Gamer (Gamer Trilogy) Page 3

  “And I’m sure you’ve heard, er, rumours about the going ons of the ISIM corporation,” at this his face turned sour and I saw his façade had slipped away… only to return a millisecond later, “but rest assured, you’re about to embark on a wild adventure. Upon your entry, boys and girls, you get to select a weapon or a tool and while inside, Simulator will randomly assign you either one or more, er, superpowers.”

  He danced around as he spoke and it was really off-putting but all the same, I couldn’t help but linger on the thought of superpowers…

  Sensing the increased interest in his speech, Tech elaborated, “We have over three thousand individual abilities stored in our databases. From teleportation to superstrength, to telekinesis to time travelling. Some of you will be instantly aware of your powers, while others will take some, hmm, prodding to reveal theirs.” He paused. What was that supposed to mean? “Whether you decide to ally or kill, know that there may only be one winner and that regardless of how much you enjoy one another’s company, the time will come to fight or flee.” I started to become nervous. His speech was nearing its end. “Be weary, be cautious and remember, keep your friends close, but keep your enemies even closer.”

  With that his speech finished and as we put on our goggles and selected from the list of tools and weapons – I chose a waterproof bag of supplies – we raised our hands, one by one, indicating that we were ready.

  Finally, just waiting for Grace, she murmured her apologies, selected her item and then raised her hand too. Now that we were all ready, a jolt of anxiety pierced me, I was genuinely fearful for what might come.

  Without any time to meditate on that thought, my screen went white and suddenly, instead of looking in on the world through the goggles – I was inside it.

  I was standing in a clearing full of knee-high, golden grass and lit by brilliant sunshine. Straight away it was sensory overload, the sounds of birds chirping, the bright coloured plants, the strange, intoxicating smells and… the glistening of glass trees. It was literally a nightmare come true but the unnamed emotion – irony, perhaps - lasted for barely a second. Instantly we sized each other up, made up our minds and then the clearing erupted into action.

  The last thing I thought before I launched myself from my standing position was kill, or be killed.

  3

  STEFANIE “Good morning all, I’m Stefanie Jones, and I want to be a model for your company.” I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, and went on, “Don’t get me wrong, I love acting, but I think it’s time I broaden my horizons. I believe I have the look to be a model as well as a personality that sets me apart.” I scanned the room and saw the looks of barely impressed faces. A solid resume and a family friend had gotten me this meeting but I needed something to blow the panel away – they’d heard the ‘I have the look and personality’ speech too many times to even feign interest. As the company’s head yawned, I realised the situation was worse than it seemed. Grasping at straws I said, “Also, I currently attend Elitus Academy,” a few people’s heads raised, “and I’ve been nominated for the Omega Award.”

  Instantly the entire room snapped to attention. They all eyed me up and down, looking at me with a newfound respect. It was kind of like taking off a fat-suit and then carrying a thousand dollar handbag, these people noticed.

  Ms Kaltimore, the lady sitting directly in the middle of the judge’s table, eyed me from over the top of her glasses. She was wearing them at the bottom of her nose, as if it was a fashion statement of some sort. Either way, her decision would be do or die for my career and every word she spoke rang with power. She was the head of Edge Designs and I was applying to become one of her models.

  It was a big leap, going from acting to modelling, made even bigger by the fact that this was one of the top couture houses in the world, but I was going for it anyway.

  “Well, Miss Jones,” her voice was clear, stern and piercing – yet also poised and eloquent, “if you were to come through with that nomination, we would be more than happy to facilitate for you. In fact, I believe our spring campaign is still lacking a suitable leading candidate…” I barely resisted the urge to squeal with excitement. “However, let me make it clear that if your nomination falls through,” my heart stopped “well, I suggest you leave modelling to those more experienced than yourself.”

  The tone of finality that followed made me want to kind of bow and walk out without turning my back but instead I just nodded, smiled and turned away as she yelled out, “NEXT!”

  And that was the first time I’d applied for a modelling job. Fast forward two weeks and here I was standing in a hexagonal room, mentally preparing myself to try and not get killed while looking good doing it. There’d probably be video footage of the whole event and the last thing I needed was to have to explain to Kaltimore why I looked hideous. In her own words – there was never an excuse for ugliness. Harsh, but true.

  My journey to the hexagonal room was actually quite pleasant. Upon opening the elevator, the lab just formed a nice simple field of solid, pinkish clouds and we walked along a path to the building. We held hands, of course, and nuzzled a little. It was cute, romantic even. I was disappointed when it ended.

  Lily and Xander, on the other hand, looked like they’d trekked through a storm. Their clothes looked kind of, well, destroyed and Lily’s hair was all over the place. Xander had a gash on the side of his face. I’ll admit it did make him look kind of… hot.

  I liked Xander. We’d been going to school together for about eight years now. I thought he might have had a crush on me but I pretended to not notice. I didn’t want to make it awkward for him and I kind of had a boyfriend too.

  Oh Victor, he must’ve been one of the most obnoxious people on the planet. But there was something about him I just couldn’t stay away from and it wasn’t the abs. I knew there was the real Victor, somewhere deep inside. Sometimes he’d open up and let his guard down, showing how caring and compassionate he actually was. I understood the position he was in – he had to put up appearances, he was quite literally the king of the school. Likewise, he understood me. Understood why I had to be so shallow sometimes and understood the struggle to keep the mask from becoming the person. He understood being popular and because of that, we clicked. At least that’s what I told myself.

  See, being the most popular people in school did have its drawbacks. I knew that some people would do anything to be in our position but it wasn’t as glamorous as everybody thought it was.

  It hurt sometimes to have to cut people down so that others around you would respect you. Telling girls off for wearing their crossovers crooked or hideous, last-season, probably offthe-rack clothing, was something I did almost daily – it was what allowed the hierarchy of our school to be upheld. Without hierarchy, there’d be no order; everybody had a place

  – just like the animal kingdom.

  Just a few years back, I was one of the many hopefuls who looked at those girls at the popular table, wishing to be them. And yet now the hopefuls watched and attempted to imitate me in every which way they could. Flattering, but also a little annoying. Maybe there was a part of me that did enjoy running the Academy…

  Anyway, I hadn’t actually applied for a spot in Simulator. I didn’t really care about it at all to be honest, not even when I knew the Omega was being offered. However, it mattered to Edge Designs, and so it had to matter to me. If I could buy the award, I would have already. But I couldn’t, so now I had to win it fair and square… ew.

  Without an application I obviously wasn’t eligible to get in but I did. Several years of exemplary behaviour and fulfilling the role as the Academy idol does get you some favours with the headmistress…

  So I went to her and was immediately given a spot, no questions asked.

  Unfortunately, it was only afterwards that I found out Victor had applied. It was a spot of tension between us for a while. But then we came to the agreement that we would help each other right up until we couldn’t. Killing m
y boyfriend could get a little awkward but in the end, I’d have to do what was best for me.

  Now, as I stood in the hexagonal room, I inhaled deeply. I listened to Tech’s speech and thought a little about which powers I’d get. I realised I’d need a game strategy and decided that my biggest threat was probably B3ast.

  I myself would probably be the most underestimated out of the group - who’d expect the shallow blonde girl to win?

  I also predicted that Grace would probably be the smallest threat; in fact she’d probably be willing to help Victor and I out and then we could get rid of her once we were done.

  In my head those words shocked me a little – this Omega was slowly but surely turning me a little insane. It was like a chant: Omega equals model, Omega equals model and now I was planning the deaths of my friends.

  It did hurt on the inside to be planning out friendships knowing that eventually I’d have to betray them. But that’s what it came down to – winning at all costs.

  The room itself was quite pretty. Polished, black floorboards, metallic walls and evenly spaced out square glass platforms, with sleek monitors on top of metal, flat-topped cylinders. I naturally soaked up design details.

  I looked down at my little screen/platform thing, and started selecting my weapon. I scanned past supplies, grenades, bows and arrows, guns and even what looked like a wand. Each weapon had its own description too, but it didn’t take long for me to settle on a giant, damaging, futuristic-looking laser launcher. Incineration on contact could be very useful.

  I raised my hand to signal that I was ready and looked around at my fellow contestants, sizing them up in my head. Victor would be my ally and Grace probably wouldn’t be a threat. B3ast would be determined to win, but wouldn’t have the confidence to openly attack anyone. He’d find some other way to win, like poisoning us in our sleep. Either way, he also seemed like the one most susceptible to turning crazy in Simulator…

  Lily, on the other hand, was a big grey area. To me she seemed dangerous, wild almost. But maybe it was just the ripped clothes.

  Either way, she looked set up with Xander, together they’d probably be hard to defeat. Then again, I’d be more interested in allying with Xander rather than trying to defeat him – for now. He was under the radar, not so much a threat or a friend – just a presence and it could pay off to be nice to him.

  I vaguely wondered what weapons they’d all choose, the only one I could definitely pick was B3ast’s – I’d passed over a laptop but didn’t think it would be useful at all. He’d find some way to use it I was sure.

  Going in the arena, my plan was a simple one – kill, not flee. I didn’t want to spend the whole time running from people – that’s not the type of girl I was. My career was a huge motivation. I would be a killer model… no pun intended.

  So dispatch B3ast if possible, and sort the rest out whenever I got to it. That was my plan.

  Finally Grace raised her arm – trust her to take the longest. Tech murmured one final goodbye and my body flooded with a surge of adrenaline. The room blurred as I put my goggles on and then something completely different came sharply into focus. Suddenly I found myself in broad daylight, in the middle of a clearing ringed with trees made of glass and gold. Everyone stood frozen for just a split second – then the fighting began.

  * * *

  My first reaction when I appeared in the clearing was to just take it all in. The cascades of rainbows reflecting off the glass trees and the heavy aromas of exotic flowers momentarily knocked the breath out of me. The grass looked like - and probably was – stringed gold and it reached up to my knees, rippling with the slight breeze. In the distance I could hear a river flowing, this world could only be described in one word

  – beautiful.

  We were each standing an equal distance apart around the clearing. In that first moment we all just looked around at each other, extremely tense to see who would make the first move… Lily.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw her lunge at Grace. I dropped into the golden grass and watched as Lily fastened a cloak around her neck – her weapon.

  Suddenly her skin turned to metal and spikes erupted from random spots along her new armour. Grace had no time to react. She looked so small and fragile in the path of the attacking Lily.

  Looking in my hands, I saw the laser beam. Adrenaline coursed through my body again and I aimed at Lily as quickly as I could. It was hard to see her while lying down in the grass – it was completely obscuring my vision.

  I frowned with concentration. I didn’t like her from the start and now she was about to kill a little girl. Rising a little out of the grass, I pulled the trigger of the gun - a beam of blue and green light shot out the end. The recoil jarred my shoulder a little but it hit.

  I heard a clang and rose again into a half crouching position, watching as Lily was thrown violently into the closest tree – she’d been mid-air just as the beam collided with her. The tree instantly shattered, almost exploding with the force. Little pieces of rainbows flew through the air, the shatter stunned everyone and there was a second of silence. But then she came back for more.

  Shaking herself off, a look of determination was on her face and she readied herself for a second charge.

  I looked around to see what everyone else was doing and saw only Xander standing in the clearing, looking a little stupid with a blank expression, holding onto a backpack-type object.

  B3ast had opened his computer, seen something that seemed to make sense to him and then run off into the forest. Victor on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen – maybe he’d run off too.

  I then realised that my gun, which was supposed to completely incinerate anything on contact - hadn’t even left a dent in Lily’s armour.

  I watched as for the second time she lunged violently, but this time, Grace pulled out a narrow strip of wood from her pocket. It was the wand that I’d scanned past.

  Suddenly Lily’s armour turned to a jelly-like substance and then began to ripple and crawl. There were maggots squirming around on the cape, crawling into Lily’s ears and mouth.

  Lily yelled out as she tore at her cloak, trying desperately to take it off. Grace just stood there silently, a look of determination plastered on her face but looking a little stupid with the stick in her hand. Lily sprinted off into the glassy, golden scrub, still screaming.

  I looked over to Grace and a stab of uneasiness came over me. Her eyes were fixed absently on the space between the trees that Lily had run through and yet a dark look, too dark for the girl I thought Grace was, was etched into her face. Her expression looked twisted and full of hatred. But just as quickly as it came, it passed, and so I let it be, she must’ve been a little shaken up…

  Either way it was all over in seconds. One attack, three people had run off and weapons had been used.

  I ran to Grace.

  “Grace,” I asked softly, “are you okay?” She looked a little rattled but besides from that, there was no physical damage.

  “I’m f-fine,” she mumbled. Back to her fragile self.

  I don’t know what the school was thinking, putting a tenyear-old in Simulator. This was ridiculous. I pulled her close to me and attempted to comfort her – Lily would pay.

  The reason and logic part of my brain, however, processed this as a good opportunity to take advantaged of the situation

  – and attack Grace. She’d never see it coming and it would make one less threat in the game. My grip tightened on the laser gun in my hands, as I contemplated ending her. Bouncing around my head was just a simple phrase: one down, four to go… If I killed Grace, it would be one down and four to go…

  “Stef!” I spun around, releasing Grace and gripping my gun. “What just happened?” It was Xander, awake and out of his stupor.

  I smiled and released the tension in my clenched hands, glad about the distraction. “Well Lily just attacked Grace and then ran off… B3ast and Victor are also gone,” I glanced around. “So, I guess not
too much really.” He smiled a little at my attempt to be funny. “But what happened to you? You seemed a little brain-dead.”

  Xander nodded, “Yeah, I was just kind of overcome by this whole place I guess…” He shrugged it off but I had a feeling there might’ve been something more to it… Who just stands in one spot unmoving in the middle of a situation that could potentially kill you? I’d bring it up again later.

  “What about Victor?” I asked, “Do you know where he went?”

  “Not a clue, I was completely zoned out,” he smiled apologetically – wow, I never realised how straight his teeth were.

  We shared a brief moment of eye-contact that seemed a little more intimate than it should’ve been and I broke it off, blushing a little, as I pulled loose blades of golden grass from Grace’s hair.

  There was… chemistry between us. Great.

  “You okay sweetie?” I asked Grace in a soft voice.

  She really wasn’t that young, but I’d taken a bit of a shine to her. She was actually just in the year below me, having skipped a couple of grades and she looked mature enough to nearly be my age. Her combed red hair and pale, porcelainlike face reminded me of well, me. I mean we didn’t look alike but she was so poised and mature for her age.

  “AGH!” Something had grabbed me. I spun around and hit out at whatever it was as hard as I could.

  I swung out with the metal laser and heard a solid thud. I pulled the trigger but watched the beam go astray as Xander tackled me to the ground. Was he the one that grabbed me? I struggled even harder.

  “Stef, stop!” Two people yelled out in unison.

  I paused for a second, startled, and realised that the mystery groper had been Victor – “what the…?”

  Xander looked too happy about what had just happened and even Grace chuckled a little. Victor was nursing a swelling bruise on his left upper-arm and I pierced him with a look that plainly said ‘explain yourself’. I was furious but also realised how tense I’d become in just the first ten minutes – maybe I’d be the first to go insane.