The Game (The Game is Life, #1)

by Terry Schott

but she couldn’t bring herself to run. This little freak wasn’t going to scare her. Alex walked past the Toad, bracing for the hits to the back of her head as she did so, but when they didn’t come, she looked up with concern.

The only thing worse than getting hit by the Toad was not getting hit by the Toad. That meant she was walking into a room with important people already present. Alex quickly noticed three individuals inside the Toad’s office. Two of them were elite security officers, the large, muscular dark suited men who provided security to the wealthy. Bodies standing still and erect like stone statues, their eyes lazily swept over Alex, quickly dismissed her as a non-threat, and continued to

scan their surroundings, ever vigilant for an opportunity to ...

“Zack.” She interrupted him again. “I turned twenty-two about three months ago. I swear if I turn twenty-three while still sitting in this interview with you, I’m gonna do some bad things to a lot of

people.”

Alex received very little fanfare during the time leading up to her Game entry. Lilith had said to expect a storm of reporters and interview requests, but none came. Despite the news feeds, fan sites buzzing with speculation and ideas about what Alex being awarded a free play meant, she spent a very quiet few weeks leading up to the day of her entry. Lilith had been curious, so she started to personally contact people to initiate interviews on Alex’s behalf. “Someone very powerful is blocking us,” she said. “Why would they do that?” Alex asked. “I don’t know, but it’s true,”

confirm it, but my source is usually very reliable.” “What is it?” Brandon asked absently, He was bored and ready to leave. “Raphael has apparently been seen near her, sir, and it appears that he is guarding her from a safe distance.” Brandon’s eyes snapped to lock on to Kate’s. His intense gaze forced her to take an involuntary step backwards. He started to say something, but closed his mouth with an audible snap. Brandon’s eyes flicked to Michelle’s. “Confirm that by tomorrow when we convene at 2 PM, Michelle. If Raphael’s sniffing around, that is a big development.” When Brandon left the room, the team exploded into activity.

“They weren’t popular avatars, sir, and they all met with unfortunate accidents. I’ve been monitoring every mention of them from viewers; we are clear. Even if someone did notice, who would believe them? The truth for thirty years has been that no one can communicate inside the Game from the outside. If a fan claimed it was possible, they’d be labelled conspiracy theorists.”

the terms when I came on board, sir. If I succeeded, I’d have to ‘disappear’ in order to make sure there was no chance of me sharing the secret. There’s a price for knowledge, and it’s a price Greg Wassler agreed to pay willingly for the opportunity to become Hack.” Brandon nodded. “Okay then, Hack. Greg Wassler officially dies at age 25. You can’t see anyone from your old life ever again. It won’t be all bad. It’s a big world, and I reward loyalty.” Hack smiled. “I haven’t really had a life in seven years anyway, Mr. Strayne. May I ask one very personal question?” “Of course.” “What are you going to do with this ability to talk directly to avatars?”

Brandon smiled. “I’m going to become a God.”

there’s no way to get out of this. Life is not just some big game, although you seem to think so.”

but my gut tells me to keep a close eye on Trew this afternoon, and my gut is always right. I’m not having the type of feeling I get when someone wants to kill him. That’s a sick, panicked feeling with a heavy pressure behind my eyebrows. This is more of a tingling, curious feeling, not like something bad is about to happen, but more like I should just be close by to keep an eye on him.

I’m sipping on an iced tea, looking slowly around from time to time but trying not to look conspicuous, when from behind me I hear a familiar voice speaking in a language I rarely hear any more. “Hello, Stephanie. A little hot out for being lazy on a bench, don’t you think?” I slowly turn towards the voice, giving the man I see behind me a genuinely warm smile. I’m always happy to see

Raphael, even though the last time I saw him he was trying to kill me. But that wasn’t personal — he was just doing his job. “Raphael, you handsome wolf!

Come over here and give me a hug.” We embrace and it feels so...

Sometimes I’m apart from my countrymen so long that I’m afraid I’m the last of us. Of course, that’s not true — hundreds of us still exist; it’s just a big...

“So what brings you into my territory today, Raphael? How long are you here for, and is it business or pleasure?” “Business today, Stephanie,” He says. “I’m currently based in the United States. Ward duty for me for the past eight years.

My girl is here today on a visit and I just wanted to make sure she stays safe, even though my gut says there’ll be no problems.”

“Any idea who your girl is?” I ask pleasantly. Sometimes we tell each other, sometimes we don’t. But we always ask. Raphael shrugs. It looks like he’s willing to share the info with me. “In here she’s called Danielle Benton. Outside she’s Alexandra Montoyas. I’m hers for now. How about you, Stephanie? You have a ward also?” I nod dumbly. My mind is racing. I usually know what to do about a threat, but I can’t see how this is a threat to Trew. My gut tells me it’s fine, so I try to calm down. But something deep down feels… concerned. “We’d better go closer and take a look inside the dojo, Raphael.” He sees my look and his brows furrow with concern.

smile reassuringly and pat him on the back. “My ward is a nine-year-old boy named Trew Radfield.” I pause to see if he recognizes the name. He looks at me blankly, still waiting to hear something interesting. “Outside, he’s Zack.” Raphael looks at me for a moment in surprise. Then he tilts his head back and roars with laughter.

“You’re not worried about getting beat by a girl during the sparring?” I shrug. “Not really. Dad says we can learn more from failing than succeeding. So if you beat me, then I guess you’ll be doing me a favour by teaching me something new.”

Danielle and I go last. I walk to one side of the mat and she goes to the other. We face each other and bow. She looks very intense. I have a sudden feeling I might lose. Locking eyes with her, I quietly use my imaginary power and whisper, ‘You can’t win this match, Danielle.’ Her eyes squint and she freezes in place. She quickly looks around then her gaze

snaps back to me. “Hey, what did you just do?” she asks seriously. Stephanie “Hey!” Raphael exclaims in a loud whisper. “Did you just see that?” “Yes,” I say. “How long has he been able to do that, Stephanie?” “Couple years, but you know how it works, Raph. Most kids can do it when they’re young. Life and experience eliminates the Talent soon enough. He thinks it’s just his imagination.”

so soon it will fade, same as always.” “Maybe,” Raphael sounds doubtful. “But Danni just spotted it, and that’s likely going to be a problem for me.” “Why?” “Because she can do it too. I don’t know how she actually recognized Trew doing it just now, but I know her. There’s no way she’s going to stop believing in it after this.”

She attacks, I defend. I attack, she defends.

I watch the video later and can’t believe how good she is! It’s a close match, but I manage to win by one point. I guess I must be pretty good too. The person on the video looks like me, but I’ve never seen half the moves that either of us use. That happens to me sometimes. Sometimes I’m there, then a bit of time passes and I’m not really present. Suddenly I’m back. I’m not sure how it works, but it’s very cool.

“Well done, Trew,” Sensei says. “Your kata was clean and very powerful. The sparring…” She looks at me and Danielle and just shakes her head. “Was the sparring not good, Sensei?” I ask. “The sparring between you

two was like watching magic,” Sensei says. “If someone had told me two children your age could put on such a display of martial arts I wouldn’t have believed it. It was incredible, Danielle and Trew. Thank you for allowing us to witness it.” Sensei bows formally, and we both bow back.

“Don’t worry about not bringing a gift for me,” I say as a joke. “Since we just met, I’ll forgive you.” Danielle looks hurt. “But I did bring a gift for you.” “Really?” I ask. “Oh, yes. I let you win that sparring match. Happy birthday, Trew!” Everyone laughs and we leave the Dojo to go for ice cream.

“That was definitely Raphael outside the dojo. Can anyone explain to me how Alex got herself an Eternal to watch over her? They are the most expensive purchase in the Game, and Raphael is one of the

best.” Michelle looked to Kate questioningly. “She didn’t have the credits to purchase an Eternal, sir,” Kate said. “The only answer we can come up with that makes any sense is a very wealthy fan or group of fans made the purchase for her.”

“We knew the concept would be seen as ridiculous. No one on Earth would ever believe such a thing. But just to be safe, we had to eliminate all the books.” “Brandon, we’ve been working around the clock to try and factor Danielle into Trew’s play. It appears they are heading towards a romance of some sort, and we can’t predict any serious problems if that should occur. Our simulations actually suggest having her around will help him score higher than without her.” “I agree with you, Michelle. But something much bigger is going on here,” Brandon said.

“What do you mean?” “Both have Eternals. They both possess the Talent. The support they’ve shown each other in developing their skill is making them more powerful than a human should be. Danielle has also been fueling Trew’s belief that they are in a big game. We wanted him developing that thought, but we didn’t want him to truly believe it for decades. Now they both find this book? It’s going to reinforce everything they’ve been discussing. When two kids have crazy ideas, it’s one thing. When those kids see other people have been thinking the same things for years, well, that’s when it could get dangerous.” “So what

do you suggest we do? Separate th...

Let them continue on?” Brandon sighed. Michelle could tell he wasn’t as confident as usual. “I’m not sure what to suggest right now, Michelle. I think I need to do that unpleasant thing that I sometimes have to do.” “Are ...

Magic, true magic, is safe and secure in the world for one simple reason; no one believes that it exists. When an Eternal summons medical help with their mind, or a falling child is saved at the last moment by a stranger who appears at just the right time, we explain it as great luck, or call it coincidence. When I tell you those events were magic, you laugh at me. When I say ‘magic,’ you expect wondrous creatures, large displays of bright lights and noise. Don’t look high into the sky to see the flying woman; she’s closer to the ground, floating just a few inches off the ground. The extraordinary is simply that — a little bit extra than ordinary. There is great power in that little bit extra.

details and the front door opens. I look over briefly to see who is coming in — good habits. Damn it! ‘A,’ I hope you’re

watching this. I'm gonna scramble the signal. Counting to ten for you to switch channels. Hurry! 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...

Carl! If you guys knew he was in town, you really dropped the ball on letting me know! I almost pushed Trew to the ground and started a war in here, but Carl quickly threw up the hand signal for peace when he walked in. Unless he is going to go against all Eternal protocol, we are safe at the moment.

calm though. The boy feeds off energy; if I freak out, so will he. “Yeah, Steph?” He’s concerned. He follows my eyes and spots Carl, who has finished placing an order and is walking toward us. “Who’s that, Steph? You know him…? Hey, he has your eyes! Only not gold flecks… are they red? Wow, cool, I gotta look closer! Here he comes.” “Shh,” I hiss at him and his eyes leave Carl and dart to mine. “Listen, Lobato, everything’s fine. This is an old friend of mine. He can be a bit of a character though. So just be polite and don’t say too much, okay? And when I tell you to leave, you leave. You go home right away and make sure you’re with your Mom or Dad. If they aren’t home go next

door to the Balker’s place. I’ll call you later. There’s nothing wrong, I just want to make sure you do as I’m telling you right now, okay?” Trew shrugs. He’s not concerned. I’m doing a good job of staying calm on the surface, but deep down I’m ready to kill! “Sure, Steph, no problem.”

“With this guy, we play the ‘I don’t know’ game.” It’s not a question, and he nods his head seriously. “Okay,” He winks at me, and the...

like the hero that a comic book artist would draw. His energy… well, if you can feel it — which I can — he’s definitely not the hero. I’ve seen scarier villains in my time, but not very many.

control to not push Trew to the ground and throw a punch to Carl’s face. He must sense what I’m feeling, because his smile grows broader, inviting me to do it. “I was just passing through. Got hungry and decided to try the local pizza. What a huge coincidence,

running into you here.” Lies! “Well it’s great to see you.” I can lie just as well. “Tell me what you’ve been up to.” Carl turns his gaze from

mine to Trew. “Who’s your friend, Stephanie? How rude of you not to introduce us.” He extends his hand, “My name is Carl.” Trew looks at me, I give him a small nod, and he shakes hands with Carl. My gut tells me we are all safe. If Carl breaks the peace after giving the signal, then nothing can s...

“It’s a genuine pleasure to meet you, Trew. Do you eat pizza here often?” Trew shrugs, “I’m not sure.” “Really?” Carl asks. “Well, I don’t know what you mean by often. So I can’t be sure.” “I see.” Carl flashes me an annoyed look. I grin. “Well, do you live around here, Trew?” “No, not really…” Trew looks confused. Carl laughs out loud. His laughter is deep and rich; it makes you feel safe and happy. That’s a dangerous way to feel

with Carl, because it’s impossible to be either safe or happy around him. “The ‘I don’t know’ game, and he's very good at it for a youngling. Okay, fine, I get the message. You don’t want him talking to me.” He looks at Trew with a friendly grin. “That’s a shame, Trew. Trusting Stephanie could be troublesome for you some day. Anyone that can teach you how to not give answers… I wonder how much you really know about her yourself.” He lets the question hang uncomfortably in the air. I can see the doubt in Trew’s eyes.

“Trew,” I say. “His eyes dart to mine uncertainly. “Relax. He’s playing another game with you. Don’t worr...

look convinced. Damn it, Carl causes damage in every way he can.