remember has come to be. We are at the end of the experiment and it has worked perfectly so far. When The Tournament finishes we will have achieved everything we ever dreamt off. And to answer your question, there are 6 people left."
"Who?"
"Warlord999, PowerGlide, Natasha, Jethro Skybuilder, Jay Lightingbuilder and Nathan the Noob."
"Who?"
"Nathan the Noob. He is an unfortunate glitch in the upload software. He came through with Jay Lightningbuilder and also another glitch by the name of Jack the Dweeb."
"A glitch? Ok these things happen, but why didn't you expel them and bring in the real players?"
"That was all you Notch. Remember, you insisted that once the game started all servers and communication should be locked, even from yourself, so when these two arrived uninvited I had to make them part of the game."
"Right, I remember now. Will it effect the outcome?
"Only if one of them wins but that seems highly unlikely."
"Good. Anything else I need to know?"
"One more thing. We have an artifact problem again."
"I thought they were all sorted?
"Yes, we thought they were but this artifact escaped our attention when we did the software sweeps."
"How, I thought all artifacts were expelled before The Tournament began."
"They should have been, but this one was so old it slipped through the program parameters."
"How old?"
"The original entrant. Player zero."
"No. Hailey? How can this be, that means she would have been in here for 40 or more Minecraft years."
"Indeed she has."
"But how?"
"When we ran our first trial game she was brought in, but the server crashed and when it rebooted she was no longer here. We checked on all the other players and they had successfully returned home, but we made an error with Hailey."
"How, we checked on everyone and they were fine. No recollection of the events and totally unharmed. What mistake did you make?
"Not my mistake Notch but yours. It was a human error. When you checked on Hailey, after the trial game, you did not realize that you never spoke to her, it was her twin sister. So having no recollection of the events was hardly surprising."
"A twin sister? I never knew. How is she."
"Hailey? She is doing surprisingly well. She has teamed up with Jay Lightningbuilder and they have just tamed an Ender Dragon."
"Really, way to go Hailey. So how will she effect The Tournament.
"I have no idea Notch. This was never dreamt. It cannot be foreseen so we will have to let the game unfold."
"Can't you just scrub her from the system, now that you are aware of her existence?
"No longer possible Notch. Hailey is now part of the system. Unfortunately, when we started The Tournament we calibrated the world with her in it. If she dies and returns home then the world ceases to exist."
"No, no,no. Not after all our work. Can we take her into protective custody?"
"Really Notch. Take a look around you. You designed this world, does it really look like an episode of CSI? No we can not take her into protective custody. No we can not stop anything from attacking her. She is part of this world and The Tournament is running. Until it ends, her fate, and ours, is in her hands."
*****
5 - Hey Goons!
Stepping into a clearing in the forest, PowerGlide turns to see a dark shadow throbbing against a tree truck. 'So, the glitch appears at both ends, interesting. Maybe I can find some others and use them to get around this place in secret.' Looking around, he wonders where he has been transported to when he hears voices approaching though the jungle. Quickly climbing the nearest tree he just manages to get out of sight before Jethro, Natasha and Nate walk out of the forest into the clearing.
"Hey J-Dog, how about we take a little break here, we've been walking for hours," moans Nate.
"Hardly Nathan, we only left the temple twenty minutes ago."
"Yeah? Well it feels like hours. So, how about that break?" he say's throwing himself down on the forest floor.
"Really Nate. Get your lazy Steve avatar up and keep moving. If any of those Creepers decided to follow us they will only be a few minutes behind."
"Yeah, well Flumey and Fawkes will take care of us." Reaching out to stroke his Ocelot he is surprised to find Flumey is nowhere to be seen. "Hey Flumey, where are you buddy?" he shouts.
"Keep it down Nate, or you will have every mob within 200 blocks breathing down your neck."
"Sorry, but where's Flumey?"
"That's a very good question Nathan as it appears that Fawkes has also disappeared. Hmm, I wonder?"
"Wonder what J-Dog?"
"Well, it seems that the Ocelots have served their purpose and so are no longer with us. I can't say I have ever had an Ocelot in Minecraft so I don't know quite how it works. What do you think Natasha?"
"I don't know Jethro, I've never had an Ocelot either but I have had wolves and they stick with you forever, or until they are killed. I would have thought that Ocelots would have been the same."
"Yes, I agree, so something must have happened to change the rules."
"Rules! Are you mad J-Dog. This place has no rules, it's insane."
"Not so Nathan. Minecraft has many free play features but they are all governed by a set of rules, as is this world that we are stuck in, we just have to figure out what the rules are and how to work effectively within those set parameters."
"English please Jethro."
"He means we need to learn how to cheat."
"Not so Nathan, cheats are bugs in the game code that someone has discovered and used to create a new feature in the game. We don't need to find cheats, what we need to discover is the original coding, or rules for this world. Then we may be able to discover what we need to do to survive this game."
"It's simple Jethro, to survive you need to kill everyone else. There can be only one, and all that."
"Sorry Natasha, their can be only one what?"
"Winner Jethro! Man, don't you ever watch movies?"
"Um no actually. I don't."
"J-Dog, you really are one old dude."
"Thank you for your input Nathan. Now Natasha, what exactly are you suggesting?"
"Ohhh, face palm time. Right Jethro, here goes. There can be only one comes from the movie Highlander where all these immortal dudes have to try and kill each other down through the centuries until only one person is left."
"Why?"
"Uh, I'm not really sure, but that's not the point. What matters is there can be only one winner, and it's the same here. Just like in Hunger Games, we all have to fight until the last per
son standing wins the prize, whatever that may be."
"Oh, Hunger Games. Why didn't you say so, now I understand."
"What?"
"What do you mean, what?"
"Jethro, you said you didn't watch movies, how do you know about Hunger Games?"
"You ever hear of that marvelous invention called a book? Besides, I've played Hunger Games many times on different servers."
"If you play Hunger Games then why am I explaining to you how this whole thing works?"
"You are not, my dear. I simply did not understand your term of reference."
"My term of what?"
"Your term of reference about the phrase, 'there can be only one'."
"Argh Jethro. You drive me nuts."
"I rather think you manage that all on your own Natasha."
Laughing at his friends, Nathan joins in the conversation. "Guys, just chill. I think what J-Dog here means is he knows all about Minecraft and different games that are played in it, he just does not dig movie quotes. That about right J-Dog."
"Surprising succinct observation Nathan."
"Uh, is that yes or no?" stammers Nate, looking at Natasha for support who is presently giving herself another face palm.
"Yes Nathan, it is a yes."
"Good, so back to the original question, where are Flumey and Fawkes?"
"I would like to suggest a theory that I have been mulling over. It appears that after each death of a player the game resets. So in the case of the Ocelots...."
"Flumey and Fawkes," interjects Nate.
"Yes, Flumey and Fawkes, their purpose had been served after they saved us from the Creepers, so when Munster met his end they simply became part of the Minecraft world again and returned to the wild."
"So you think that Hailey's and Jay's Ocelots would have run off too?"
"That we will have to wait to find out, but if they did leave too then it will go some way to proving my theory."
"Right, in that case we really need to find the others and see if we can start figuring out how this world works. Right Nate, you rested enough?"
"What. Oh yeah Natasha, I'm ready," replies Nate, realizing that he has been sat on the floor, resting during the whole conversation.
"Good. Ok, let's find the others, lead on Jethro."
Watching the trio walk from the clearing PowerGlide runs his hand through his blocky hair. Interesting, so the world resets after each death. Clean slate, so to speak, maybe I can use this to my advantage, he thinks as he climbs down from his hiding place in the tree. Tracking the trio quietly, he moves into the forest in pursuit of his prey.
*****
Jerking awake, Warlord looks around and quickly realizes where he is when he see's the Endermen watching him in the cavern. Pushing himself back against the wall he quickly averts his eyes as they all turn and look at him. Man, these guys don't give up, he thinks. Lucky I built this overhang or they would have been all over me by now. Thinking a little clearer after his short nap, he looks around the cavern, trying to decide how to proceed.
Right, first things first, I need to ditch the Endermen or I'll never get anywhere. Checking his inventory he takes stock of his possessions. Oh cool, an Enderpearl, I forgot I got that. Taking the pearl from his inventory he studies it carefully. Man, this thing is beautiful. Deciding to experiment he tosses the Enderpearl 2 blocks away in his shelter and as it rolls to a stop he is immediately teleported to its resting place. Awesome! Throwing it back 2 blocks he is teleported back to his original starting place. Way cool. Choices, choices, he thinks, looking over his shoulder at the river. I can jump in there and see where it goes, at least the Endermen won't be able to follow me or maybe something else.
Laughing, he shouts to the Endermen. "Hey goons, I just leveled the playing field. Try and catch me now."
Pulling back his arm he throws the Enderpearl with all his strength into the darkness, hoping that he will find the edge of the room. As the Enderpearl sails through the air he quickly removes a torch from his inventory and stands ready for action. The Enderpearl lands 20 blocks away from his position and rolls into the darkness. Breathing hard, he waits, knowing that he will be teleported as soon as it stops rolling. Suddenly, without warning, he is standing out in the open with the Enderpearl at his feet. Bending, he retrieves it and pulls back his arm just as an Enderman teleports next to him.
Averting his eyes, he shouts, "too late goon," and throws the Enderpearl into the darkness. The Enderman reaches forward, grabs the block below Warlord's feet and disappears with it in a flash of purple. Falling through the opening in the floor, Warlord suddenly wonders if he has made a fatal error, then suddenly he is lying on the floor of the cavern with the Enderpearl at his feet. "Yes," he shouts into the darkness, "is that the best you've got?" Grabbing the Enderpearl, he once more throws it into the darkness and prepares for another Enderman attack. Hearing the Enderpearl strike a solid object he quickly removes his pickaxe from his inventory, just as an Enderman teleports in front of him.
"Too late sucker," he chuckles as he disappears, reappearing next to a huge cavern wall. Not wasting a second, knowing the Endermen will arrive shortly, he grabs the Enderpearl and starts breaking an opening in the cavern wall. 2 blocks tall, no more he thinks to himself, stepping into the opening just as the first Enderman arrives.
"Yes, thought you could outsmart me. No chance," he laughs looking into the dead eyes of the Enderman for the first time.
Immediately the Enderman stands up straighter and reaches forward grabbing the block above Warlords head and disappearing with it. Immediately the other Endermen step forward, blocking any escape back into the cavern. Realizing his mistake, Warlord quickly averts his eyes, not wanting to antagonize the other Endermen into a fight, and turns into his opening and starts breaking blocks. Just as he breaks another 2 blocks and steps forward the original Enderman reappears behind him. Realizing that he was once again safe it reaches forwards, grabs the block above Warlord and disappears with it again.
Digging franticly, Warlord moves forward just ahead of the Enderman, as it pursues him into the cavern wall. Stealing blocks and reappearing just seconds later, Warlord is only able to stay ahead by digging in the dark. His fear escalates each time the Enderman teleports into the tunnel and steals another block. Man, I should never have looked it in the eyes, what's wrong with me. If I had just looked away I would be home free now.
Raising his pickaxe once more he breaks the block in front of him and daylight floods the tunnel, momentarily blinding him. Quickly realizing his good fortune, he breaks the second block just as the Enderman arrives behind him. Turning to face his opponent, with a smile on his face, Warlord watches as the Enderman's jaw drops open and then it teleports out of the tunnel. "Yes," shouts Warlord jumping in the air and fist pumping. "Can't take sunlight can you, you goon," he shouts into the tunnel, "go on, back to The Never where you belong." Turning to face the opening, he looks out into the jungle clearing around the temple and wonders what his next course of action should be.
*****
"How many diamonds are there?" asks Jay, looking over Hailey's shoulder.
"Four, why what do you have in mind?"
"I think it's time we upped our armory with a diamond sword."
"Cool."
Grabbing the bag of diamonds she throws the bag to Jay who catches it and places two of the diamonds, along with a stick on the crafting table he had just removed from his inventory. Picking up the diamond sword that materialized on the table he smiles and throws it to Hailey. Catching the sword, Hailey can't believe how light it is.
"Man, I could get used to this, but you keep it Jay, I have my enchanted bow."
"No need Hailey, there's enough for two swords, that one is yours. Uh, hang on, what enchanted bow?"
"My bow Jay, enchanted with Infinity."
"I didn't know your bow was enchanted?"
"Come on Jay, I've been firing arrows for days and you never noticed that I don't have any arrows
, apart from this one," she replies, pulling a single arrow from her quiver.
"Uh, no. I just assumed you kept them in your inventory, which, of course you don't have because you're human," replies Jay, giving himself a face palm.
Laughing, Hailey replies. "You know what, you're a little slow Jay but I could watch you face palm all day. Hilarious."
"So now I'm a thing of ridicule," he replies with a smile on his face.
"Absolutely Jay. And by the way, you always were," she laughs, playfully punching him on his shoulder. "Now stand back while I play with my new diamond sword.
"Women," mutters Jay, turning to his crafting table and making himself a diamond sword too.
*****
6 - Skeletons
"Hey Jethro, I've been thinking about your theory."
"Yes Nathan, and do you have any insights?" replies Jethro, stepping over a fallen tree.
"Yeah I do actually. I think you are wrong."
"What? Preposterous, I'm never wrong," he splutters.
"I think you might be this time," sniggers Nate, enjoying Jethro's obvious discomfort.
"Right, so you think my theory is flawed do you? Well why don't you explain your reasoning to me then," replies Jethro, coming to a stop and placing his fists on his hips.
"Cool it J-Dog. I said your theory is wrong, I'm not having a go at you."
"Yes well, it certainly sounds like you are young man."
"Ah well Jethro, never mind, it was just a thought. I don't want to upset you or anything," replies Nate, turning and continuing his journey into the forest.
"What, why, where do you think you are going? You can't tell me I have flawed theory's then simply walk away. At least stand up and explain yourself."
Looking back over his shoulder, Nate replies, "forget it J-Dog, I'm probably wrong anyway."
"Well we will never know unless you stop and tell me, will we?"
Stopping and facing Jethro, Nate looks him up and down and replies. "Jethro, I really like you dude but you are so sensitive. I just wanted to say that your theory had a hole in it and you go off on one."