Gamers' Rebellion (19 page)

He gagged. Reaching up he lifted the mask from his nose and mouth, pulling the tube from his airway.

‘I’m back.’ His voice was hoarse, his throat dry and raw.

He was about to get up when he heard someone enter the room. He pushed the tube up into the mask and replaced it over his mouth and nose, closed his eyes and lay still.

‘Well, well, well,’ said Designer-in-training Welbourne, pushing equipment aside to reveal the prone Designer. ‘Who would have guessed that you were still around? It was quite a surprise, finding out that you were not dead. Everyone thought that Alpha had disposed of you long ago.’

Designer-in-training Welbourne approached Designer Beta’s prone body. ‘But it’s too late for you.’ A smile crept up at the corners of his mouth. ‘She wants you out of the picture. And she sent me to do it. Do you know what that means? It means she forgives me for letting Zyra escape. It means she still trusts me. It means that my training is over. It means that I’m going to be the Beta to her Alpha.’

Welbourne lowered into a half crouch so that his face was level with Designer Beta’s. ‘How does it feel, I wonder?’ he asked. ‘To be obsolete? No longer of any use? Replaced by a younger model?’

He straightened and reached out to the IV bag. Touching it, he gently ran a finger down the length of the tube that fed into Designer Beta’s arm. Taking hold of the plastic where it connected to the needle, he yanked it out. Beta breathed deeply and slowly, keeping himself still. Green liquid spurted from the end of the tube, and blood welled up in the crook of the Designer’s arm.

Designer-in-training Welbourne switched off one monitor and then another and then another. He unplugged the equipment that kept the Designer’s body in working order and finally, he disconnected the ventilator. Then he leaned in over the Designer’s body. ‘Perhaps she’ll let me have your cadaver?’

Designer Beta’s arm shot up, his hand closing around Welbourne’s throat.

‘Don’t count your corpses before they …’ His voice was raspy and dry. ‘… before they … hatch? Before they die? Oh … doesn’t matter.’

The Designer-in-training’s eyes bulged as Designer Beta wrapped the breathing tube around his throat and pulled it tight.

35: Josie and Tark

Tark rubbed at his sore eye as the rebels waited for him to speak.

‘We’ve got to go to the Design Institute, now,’ insisted Tark. ‘Zyra and Robbie have started a rebellion. They’re waking up the kidnapped children, they’re downloading more people from the Game and they’re fighting the Designers and their guards. They need help.’

‘And exactly what are we going to be able to do?’ asked Josie. ‘My rebels are a bunch of kids. Very resourceful kids … but still kids!’

‘Well, they’ve broken into there before to kidnap me,’ Tark pointed out.

‘That was different,’ said Josie, pacing up and down the makeshift laboratory. ‘They weren’t fighting anyone. They were sneaking in. They knew exactly where to go because our informer gave directions, and neutralised some of the security. And despite all of that we still lost Mel.’ Tark saw the pained look that crossed Josie’s face. ‘Besides, we don’t have any weapons.’

‘What about that thing you zapped me with?’ demanded Tark.

‘That’s a self-defence device. You have to actually make contact with a person to use it. And we only have one.’

‘Well then, I’m going on my own,’ said Tark.

The door to the laboratory flew open and Devon came rushing in, carrying a computer tablet.

‘Boss,’ he panted, handing her the tablet. ‘You’ve got an incoming communication.’

Josie held it up and saw an image of Robbie.

‘Who are you and what do you want?’ she demanded. She was putting on her no-nonsense leader’s voice.

‘My name is Robbie and I’m your informer.’

‘What?’ Tark’s eyes widened at the sound of the voice.

‘What?’ Josie’s voice echoed Tark’s.

‘Just listen,’ said Robbie. ‘Guards are breaking into the room where Zyra and I are. We don’t have much time. We need your help with the Game. The kidnapped children are slowly gaining consciousness and a physical presence in the Game, but they are disorientated and panicked. This is causing instability in the Game environments. Mel is there and trying to calm them down.’

‘Mel!’ gasped Josie. ‘She’s all right?’

‘Yes,’ said Robbie. ‘But she needs help. We need as many of you as possible to go into the Game and help her calm the children. I’m sending you the Game coordinates now.’

‘We can’t,’ said Josie. ‘Our nanos can’t get us past the Game security.’

‘I have disabled the security,’ said Robbie. ‘You can now get in.’

‘How did you do that?’ asked Tark.

‘I am now Designer Prime,’ replied Robbie, matter-of-factly. ‘Go as quickly as you can.’

And then the communication went dead.

‘Devon,’ said Josie, voice eager. ‘Get the nanos ready.’

36: Downloading

The hole in the wall was getting bigger. Zyra could now see the drilling machine and its operator.

The hatch to the secret passage slid open. Leaving the portal active, Robbie stepped through the swirling strings of code and out of the programming zone. The display immediately took on a red hue.

‘Come on,’ said Robbie, taking Zyra’s hand and leading her to an emergency exit hatch. ‘We’ve gotta move. I’ve set the portal to overload.’

They climbed down and made their way along the maze of narrow passages. Seconds later the building was rocked by an explosion. Robbie fell against Zyra, pressing her up against the wall. Their faces were almost touching and Robbie’s strange lash-less eyes stared into Zyra’s. For a brief moment it seemed as if Robbie would lean in closer.

‘Ah, shouldn’t we get going?’ said Zyra.

‘Um … yes,’ agreed Robbie, pulling away, trying to hide the sudden rush of colour in his cheeks. ‘This way.’

They raced along the passageways until they came to a dead-end with a ladder reaching up to the ceiling. Robbie climbed up and placed his palm to the ceiling. A hatch appeared and he climbed up. Zyra followed.

They were in a white corridor, the hatch closing up as if it had never been there. They had hardly gone ten metres down the corridor when Robbie stopped and pressed his palm to the wall. A door slid open and they went in.

Zyra went cold as she remembered the room.

‘Yes,’ said Robbie, seeing her expression. ‘This is the room in which you were born.’ He pointed to the gelatinous sack in the centre of the room. ‘A new clone has taken your place.’

Zyra looked at the sack, connected to tubes and wires that disappeared into the wall. Through the membrane, she saw a human shape curled up in a foetal position, suspended in a thick green liquid. She held her breath and poked at the skin with her finger. The rubbery surface squished inwards, the displacement of liquid making the clone wobble about. Long blonde hair floated about its head. It was a replica of her.

Zyra exhaled loudly.

‘Look, I know this is a bit weird for you,’ said Robbie. ‘Especially since you were in one of these things little more than twenty-four hours ago. But we need to get a move on.’

‘Twenty-four hours?’ Zyra suddenly realised how tired she was. And hungry. And achy. She had been running on adrenaline all this time and now that she realised it, everything threatened to catch up with her.

Robbie activated a panel that slid open revealing a set of controls. He tapped at the keys and then another panel opened. This one revealed a small compartment. Robbie pulled out a jumpsuit, which he handed to Zyra.

‘The clone is now ready. So a signal will have been sent to the corresponding exit card in the Game. The first Game entity will begin to download soon. I’m going to leave you to take care of her, while I go to the next clone. Is that okay?’

‘Sure.’ Zyra’s voice was flat.

‘I’ll be back with my clone as soon as I can.’

Zyra continued to stare at the cocooned clone after Robbie left. Then she started to pace up and down, eyes still glued to the clone. She was not sure how long she had been watching it before she saw movement. It was a slight spasm at first, a twitching arm. But soon both arms and legs were convulsing, and then stretching out, pushing against the membrane.

The clone’s fingers tore through the rubbery substance and thick green liquid spilled out onto the white floor. Zyra jumped back instinctively. She continued to watch from a distance as the figure thrashed about and coughed up more liquid, adding to the green puddle she was lying in.

Zyra dropped the jumpsuit and cautiously approached. ‘Hello,’ she said tentatively. ‘Hope! Is that you?’

‘Yes, dammit!’ gasped the clone. ‘It’s me.’

Hope threw up all over Zyra’s feet.

‘Thanks,’ said Zyra.

Hope opened her eyes and squinted up at Zyra. And then vomited again. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and struggled up onto her hands and knees.

‘Here, let me help you up.’

Zyra held onto Hope’s arms and Hope shakily got to her feet. She almost fell over as a downpour of warm water cascaded from the ceiling, drenching them both. Zyra quickly put an arm around her shoulders to steady her. Moments later, the water ceased and a blast of warm air dried the room.

‘Come on, let’s get you dressed.’

Zyra walked Hope over to the jumpsuit and held it out for her. It was at that point that Hope finally registered the mirrored wall.

‘We really do look the same, don’t we?’

‘Yep,’ agreed Zyra. ‘I’m still not used to looking like this.’

‘Oh … I could get used to being young again,’ said Hope, admiring her own reflection.

‘Get dressed,’ said Zyra, shaking her head in amusement. ‘We’re going to have company soon.’

Just as Hope sealed up her jumpsuit, Robbie and another clone entered.

Hope and Zyra stared at the perfect young version of John Hayes.

‘This is Galbrath,’ said Robbie.

‘Oh you’re kidding me.’ Zyra turned to Hope, hands on hips. ‘You know our history, and yet you chose him as number two?’

When Zyra and Tark had been playing the Game – and even when they first became Outers – Princeling Galbrath had a knack for being trouble.

‘You said to choose the people I trusted most and who I thought would adapt best,’ said Hope. ‘And this is him. The third Galbrath since you left. The most trustworthy and resourceful of the lot. He is his own person. So get over it!’

‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Galbrath, extending his hand.

Zyra shook it warily.

‘We don’t really have time for all this chit-chat,’ said Robbie. ‘We’ve got more clones to awaken, and we need weapons.’

Zyra looked from Hope to Galbrath. ‘More clones. How are we going to keep track of who’s who? We’re all going to look the same.’

‘I had already considered that,’ said Robbie, holding up a thick black marker. ‘I’ll write your names on your jumpsuits.’

37: Calming Down

Tark materialised beside the containment tank, right in front of a screaming boy. He put his arms around the kid in an endeavour to calm him down.

Seconds later, Josie materialised. She immediately scanned the people around her.

‘Mel!’

Mel looked up from the young girl she had been comforting. ‘Oh goodness me. Josie!’ She enveloped Josie in a tight hug. Tears cascaded down her cheeks. ‘I never thought I’d see you again.’