“Yeah, it took some getting used to. Even compared to Civic City, this was a major change. I went from having everything I knew in one small room to having the freedom to go and do as I pleased.”
Dean sets the knife down, and his face goes serious. “Is this what things used to be like before?”
Before. It’s hard for me to think about what things might have been like back then. Back before the whole world went belly up and the unfortunate ones were locked away in boxes. “I don’t know. I feel like we’re a long way from how things used to be.”
I remember the special world created for the Pangea Developers. The one where my dad hid my present for my nineteenth birthday. It was full of houses so close together with front yards and sidewalks that were meant to be used. He said it was modeled after the way towns used to be built. When families were a part of a community.
Here, even now, there’s no real sense of community. We say hi to one another, but people still interact within Pangea. Sure, I hang out and have dinner with Buzz and Grayson, but when we spend quality time together, it’s almost always in a digital world. Part of me feels like that wasn’t always the case. The world, the real world, doesn’t seem to have all that much to offer anymore.
A knock at the door breaks us away from our existentialism.
When I open the door, Aleesia wraps her arms around me.
She squeezes tight. “I’ve missed you. It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen your cute face.” She kisses me on the cheek.
“I’ve missed you too.” I pull her in tighter, burying myself in her black hair and enjoying the scent of her lavender shampoo. “It’s been a busy time for both of us, that’s for sure.”
She looks longingly into my eyes before releasing me and turning to Dean. “And you must be Dean. It’s nice to meet you face to face. How are you liking it at headquarters?”
Dean blushes. This may be the first time he’s been face to face with a beautiful female. “It’s nice. Way different than what I’m used to.”
“Oh, I bet. What are you making?”
She and Dean engage in small talk while I finish up with the chicken. After his initial nerves wear off, I notice him visibly relax as Aleesia talks to him about her schooling and the internship.
“Are you serious?” His eyes go wide. “You’re just an intern and they are letting you work on full-immersion? That’s insane! You are living the dream.”
She laughs. “It’s a lot of work—I mean, a lot—but I really do love it. It’s like real-life magic to be able to feel and truly experience another world.”
Once the food is prepped and in the oven, we sit around the table with a deck of cards playing Go-Fish and chatting. The cards are old with frayed edges. Benjamin gave them to me when I first moved in. He said that the developers used to play cards when trying to work through new ideas back in the day. It’s possible that at some point in the past, my dad held these very same cards in his hands.
“So do you know what is coming in the next stages?” Dean hands Aleesia a seven of hearts.
She places four sevens on the table, and then asks me for a three, but I don’t have one.
“Go fish.” I smirk as she scrunches her nose.
She draws from the deck. “I know what’s happening in the final stage, but your guess is as good as mine for stage two. It’s not my department.”
“Well?” Dean leans forward, desperate for information.
“Nice try.” I laugh. “But if she’s not telling me, then I doubt you’re getting any info out of her. Now, Dean, do you have a queen?”
He grumbles as he hands me two queens. They complete my set and I place all four on the table.
“Nice, now, Aleesia, do you have a three?” I wink.
“You son of a—” She slides me the card across the table and my alarm system beeps, alerting me that a package has been delivered.
“That’s weird. I’m not expecting anything.” I place my cards face down and go to the door.
Outside, there are two black plastic boxes stacked on top of one another. They look almost identical to The Boxes we opened inside the maintenance shaft at the beginning of stage one. Sleek with two latches on each side. A packing slip is attached to each box, one labeled for me and the other for Dean.
I bring the packages inside. Both boxes have a digital lock on the outside preventing them from being opened, so I check the packing slip and find a note inside.
Esil Allen,
Congratulations once again on advancing to stage two of the tournament! The package before you has been shipped preemptively to all contestants for use during stage three. The lock will be opened upon completion of stage two. If for whatever reason you do not advance, the lock will remain in effect and a drone will be sent to retrieve the package.
-Pangea Online Developers
Dean glances from the paper in his hand to the package and then back to me. “What do you think this is?”
I shrug. “I’m not sure, but I’d be willing to bet that it has something to do with Aleesia’s mysterious project.”
She pulls her thumb and index finger across her mouth as if zipping it shut. “You’re not getting anything out of me.”
Before long, dinner is ready. Dean inhales his food like he’s never eaten before, not all that different from Buzz.
“This is so good,” he manages to get out between bites. “I didn’t even know food like this existed. It’s so much better than the packaged meals we get in The Boxes.”
Aleesia smiles. “And you guys made it all by yourselves. If this meal is any indication of your teamwork, then you’re gonna go far in this tournament.”
“You’re in an awfully chipper mood,” I tease.
She rolls her eyes. “Oh, stop. It’s just nice to actually have some time to myself.”
“Well, you know we would love to spend the evening with you, but I promised Talia we would run some more trial runs after dinner.”
She stabs a piece of chicken with a fork. “I understand. You do what you have to do to win. I have a nice, hot bubble bath calling my name at home.”
Dean’s mouth drops open, displaying bits of unswallowed food. “Wait, you have a bathtub? With bubbles? All we have are cold showers at the orphanage.”
“Ah, I remember those. They build character.” I laugh at the memory of the frigid cold water. “No need to fear, at least we have hot water here.”
Aleesia looks at us with a shocked expression. “Are you serious? You don’t have hot water?”
I shrug. “You get used to it.”
“That’s…” She searches for the words. “…not right.”
Dean scrapes the last bits of food off his plate. “I’d say that’s about the least of our problems.”
Aleesia’s cheerful disposition instantly sours. She has a good heart and hates to see others suffering. But the truth of it is she’ll never really understand. Cold water is par for the course. The real injustice is that the system is designed to keep everyone stuck there. I’ve helped those I can, but it will never be enough until they are treated as more than just people from The Boxes.
But this is nothing new. We’ve had this talk in a million different ways. For now, it’s best to focus on the tournament, on helping the one person I know I truly can.
After cleaning the table, I pull Aleesia into my bedroom to talk privately. “I know you’re upset, but this has been my and Dean’s life for as long as we can remember. I don’t want to dwell on how bad things are for him back there, but show him how good things can be when he gets out. We just need to get through the tournament.”
She leans into my chest. “I just wish there was more we could do. I know I told you to focus on those that you can help, but meeting him, knowing that there are so many more just like him… I guess it never really hit me before. The world is a mess.”
I take her face in my hands and look into her glistening eyes. “All we can do is try to make it a little better each day. N
ow, get out of here and enjoy your bubble bath.”
I kiss her gently on the nose and she wipes away the tears that threaten to overflow.
Aleesia hugs Dean on the way out, thanking him for dinner. She may be going to rest, but for us, we’re just getting started.
Chapter Twenty-One
Over the next two days, we train like our lives depend on it. With each race, as we continue to gel with Talia and Chadwick, I become increasingly aware that this alliance will not last forever. There can only be one winner in the end, and I’ll do everything within my power to make sure it’s me and Dean.
At some point, our goals will not align with Talia and her brother. I just hope that moment comes in stage three and not sooner.
The night before stage two is set to begin, I receive a message from the developers with the time and location for the race. Tomorrow morning, 10am, Raceworld. Only competitors will be allowed in Raceworld until the tournament begins.
Dean and I remove our haptic suits and hang out in the living room before bed. We’ve done all we can to prepare. Now, it all comes down to execution.
“How are you feeling?” I want to give him the opportunity to get whatever he is feeling off his chest.
He brushes his shaggy hair from his eyes. “Ready as I’ll ever be. As long as we are able to stay near Talia, I think we’ve got a shot.”
“I agree. The good thing about this tournament is that we’re all on the same page. Everyone else has had the same amount of time to prepare.” I stand up and stretch. “We should try to get some sleep. I need you to be as focused as possible tomorrow.”
Advice is always easier to give than adhere to. Once in bed, I find myself wide awake, staring at the ceiling and playing through scenarios in my head. I know that there will be something tomorrow that we haven’t prepared for, but it doesn’t keep me from running through scenes that are likely to never happen. When sleep does come, my dreams are haunted by even more farfetched scenarios.
Scenes where Ryken pulls me from my car and tosses me off a bridge, forfeiting our position in the race. Or where every other competitor turns on us, using focused fire so that we never move out of last place.
I wake up in a cold sweat five minutes before the alarm is set to go off. Instead of waiting in bed, I go into the living room.
Dean sleeps peacefully on the couch, his fists balled together beneath his chin as he pulls the sheets in close. He’s been through a lot. Even though he’s so close to being a man, I’m reminded that he’s still a kid. His life is only beginning, and winning this tournament could change his entire future.
The alarm goes off. A gentle beeping that slowly grows louder until Dean stirs beneath the covers. He sits up and wipes his eyes.
The look of confusion transforms into a smile. “Today’s the day!”
After a quick shower and breakfast, we log into Pangea. Once the time comes, we depart from my home portal to Raceworld, where competitors continue to materialize around us. Many stand in groups of four to six. Apparently, more and more people decided it would be a good idea to have an ally in a race this big.
“Ready?” A firm hand grabs me on the shoulder.
I turn to see Talia, her dreadlocks pulled into a ponytail.
“We’re ready,” Dean answers for me as he fist-bumps Talia and Chadwick in turn.
There’s a flap of wings as Nancy takes to the sky on her pegasus. A moment later, her amplified voice carries over the crowd.
“Greetings, adventurers, and welcome to stage two of the Pro-Am Tournament! You once again find yourselves competing against the best of the best. Portal Pass may be a familiar track, but let me assure you, there are plenty of unexpected changes in store. Your positions have been randomly generated, so without further ado, let’s get started.”
She snaps her fingers, and everything goes black. The next thing I know, I’m sitting in a hovercar on the streets of a towering city. Neon lights flash all around us, reflecting off the wet streets. Holograms dance in the sky among the towering buildings. We’re in some sort of shopping district in a futuristic cyberpunk world. I can’t read any of the signs on the buildings. They’re in a foreign language but the images of ramen, clothing, robots, and more cast some light on what each shop contains.
Revving engines fill the air. We’re surrounded by other cars, each hovering about a foot off the ground. I search the area, but I can’t see Talia anywhere.
I tap the floorboard with my foot as I search for the gas pedal, but it’s empty. When I tilt the steering wheel, the massive turret overhead changes direction.
“We need to switch,” Dean yells over my shoulder.
He and I climb out of the vehicle. As soon as my feet touch the ground, a red timer appears in my vision counting down from thirty.
Warning! Return to your vehicle immediately or you will be disqualified.
That’s good to know.
I climb into the front seat and the notification disappears. The dashboard in front of me has displays for speed, shield health, elemental charges, and equipped items. In the top right corner of my vision, there are displays for our position and current stage.
Position: 80/163
Stage: 1/10
The shield is currently at zero, so I assume it will activate once the race starts.
“Have you seen Talia?” I ask as I scour the competitors around us, looking for her dreadlocks.
To our right, there are two elves in jewel-toned cloaks. Straight ahead, there’s a blue-haired beastman and a post-apocalyptic human. Next to them, two men with fairy wings protruding from their shoulder blades. A few rows up, I spot Ryken’s massive frame. Dawn scowls at me as she points the turret gun in our direction. How has he managed to turn her against us too?
“They got lucky. Look all the way to the front.” Dean fiddles with something behind me.
Sure enough, all the way in first place I see Chadwick in the gunner spot. He waves at me as our eyes briefly make contact. Talia sits ahead of him in the driver’s seat.
There are over seventy cars between us and them. Sticking to our plan is going to be a tall order, and I won’t blame her one bit for not waiting around for us.
All around us, the other teams are getting into position, switching seats, and locating their allies for the race. One thing I notice is that we all have the same style of hovercar.
They are all matte gray, with one seat facing forward and the other facing the rear. Thrusters glow beneath each vehicle, changing from a dull gray to a bright yellow as drivers tap the acceleration.
One major change I spot is the way the turrets are mounted. Instead of having one blaster attached to the front and rear, a turret is mounted in between the driver and the gunner a foot overhead so that it allows the gunner to shoot in three-hundred-sixty degrees.
Nancy flies down the center of the street on her pegasus. Her shimmering mail reflects the neon lights, giving a cyberpunk glow to her Norse armor. Her mouth moves, but I can’t hear her over the revving engines and constant chatter.
She taps her neck twice and the scream of feedback silences the noise around us.
“That’s better.” She smiles. “I can understand your excitement, but I have a couple of announcements before we get this race going. First off, I’m sure you’ve noticed our upgraded turrets. This allows the drivers to focus on driving and the gunners to focus on shooting. In addition to the new turret, Portal Pass also has new portal options and a few new items, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise. And finally, you all received packages in the mail. Each one has a time-delayed lock that will open for those who finish in the top one hundred. For those of you who finish outside of the top one hundred, a drone will come to recover the package.”
She hovers in the air at the front of the line. “Now that we have that out of the way, everyone take your positions. The race will begin in sixty seconds. Good luck and godspeed! I’ll see you on the other side.”
A timer appears in the center of my
vision. I scout ahead, looking for any of the items or elemental charges on the track. From my position, I can’t see anything beyond the first row of cars. We’ll need to catch up with Talia, but there are over seventy cars between us.
The timer hits zero and whining engines surround me. The two elves smash into us from the right at the same time as the beastman reverses into us. Our shield cracks as more cars ram into us from behind.
Dozens of cars bypass us to the left and right.
I try to maneuver away, but we’re pinched between the pileup. There’s no one to our left, but we’re so jammed that I can’t break free. Our shield continues to decrease as more and more cars pile up around us.
Our shield hits zero and the acceleration gauge plummets. I press the gas, but nothing happens. That’s when I notice that we have dematerialized into a ghost version of ourselves. Our car floats higher into the air, and the pileup of cars fills in our empty spot below.
“What’s going on, Esil? Get us out of here.” Dean yells.
“I can’t do anything. Our shield is down.”
Panic begins to set in. Are we already out of the race this soon? We didn’t even make it past the starting line.
Several other cars begin to drift into the air, including the beastman in front of us. Our shield springs back to life and we’re jostled as our car drops on top of the pileup. After a couple of seconds, the other cars regain their form and are dropped on the track. Once we touch down, I’m able to accelerate again. I press the pedal to the floor and we slide off the pileup, crashing down on the street below before our car resumes hovering. The fall damages our shield, but we’re able to break free and finally start the race.
More cars crunch against one another, but the pileup eventually begins to disperse as more and more cars respawn on the track. I keep a wide berth from any of the other cars as we exit the first stretch and head into an underground tunnel.
Around the first turn, an elemental charge and item spawn sit in the center of the track. I pass over each one in turn, unlocking a fire charge and two shield cells.
Pangea Online 3: Vials and Tribulations Page 20