Virtual Prophet (The Game is Life)

by Schott, Terry

  “Me too,” Cynthia, the woman of our group, says. “Where are the others?”

  “Close by,” I say. “We didn’t all go down while sitting in a perfect little circle. They are awake by now, same as us. Azrael said to meet in the centre of town.” I move toward the front door. I don’t bother to look around me; this appears to be an ordinary house that we were exploring before we got sucked into Sim2. I remember it all now vividly.

  I open the door and the three of us move toward the curb. Abandoned cars line the streets; most are parked with the doors closed, while here and there the odd one looks like it’s been ransacked. Overall, the neighbourhood appears orderly, as if everyone is home from work and getting ready for dinner.

  Down the street to my left, I see the others. I do a quick count and see ten. “Come on, let’s join the others,” I say. “It looks like we all made it and they’re waiting for us.”

  The other two follow me silently. When we get closer I whistle and raise my arm. Ten heads swing towards me, some smile, and others raise their hands in greeting. There’s a car close to the group and when I get close enough I jump on top of it. Everyone stands silently, waiting for my orders.

  “Okay,” I say. “Looks like all of us made it back. If there’s anyone who can’t immediately get to work, speak up now.”

  I look at the group and no one says a word. It looks like everyone is good to go.

  “Our first task is to report in to the compound. What’s our distance to target?”

  “Four kilometres,” someone says from the group.

  I nod. “Let’s report in, then. I believe they’re expecting us.”

  ===

  Danielle

  “One minute to air.” The young man holds up his hand and smiles at me.

  “Ready to make your first big address?” Azrael asks.

  “Absolutely,” I say. It’s been two weeks since I returned to the Game. After six months of being in a coma, my avatar needed a bit of time to get its strength back.

  “You remember what to say?” he asks.

  “Something about this life being one big computer simulation?” I laugh as he makes a sour face at my joke. “Yes, I remember what to say. If I forget anything, just write it on a cue card and hold it up. No one watching the television will confuse me with a real actor. I’m sure they will forgive me if I stammer a bit.”

  Azrael steps back and the young cameraman begins to count down from ten seconds. Finally he points and nods, the red light appears on the camera, and I stand there in my white hooded robe and smile.

  “Hi,” I smile into the camera. “For those of you who don’t recognize me, my name is Danielle. I lead the Gamer movement, and if you’re watching this and haven’t heard of it, I hope that very soon you will.”

  I push back the hood so the camera can get a better view of my face, looking at Azrael briefly. He nods and smiles encouragingly. “The world changed over ten years ago when all technology stopped functioning. Recently the world was encouraged to change yet again. Power has been restored. Soon, with everyone’s help, Earth will return to some semblance of what it used to be.”

  I walk to the right a couple of steps and stop in front of a window that looks out onto green trees and blue skies. The camera follows me. “Over the next few months, many of you will begin to have children. With the return of power and a more stable lifestyle, it is expected that there will be many babies born soon.”

  I look directly at the camera. “Children are our most important resource, and we will be sponsoring learning centres to educate and guide the children all over the world. We will work with each culture to foster the best learning environments, as well as select the most qualified adults and teenagers to assist in the teaching.”

  There is a lot to say, but not in this initial address. I have introduced myself and prepared the viewers for the big streak of pregnancies that will happen. Now it’s time to sign off.

  I smile kindly at the camera and raise my hand in friendship. “I look forward to meeting many of you over the coming months as you elect leaders for your colonies and we consider strategies to move forward in this new chapter of society. Old governments are gone and this is an exciting new time to forge ahead. Goodbye for now.”

  “And we are off the air,” the young man announces.

  “Great job, Danni,” Azrael says.

  “Thanks,” I say. “What’s the plan for the next few months?”

  Azrael flashes me a smile. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  Looks like I’ll be here for a while longer, Trew.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

  “Every fan knows how to tune in and view their favourite Game players.

  “Of course it’s not possible to observe every moment of their lives, the time difference won’t allow it; every day on Tygon, approximately 1.4 years passes inside the Game. The Game feeds assist us by filtering out boring details and delivering only the interesting stuff. Intelligent viewing functions enable each fan’s system to learn what is most interesting to them. After watching the Game for the first few weeks, viewers can be assured of viewing only what appeals to us when watching the players we subscribe to follow.

  “Most viewers enjoy watching the gripping drama; the living, the dying, the accidents and the love scenes. We enjoy watching the action as it develops, which, in the normal span of a regular player’s life, results in numerous gaps that can be missed. Part of what makes the top players so desirable to follow is that their lives contain more of the things that viewers like to see.

  “With that in mind, it’s been a very challenging day for anyone’s intelligent viewer system to filter Danielle Radfield’s feed. She has been constantly busy and her life is full of excitement!

  “Since her return to Earth, Danielle has been traveling the globe with her Eternal companions, tirelessly meeting with colonies both old and new as they begin to gather and form now that technology and power are again available to the world. It’s easy to imagine not one single fan sleeping in the past twenty-four hours!

  “Early this morning, Danielle closed her eyes on Earth and opened them back on our home world of Tygon. I was lucky enough to interview her not long after this occurred. If you want to know what happened during that interview, please join me in just two short hours on channel seventy-two to see it in its entirety.

  “Here are some of the questions that I asked her. Has Danielle exited the Game for good? If she intends to go back in, then when will that occur, and for what purpose? How does the jumping back and forth between realities affect her Game ranking and subsequent credits?

  “Be sure to catch the interview where we attempt to get the answers to all of these questions and so many more...”

  Lisa Rohansen

  Danielle’s Command Centre

  Everyone looked confused as they sat quietly around the main table. Most people looked down at their tablets, taking turns to glance at the person sitting at the head of the table and quickly dropping their eyes to feign interest in their tablets again.

  Finally Danielle laughed and broke the silence. “Come on, everyone, quit looking so glum and grim. I thought you would all be happy to see me!”

  Michelle smiled and looked at Danielle. “We are happy to see you, Danni. Everyone is just a little bit confused about how we’re supposed to proceed.” She shook her head and laughed. “Usually when we see our player, that means they’ve completed their play, and our work is done.” Michelle nodded to the main viewer where the still form of Danielle’s avatar lay on a table, hooked up to life support. “You’re still in the Game, though, which leaves us wondering what to do next.”

  Trew nodded. “That’s what we’re here to discuss,” he said. “Everyone in this room has done a phenomenal job during Danni’s play. There have been secrets kept from many of you up until now as key points were executed and played out. Moving forward, everyone present will know our full plans for the rest of Danni’s play.”

  “So you’r
e going back in?” someone asked.

  “I’m going back in,” Danni confirmed.

  “The children are just being born now,” Trew said. “For the next ten years inside the Game there will be very little that needs to be done by Danni. The day to day, year to year, planning and implementation of a new society and schooling system can be accomplished by the Timeless.”

  “By the Eternals, you mean?” Nadine asked.

  “By Infernals as well,” Trew said. “The world isn’t populated with only positive, pure and optimistic sweet avatars,” he admitted. “There will be many young players who lean towards the path of things that are not so good. That’s how the genetics and ancestral history components of avatar procreation works. We want to be able to provide everyone with a clear path to learning how to meditate and figure out the mechanics of waking up from the Game. From this point forward, our only goal is to produce half a billion individuals capable of learning and teaching others how to wake up from the Game.”

  “After ten years, what happens?” Lilith asked.

  “These children are being called the Chosen,” Danielle said. “Over the next ten years, the world will fall in love with them, especially the NPCs.”

  “How can you be sure of that?” someone asked.

  “Resonance,” Cooper replied. “When the Game was created, Brandon built in natural functions to help out later on as things progressed. Over the years he tested it and perfected the process. Individuals sometimes enter the Game with a very specific vibrational frequency. It’s so subtle that no one knows that their cells vibrate slightly differently than everyone else’s. As these special individuals come into contact with others, the vibration of their cells causes those around them to match the vibration. Brandon referred to this matching as Resonance.”

  “What’s the significance of it?”

  “When people begin to match vibrations, or resonate with each other, then they feel connected and are more inclined to follow the person they resonate with. Some of Earth’s greatest leaders over history have possessed this unique vibration. They grew in power as they passed their vibrations on to those around them. Sometimes the results were good; sometimes they were very bad indeed. Regardless of the outcome, Resonance worked every time. It was a powerful introduction to the Game.”

  “NPCs will resonate with the Chosen, then?” Lilith asked.

  “Absolutely,” Trew said. “At first it will just be feelings of goodwill and a desire to nurture and look out for the Chosen. When they complete their mental training by ages thirteen to fifteen, it will fully unlock. Every Chosen will subconsciously draw a flock of NPCs to them; devout followers with a desire to learn what the Chosen will be ready to teach.”

  “Sounds like the Pied Piper story,” someone said. “The man who played a flute and had all the children of a village follow him wherever he led.”

  “It’s exactly like that.”

  Danielle brought the conversation back to the original topic. “For the next ten years, I’m not really needed on Earth. However, for the past year, I established myself as the Prophet who will lead the human race to a new era of enlightenment and development.”

  “Exactly,” Trew said. “For the next ten years, the world will be focused on rebuilding society, and raising the Chosen. It will be fairly boring, if all goes as planned.”

  “With humans in the Game, there’s no such thing as boring,” Michelle said. “I’m certain there will be all sorts of romance, intrigue, treachery, and conflict.”

  “You’re right,” Danni smiled, “there will be. Game fans need to be entertained, and the next week or so will not disappoint anyone. Brandon and the Timeless will ensure that the Game is more exciting than ever while still moving towards the desired end point.”

  “Brandon?” Lilith asked. “How does he factor into this? He died.”

  Trew nodded. “Danni meant the plans and programs that Brandon put into place when he created the Game.”

  Danni nodded, but inwardly she winced. She had forgotten that no one here knew Brandon had come back and entered the Game as Azrael.

  “Can Danielle’s avatar remain in stasis for ten years?” Nadine nodded her head towards the monitor.

  “That’s what we’re here to decide,” Trew said. “Do we unplug Danni’s avatar from life support and allow her to technically end her play?”

  “If we do that, how will she get back into the Game in a week as an adult? If her avatar dies, then she will need to be born into another avatar, which won’t get her to the right age in time, right?”

  “There is another option,” Trew said. “A way for us to get her back into the Game when we need her there.”

  “Tell us,” Lilith said.

  For the next half hour the group discussed the possibilities.

  Finally Trew called for a vote; it was unanimous.

  Alexandra Montoyas’ play as Danielle Radfield would come to an end. Immediately.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

  Three days ago, one of the greatest players of all time made her exit from Earth.

  In a very quiet affair presided over by select friends and lifelong companions, the avatar of Danielle Radfield was disconnected from life support and allowed to pass away peacefully.

  All over Earth, people gathered to mourn the passing of their beloved leader and newly anointed Prophet.

  Across Tygon, reactions to the event were met with a mixture of sadness at the passing of a truly diverse and remarkable character, but also celebration as Alexandra Montoyas exited her play in triumph.

  Just a year ago, Alexandra, who now calls herself Danielle, failed completely out of the Game and was consigned to government schooling. A year after suffering from such horrible luck, the Game computer awarded her a free play. No one thought the young player would be able to do much with her free entrance into the Game, most believed she would do her best to gather whatever safe credits she could in hopes of earning her way back into some small amount of prosperity until she turned eighteen and graduated.

  Danielle has managed to do considerably more than eke out a few points to earn another play; this young lady has turned the Game on its head and finished her free play as one the highest scoring player in the entire thirty year history of the Game!

  Much of Danielle’s wealth remains undetermined, as most of the credits she stands to earn rest on the outcome of the current scenario going on across Earth. If the Chosen are able to complete their goal and teach the NPCs of the planet to ‘wake up,’ then Danielle will be almost as wealthy as her boyfriend Trew Radfield, successor to Brandon Strayne and heir to his fortune and empire.

  As fans wonder why it is so important to teach NPCs how to ‘wake up’ and we all guess at what will happen to them and where they will go if they are able to learn the process, Danielle and Trew spend some well-earned private time together for the next few days...

  Danni and Trew lay in bed and watched Lisa’s update on the viewer. She grabbed the remote, turned the viewer off, and nuzzled her face into Trew’s neck.

  Trew smiled and put his arm around Danni, drawing her closer and kissing the top of her head.

  “It was a nice ceremony,” Danni said. “Small and positive.”

  “It was,” Trew agreed. They’d watched the ceremony through Brandon’s feed. It was a happy celebration of the life that Danni had, and the accomplishments she’d achieved. Most of the attendees were Timeless, so they knew that she wasn’t gone forever, just moved on to Tygon.

  After they had watched the ceremony in the command centre, Trew made certain everyone knew their roles and then left Cooper in charge, announcing that he would be indisposed for the next day and only to disturb him if something unexpected occurred. Then he had grabbed Danielle gently by the hand and led her to his penthouse suite.

  “This is wonderful,” Danni said. “I can’t believe we get to do this for an entire week!”

  Trew laughed softly and shook his head. “I wish that were true, Danni. The
re’s much to do, even outside of the Game.”

  Danni nodded and caressed Trew’s face. “I see stress lines on your face,” she said. “Too much for a young man, if you ask me.”

  Trew chuckled and touched her hand. “Most of them were caused by worrying over you.”

  Danni laughed and slapped him playfully on the shoulder. “There was never anything to worry about, silly. I had things well in hand all the time. Well, most of the time.”

  “Of course you did.” Trew got out of bed and walked to the kitchenette where he poured two cups of fresh coffee. Danni sat up and accepted a mug as he got back into bed with her.

  “The Game won’t end, then?” she asked.

  “There’s still a chance it will,” he said. “If NPCs don’t wake up, then the place they come from won’t be able to provide power to the Game, and Tygon simply can’t generate enough energy to keep it going.”

  Trew hadn’t told Danni the entire truth. He’d told her that NPCs were beings from another reality, and they’d been sharing the Game as a common living area. He had told her that Melissa was from another reality, and that the players there had become trapped in the Game — their real bodies were in danger of dying, which would wipe out their entire population. Trew had further explained that the ultimate goal of the Game was to help NPCs wake up and return to their own reality.

  He had not told her the truth about Tygon; that this ‘reality’ of theirs wasn’t real at all. He might tell her eventually, but now wasn’t the time. He still wasn’t sure he was dealing with the truth very well and he didn’t see the point in causing confusion or pain to anyone else. “Everything looks good,” he said, “but you never know for sure until the final card has been played. Luck can change everything in an instant.”