Once Upon a Star

by Anthea Sharp

  At first, I resisted the connection. It didn’t matter that I was trying to get to it. I was often so afraid of it that I couldn’t help but feel that slight resistance and the urge to totally disconnect and get out of there.

  But once I pushed through and made myself move forward, the connection came easily.

  The world around me started to buzz, the code seeping into my skin like tiny rows of ants crawling through me.

  I focused my thoughts on that cloaking spell, and deep inside the darkness of my mind, a row of code suddenly appeared. 1’s and 0’s in sequence flying by. No one had ever taught me how to interpret it, but I had always known how to read it.

  I searched the code for some sign of how to break it, and when the solution appeared, I smiled. It was deceptively simple, and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it before now.

  I opened my eyes and stood up, backing away from the center of the room where I now could almost see the orb’s silhouette. I worked to create a new string of code in my mind—the key to unlocking the illusion—and when I sent that new code out into the room, the appearance of an empty room was replaced by an ornately decorated library full of books and trinkets.

  And there, in the center of the room, was a carved pedestal with a rich, blue velvet pillow lying on top. Cradled in the velvet was a clear orb that sparkled with the light of a hundred tiny stars locked inside. It was the perfect size for a human hand, and its power was so great, it warmed my skin like the sun.

  “The Orb of Altress,” I whispered almost reverently as I stepped toward it.

  Only, just as I reached out to take it into my hand, my entire body stiffened. I could breathe, but I could not move my arms and legs.

  I reached out, looking for whatever trap seemed to hold me, but it was no trap.

  It was another player.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” a guy’s voice said.

  His boots fell softly on the wood floor behind me, but I could not turn my head to see his face.

  “Ghost, I presume?” I asked, surprised to find that I could speak despite my current paralysis.

  “It didn’t take long for word of my arrival in this world to spread,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot about you, too, Robin of Loxley.”

  I raised an eyebrow at his mention of my full namesake. Robin Hood was not a legend most people knew anymore, much less the name Robin of Loxley. So far, in all my time, no one had ever matched my avatar’s name to Robin Hood.

  Until now.

  My eyes widened in surprise when Ghost stepped forward, finally coming into view just in front of the orb. He was my age. Or at least he looked to be my age. It was amazing what you could do with an avatar, especially when you were a talented hacker, but he looked right, somehow. Real.

  And so handsome, he nearly took my breath away.

  “What? You thought I was going to be some old man covered in warts or carrying a staff?” he asked, laughing with his eyes in a way that made them almost sparkle a deep teal color.

  “I’ve hardly thought of you at all,” I said, wanting very badly to lift my chin in defiance but still not able to move my head.

  A slow smile crept across his face, and the way he stared at me brought a blush to my cheeks. He knew I was lying. It was like he could literally see directly into my brain.

  Could he? No one was that good at hacking. Right?

  Finally, he looked away from me and stared at the orb, instead. When he turned, I caught sight of a tattoo on his neck, just under his shirt. A skull and crossbones. It really was him.

  “You know, I’ve been trying to release that illusion spell for the past half hour,” he said. “I couldn’t get it to budge. But you?”

  His eyes were on me again, making my skin flush. What the heck was he doing to me? I needed to figure out what he was doing to hold me and break the code, or he was going to take that orb away from me and disappear.

  I couldn’t let that happen.

  “You broke through that spell in a matter of seconds, really,” he continued, making his way around the orb. Studying it and me at the same time. “I had heard you were talented, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone who can do exactly what you just did.”

  My eyes snapped to his, and this time, instead of the flush of some kind of strange attraction I didn’t want to acknowledge, my body flushed with fear.

  Had he somehow been able to sense what I had done? The way I had connected to the source code?

  I wasn't sure what a guy like Ghost could do with that kind of information, but it was something I kept very close to the vest. Not even Blast understood exactly what I could do, and I had fought long and hard to make sure that secret was safe.

  Usually, someone just watching me work couldn’t tell or sense what I was doing, but this guy was different somehow.

  He knew.

  Still, I tried to bluff him. Just in case.

  “It was nothing,” I said. “I just needed to take a second and run through some old code in one of my backup drives, that’s all.”

  He responded with that smile again. The one that was more inside his eyes than on his face.

  The one that made my stomach flip over.

  I was kind of starting to hate him for the way he made me feel. I had never felt quite so out of control before.

  “Sure,” he said. “If that’s what you want me to think, I’ll go along with it for the sake of our new friendship.”

  “We aren’t friends,” I said. “At least no friend of mine ever held me against my will like this.”

  “We may not be friends, yet, but I’m hoping to change that in time, Loxley,” he said, his eyes turning to the orb. “But for now, I do hope you’ll forgive me for taking the Orb of Altress. I know how badly you wanted it.”

  I closed my eyes, trying to block out his voice and the unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach. I focused on connecting to the source code all around me. Tapping into that steady flow of energy that created everything here in this world.

  A trickle of connection moved through me, but I was too distracted. Too upset at the fact that this stranger was about to steal the treasure I’d been seeking for months right out from under me.

  Who the hell was this guy, anyway?

  “If this piece wasn't an absolute necessity for me and my crew, I would leave it for you. I really would,” he said. “But I have to have it. Someday, I hope you’ll understand.”

  I plugged in deeper to the connection and the flow of data, finally feeling the familiar, yet terrifying buzz of its power running through me. I searched for the code that surrounded most of my body, locking me in place, but it was hidden underneath lines of useless code.

  Like a smokescreen.

  I sorted through it as quickly as I could, but he’d somehow managed to place a ridiculous amount of junk in this code. I couldn’t tell what was real and what was just put there to fool me.

  Frustration rose inside me, causing a strange static in my connection.

  “You won’t be able to break free before I’m gone,” Ghost said. This time, he was standing so close to me, I could practically feel his breath against my cheek as he spoke. “Loxley, open your eyes.”

  I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. Besides, he was right.

  This code was too good. Too convincing. It was going to take me several minutes just to sort it out, and he’d likely be long gone by then.

  I opened my eyes to find him standing right in front of me, his arm brushing mine.

  “There’s a group of us fighting to make changes around here,” he said. “Here and...other places. We could use someone like you on our team.”

  “I work alone,” I said.

  “I’ve heard. And you make a real difference,” he said. “But just think what you could do if you had a group around you that you could trust. A family.”

  His words made tears spring to my eyes, and I quickly coded them away, embarrassed that I’d let so much of my real emotions show
.

  “Trust is a hard thing to come by among thieves these days,” I said. “And I’ve never been much of a family person, to be honest.”

  I expected him to laugh at me, but he didn’t. Instead, his teal eyes searched mine. Again, I wondered if he could hear my thoughts. If he knew I was lying, and that family was the one thing I wanted more than anything else.

  “You don’t have to do this alone,” he said, his voice softer this time. “And there is so much more to this world than even you have come to know. I could show you, Loxley. I could show you everything.”

  I swallowed back any sign of emotion that might come through my voice before I spoke.

  “And if I did want to take you up on it, how would I go about finding you again?” I asked.

  If he did plan on walking out of here with that orb and keeping it all to himself, maybe I could find a way to steal it back. Maybe he’d be dumb enough to tell me where he lived or how to reach him.

  He smiled and stepped back a few steps, one eyebrow raised as he shook his head. “You don’t really think I’d make it that easy on you, do you?” he asked. “Besides, you found me once. I have no doubt you can find me again, if you really want to. I have a feeling we’ll be running into each other a lot from now on.”

  “Fine, if you won’t tell me where you’re going with that orb, then at least tell me where you came from,” I said. “Three months ago, no one had ever heard of you. Did you switch avatars? Or are you new to the game, entirely?”

  I was so close to cracking through his jumbled mess of code that I was determined to keep him talking. I knew he wasn't going to give me any real answers, but if he’d just give me a few more seconds, maybe I could break free and grab the orb from his inventory.

  “So many questions,” he said. “And so little time. I imagine you’ve almost figured out how to free yourself from my little web there, so I’m afraid I have to get going. I am glad you came tonight, though. The guy who bought this orb was going to sell it tomorrow to one of the Dark Wizards.”

  I gasped. The Orb of Altress in the hands of a Dark Wizard would have been very dangerous. Lethal to many of the citizens of The Realm, no doubt.

  “That’s why I had to come for it today, and I was so hoping you’d meet me here,” Ghost said. “It was truly a pleasure to meet you, Loxley. I’ve been looking forward to it more than you know.”

  Dangit.

  He was already heading for the exit, and I was running out of time.

  “I am terribly sorry again about the orb,” he said as he crawled through the window. From where I stood, frozen, I could just barely see him out of the corner of my eye. “When you get home later, though, you’ll see I left you a little something to make up for it. I hope to see you again soon. Oh, and if you change your mind about us, come find me, okay?”

  With that, he took a great leap from the window and disappeared from sight.

  I closed my eyes, focused harder on the code holding me, and managed to untangle it in ten seconds. The moment I broke free, I dashed toward the window, working furiously to enhance my speed and agility as I jumped straight from the window to the ledge of the stables several feet away.

  I pulled myself up onto the roof, leaped across the length of the stables, and then jumped down onto the fence.

  Ahead of me, Ghost jumped from fencepost to fencepost, his body moving gracefully and so fast, I could hardly even dream of catching up. I pushed myself harder, even though I knew I was going to pay for it in the morning.

  I’d already gone beyond my normal limit. With top-of-the-line gear, I might have been able to push harder for longer periods of time without completely exhausting my body, but with this crappy, pulled together gear made of spare black-market parts, I was playing with fire.

  But I couldn’t let him go.

  I followed Ghost across the fields, into the town, through several cobblestone alleys, and finally out to the docks where several fishing ships had just come in with their catch of the day. I nearly lost him in the crowds there, but a small splash caught the edge of my attention, and I leaped into the water after him.

  I was fast in the water, too, and I could see him just ahead of me. Where he was going, though, I had no idea. There was only so far out you could go into the water before you hit the end of the world. Everyone knew that. But he kept speeding toward that invisible zone line, and I followed him, so close now I could almost reach out and grab him.

  Only, just as I nearly came up beside him, my body slammed into the barrier at the edge of the zone. I swam to the surface and gasped for air, every part of me hurting and sore from pushing too hard in this gear. I rubbed the water from my eyes and pressed my hands against the invisible wall that ended this part of the game world.

  I must have gotten turned around or missed something, because there was no way Ghost had kept going. It was literally the end of the world.

  I turned around in the water, searching to see if I could find any sign of him. At first, I thought he’d completely lived up to his name and totally ghosted me, but then, way past the zone line, something moved in the distance.

  What is that?

  I squinted and then gasped as a large ship came into view. It was nothing like any ship I’d ever seen before with its billowing sails and intricately carved details. And there were people on board. An entire crew from the looks of it, each of them wearing black pants and red shirts with a skull and crossbones on the back.

  The same symbol Ghost had tattooed on his neck.

  The ship had been moving quickly across the water, but it suddenly seemed to stop completely. Someone shouted and one of the crew members threw a rope ladder over the edge into the water.

  To my surprise and confusion, Ghost grabbed hold of the rope ladder and climbed up until he stood on the deck with the others.

  But how was that possible?

  I beat my fist against the invisible barrier, feeling no way around it, even when I searched the code with my mind. How had they gotten past it? It didn’t make sense.

  As Ghost turned toward me, he raised a hand, lifting the shimmering Orb of Altress into the air. Then, he nodded to me and raised his other hand in a salute.

  The ship began to move again, and in seconds, the entire Ghost ship was gone.

  More Than This Life

  “Exit,” I said, gasping as I disconnected from The Realm and returned to my tiny one-room flat.

  My entire body ached from what I’d put it through tonight, and I glanced at my watch. I only had two hours before a full day of work began all over again, and I already knew there would be no chance for sleep tonight.

  I removed each piece of gear from my body and made my way up out into the hallway, up the narrow stairs, and finally out onto the roof of my building in the Banned District. I needed some fresh air.

  Or at least what would have to pass for fresh in this world.

  I sat on the edge of the roof, staring out at the city full of millions, most of them tucked away in their pods or their beds, happily existing inside an imagined world that felt more real to them than real life ever would.

  He was out there somewhere. Ghost.

  But who was he? And what did he really want?

  I had more questions than I had answers, but there was one thing he’d said that kept running through my mind over and over.

  There is so much more to this world than even you have come to know. I could show you, Loxley. I could show you everything.

  I had spent my whole life feeling that surely there had to be more than this life. Tonight, I had met someone who said he could show me more.

  But could I trust him?

  I thought through it for more than an hour before the first hints of sunrise started to show on the horizon, and I was forced to drag myself back down the stairs to get ready for work.

  Just as I was about to head out, the handheld disc beside my bed pulsed with a green light. Blast. I picked it up to read the message.

  What happen
ed? Did you get it?

  I shook my head. I didn’t want to admit to him that Ghost had beat me to it, but his question reminded me that Ghost said he’d send me something else as a sort of consolation prize.

  I didn’t have much time before I had to get going, but I couldn’t leave it for tonight. I had to know if he’d been telling the truth.

  I quickly lay down in the bed and pulled on just the headgear this time. I would only be logged on for a moment.

  “Connect,” I said, and the world of The Realm sprang to life. It was dark there now, and my avatar was still at the edge of the zone line, floating in the water.

  I quickly opened my inventory, scanning for any new or unusual items.

  When my eyes landed on the pair of iridium bars, I nearly gulped in a lung-full of seawater.

  Two pure bars of iridium? Where in the world had Ghost gotten hold of something so valuable?

  Selling these would more than cover what I could have gotten from the Orb of Altress. Everyone in The Realm needed iridium, and it was one of the rarest and most precious metals available. It would be easy to fence, impossible to trace, and the take from this would pay the subs for more than a hundred families.

  I quickly hid them with a special set of code I’d created, making sure no one else would be able to see them in my inventory, and I logged out. There was no time to fence them this morning, but later tonight, I’d get rid of them and deliver the coin to some of the families I knew who needed it most.

  It would be a good night. The best kind, really.

  I dashed a quick message out to Blast on the disc.

  Not the orb. Better.

  I didn’t wait for the shocked reply I knew would be coming. I’d explain it all to him later.

  Maybe there really was more out there than I realized. Maybe there really was hope that I could make a difference.

  I threw on my hat and left my apartment to join the throng of the Banned who made the walk together toward the sewers and the factories.