Disclaimer : I don't own anything from Jumanji.

Note: (For those who are interested...) Now that there is almost no spoiler to fear any more, with each chapter I'll leave notes to give as much informations as possible on the story. Because, once I'll mark this as complete, I won't come back to add comments for those I can't answer by PM. So, be prepared for the big endings notes :).

Anyway... Here we are. The mechanical city is straight ahead and the answers are there too. Warning : it's a bit dark...
Enjoy!

The mechanical city

Oberon was leading the group through the thick jungle of Jumanji which seemed almost restored to its former splendour. From time to time they still could see some trees with dark marks but as they were progressing the traces of the corruption were fading. The professor seemed to know every hidden path and didn't hesitate one second on the directions to take.

Fridge, who seemed to have found in the roundish man a new friend, was walking next to him. Sometimes, the cartographer was glitching badly, but it didn't seem to affect him much.

Martha and Spencer were a few feet behind, just enough to enjoy some privacy.

− "Do you think we could save Bethany?" Asked the red-haired girl, low voice.
− "I really hope so." He glanced at her. His girlfriend seemed bothered. "You still feel guilty?"
− "Yeah..." She confessed. "Earlier, she opened to me about her fears and I didn't support her."
− "We were terrified. There was no way we could have reacted in brave heroes at that very moment. And from all of us, you where the bravest. I'm glad you pushed us to move forward. We couldn't do it without you." Martha blushed.
− "I could kiss you, right now. But that's for my geek hero only." Spencer smiled.

Soon they arrived at a very well known place. Around them, half hidden by the vegetation, were some big animal statues and a path drawn by two lines of braseros. Far away, they could see the giant jaguar statue overhanging the land. Its one eye was shining so bright that even in the full light of the day they could see it.

− "Here we are." Declared the cartographer.
− "So, that's the jaguar again." Said Martha. "In a sense, we could have guessed it. After all, it's the heart of Jumanji."
− "Indeed, but we couldn't have gotten too it without the help of professor Oberon."
− "Wait a minute. You said it would be some unusual place in Jumanji. I don't see anything strange here." Demurred Fridge.
− "What are you talking about? There is no place stranger than this one." They all looked back at Oberon in confusion. "This is the mechanical city."

He began to describe what they couldn't see: big columns of polish dark steel, green electricity running randomly on it and forming arcs between them. For him this place was still plunged in darkness, even if he could perfectly see and where they saw the jaguar statue, he could only see the light it was emitting.

− "Why don't we see the same thing?" asked Fridge.
− "He is part of the game. He can read its language. He can see its kernel."

Suddenly, Oberon glitched so bad that for a moment he almost totally disappeared. This time, he seemed to be aware of it. His expression darkened as he intrinsically understood what it meant for him.

− "I'm not sure how long I will continue to exist. I'm pretty sure I don't have much time left. But we may still can do something for you friend that is trapped inside me. No-one should be sacrificed to oblivious... less a young. Let's hurry up." He proposed.
− "I'm sorry that you are ..." Began Spencer.
− "This is not your fault." interrupted the cartographer. "That's that crazy game's fault." He said with a tiny smile. Then, he sighed deeply. "What I am now may be just an artificial reconstitution of what I was, but it seems real to me. I feel real." Then, he looked at them with a certain intensity and an unexpected lack of assurance. "You seem to know a lot of things about the strange reality. I have questions I want to ask before it's too late." He seemed to search the courage for a few seconds and then just let it go. "Is there heaven for those who died like me? Like echoes in a machine? Are my final acts as this ghost of myself count in this unreal world in the judgement balance? Would my soul reach the heaven if this me does something good? It may sound selfish, but... I need something to hold onto... Even if it's a lie."

A heavy silence followed the cartographer's monologue. It tore them apart. Martha lowered her head to hide the tears that were menacing to form at her eyes. Fridge turned slightly away too. Spencer, throat tight, was the only one able to reply.

− "I'm sure you would..."
− "Thank you... " Oberon smiled and cleared his throat before continuing with a more steady voice. "We have not time to waste any more. Let's save your friend. That will be my final human act."

Heavy hearted, the group silently moved forward.

###

It seemed to take forever to reach the foot of the jaguar statue. Last time, they had to run and fight their way through it and the life-threatening menace made the time pass faster. Now, it was just a boring and long tortuous path. They didn't have the opportunity to slack off, though. Their progression was quite a nervous wreck as there were slowly racing against time. The stake was the life of their friend trapped in the defective body of their guide. The glitches he was victim of were now rarer but worryingly stronger. Sometimes, he would almost disappear. It was like looking at a blinking neon, knowing that at some point it would definitely break. And they couldn't go much faster as the men was quite exhausted.

The professor was trying to keep it together as the horrifying process occurred. The rest of the times, he would just talk to distract himself. Fridge, whom was still walking ahead with him, seemed to have a calming effect on him. Most of the time, they were joking all along. It helped the man not to think about his precarious condition.

From time to time, Oberon would describe some changes on the scenery that they couldn't observe. As they progressed, more artificial structures were emerging from the ground. For the cartographer it was just nonsense machinery steaming randomly and linked by numerous cables.

As they came closer, traces of the corruption were visible at some places. Some trees were still completely black or small patches of dark mist was floating just above the soil. They were quieter when passing nearby. They wouldn't risk triggering it by making too much noise.

They finally arrived at the bottom of the jaguar statue. It was almost like they remember it was, except it had a large dark patch on its base that was slowly resorbing.

− "What does it look like for you?" asked Spencer to their guide.
− "I don't know. I have never seen anything like that before." He replied. "This is an insane construction. There are cables running down it surface like wines. It's a tangle of crooked pipes." He squinted eyes and approached the base where, for them, the dark patch lied. "There is a strange and large device here." He said, touching the dark surface. Vaporous glyphs appeared and slowly formed letters. It wrote a word vertically.
− "7um4n71" read Spencer out loud. "It looks like it's the same mark that we saw on a tree when we arrived here." He added.
− "Could it be the same place?" asked the petite man confused.
− "Could be, yes. I mean, Jumanji was upside down. The directions meant nothing." He touched in turn the dark patch. The mark didn't react at all. "Oh, I see!" He exclaimed suddenly.

Fridge elbowed Oberon:

− "Gibberish storm coming full force..." he murmured with a mischievous smile. The cartographer giggled.
− "Remember when I touched it last time?" he asked to his friends. "It was dispersing in tiny black cubes and it reverted. It was like a localized version of the cloud except it was still consistent. Like it was trying to keep its shape. I think Jumanji's heart was beginning to be converted when we arrived, and it was still fighting it, trying to save its integrity. It materialised us in the safest place still under its control."
− "I got half of it, and you?" whispered Oberon to Fridge, smirking. The black man shrugged.
− "Please follow me on this." Said Spencer, ignoring the two men joking. "I think I figured it all." He was clearly excited and began to speak with enthusiasm. "Imagine the virus that attacked Jumanji as a virus that attacks a human body. It infects small parts first using the cells of its victim to grow and multiple. That was the cloud... If a body already knows the virus, it can counter it and destroy it before the damages are too big. But if it doesn't, the virus will ultimately kill its host. The only way that he can continue to exist is if it finds a way to spread."
− "The thing inside Oberon. It wanted to get out. It said it was the cloud." Told Fridge, remembering the terrifying encounter.
− "It said it was from our world too..." Added Martha. "Could it be the virus?" The cartographer didn't say a word but he was listening attentively.
− "This is where I want to go." Said Spencer, happy that his friends were joining his line of thoughts. "Jumanji transformed from a board game, like Alex or the professor here knew, to a video game. When we entered in it was an old school game for us because time had passed. We physically crushed the console and the cartridge, but it seems that we didn't it completely destroy it, so it was able to evolve once again. Nowadays, most of the games are connected to internet, but for a program, it could be a dangerous place to be if you have no protection."
− "A newly transformed Jumanji infected by a strong internet virus. That's what you are talking about?" asked Martha.
− "Yes." confirmed Spencer. "There were those news on TV, repeating that a virus was infecting computers, phones and so at Brantford. Remember?" The teenagers nodded. "Maybe if affected Jumanji too and it was unable to fight the virus because it was the first time it encountered such a thing and it didn't have to proper protection. That's why it called us back. To help it."
− "But we didn't have the cure. And why Bethany first?"
− "A body can make its own cure. That's principle of vaccines. But if it's too weak to fight, it's useless. Maybe it had found the counter agent - the pedestals - but was too weak to activate it. It needed somebody else to do it for it. And for Bethany, it may have been the first try. She activated the first pedestal and as she got infected herself it called us too to finish the job. That's my theory. That's all I've got." He concluded. Oberon frowned.
− "I think I understood what you said. Well most of it... But there is something I am not sure about."
− "What it is?"
− "The fact that we were infected 'after' activating the first pedestal... The thing was inside of us all the time, as much as I am aware of."
− "Your program was maybe already corrupted when it called her back." The cartographer grimaced but he didn't take outrage.
− "I don't get it then. Why and how did we survive all this time without the vaccine like you said? If we were just a tiny part of Jumanji and the whole thing was falling apart, how could we find the strength to resist?"
− "For what you showed us, I can tell you are a tough man, professor." Said Martha. "And the Bethany I know has a strong will too. Maybe that thing couldn't match your two fighting souls..."
− "I'm not real..." stated Oberon coldly, just before glitching badly, as to illustrated what he was saying.

It took some time for him to stabilize again. The experience seemed to have shaken him pretty badly. He took a few steps and found a rock to sit on.

− "I'm not sure I can hold it together much longer. How do we save your friend? How do we get her out of me before it's too late?"
− "We don't have any instructions. Normally, we won the game. We should be able to return our place and time. Last time, that's what happened."
− "Guys, the writing has changed." Interrupted Fridge. They all looked at the dark patch on the base of the statue.
− "Those who win will find their way, those who loose will stay to play."
− "But we all won! We saved Jumanji! We saved you!" shouted Spencer at the statue as if it could hear him. The writing slowly morphed into another sentence.
− "Can be saved those who live. The corrupted ones we cannot retrieve."
− "What stupid game are you? What game could put innocent people at risk like that? What's the purpose?" asked Martha angrily.
− "To live, to grow and die. Life is the same. Everyone plays. That is the game."
− "What?!" Exclaimed Fridge, outraged.
− "That not fair!" Cried Martha. "She helped you... Oberon helped you... They do not deserve what you're doing to them!"

Letters vanished one more time to form new words, but it was just glyphs. They all looked at the professor who was the only one who could read it. His sad expression was familiar. A little bit softer.

− "Don't leave me here." He pleaded in a more high-pitched voice.
− "Bethany!" Exclaimed Martha as she recognized her tone. She ran toward her and hugged her.
− "I'm scared..." She wailed in her arms. The boys joined her quickly.
− "We cannot let you here." Said Spencer, resolute, but he had no idea how to stick to his own words.
− "But it won't let me go." She said looking back at the letters on the rock.
− "What does it say?"
− "The vessel is not the one you think. If released, the world you know would sink."

The last patch of darkness was rapidly reducing now. Then, there was a flash and they were all suddenly experiencing the same fogy flashbacks.

They witnessed Jumanji raising from the destroyed carcase of the console they had smashed and mutating into a more abstract form. They saw its wild journey through bits and octets, adjusting to its new environment. It was scary to see how quick the game adapted to its new dematerialized form, absorbing internet knowledge, connecting with social medias, investing phones and computers, searching for victims to trap. In a matter of days, its net had grown large and was covering a big part of Brantford's network.

Unfortunately, that's when it was infected by the virus. The contagion was fast and strong.

The system was slowly crashing. The virus progressively merged with it, infesting the same parts of Brantford network which the game connected with.

The flashback became disjointed as Jumanji wrestled with the electronic invader, but they could witness the strange mutation of the virus. Like the support it grew on, it became highly adaptable till it gained a will of its own. It wasn't clear if it was just emulating a persona from already integrated characters of the game or really became conscious, but it surely wanted to escape, because as, it couldn't pass its basic programming, it knew it would inevitably destroy its host.

The virus searched inside Jumanji a way out and it found it in the materialisation process. The next thing it needed was a body to jump into. It investigated the badly damaged memory banks of the game to find hosts that had already been absorbed. The last victims of Jumanji were the perfect targets. So, it scanned the net searching for the four teenagers that last played. It had no difficulty to find them and infiltrated their phones and computers.
Because of her intensive use of social media – even if it was far from what it used to be - Bethany became unfortunately the preferred target. She was connected long enough for the virus to observe and adapt to her. And, one day, it jumped in...

The next fragmented memories switched on Bethany's point of view, as the virus had invested her mind. As long as she was awakened, it had almost no control on her, but in her sleep, the virus was quite active and was planning the next steps.

In between days of school memories, Spencer recognized the strange encounter he has with her the day he made peace with Martha. For a brief moment, when she touched him, the point of view switched on him. He understood that the virus tried to jump on him too but that didn't work as expected.

The last memories were merely just fixed images. They briefly saw Bethany's trek and the last night under the tent. Jumanji called her back, but the reintegration turned wrong as the game was already badly damaged.

− "She is the host not Oberon..." concluded Spencer in a shocked whisper as the last images vanished.
− "Don't leave me..." Bethany said with a tremor in her voice. "I don't want to be there. I don't belong."

Finally, the dark patch on the stone disappeared. The light from the jaguar's eye was suddenly stronger. The green glow was pulsating in an accelerating rhythm. Jumanji was restored. Bethany's avatar glichted one last time before disappearing before their very eyes. Martha had clenched on her till the last second but soon her hands were just holding thin air.

− "No!" They screamed in unison.

Then, they heard it. The drums... It seemed to come from the ground itself. It sounded like a death sentence beat.

Spencer looked at Martha who was openly crying now. His girlfriend was turning into vapour and slowly being absorbed by the eye. The same thing happened to Fridge who disappeared without a chance to say a word.

Spencer looked at his hands. He was dematerialising too.

− "I'm sure you can save her!" He screamed to the statue. "I'm begging you!"

The last thing he saw was a flash of light and disappeared too.

Authors notes:

I took a very long time on the exposition on this story, but the first chapters have clues of what's going on and what's going to happen. And I can tell you, I found this exercise quite hard to do for my first multi-chapters story in English :D. It took 6-7 months to write but I loved doing it!

Here are some guides:

- The avatar research at the beginning is key for the story after.
- Bethany possessed during the night.
- The glitches behaviour on Spencer's phone and computer, and the use of sounds.
- Spencer's mother talking about the virus.
- Communication issues (see after).
- Bethany freeze framed in the avatar.
- The colours in Bethany's lair (see after)

The misleading:

- The glitches and the drums : I use them to initially correlate the glitches with Jumanji. As the virus merged with the game, at first, it looked like that Jumanji was the virus.
- Van Pelt characteristics on Bethany's avatar.

The cloud/virus

The pivotal point of the story was the virus that infected Jumanji. Its purpose is just what it is programmed to do : collect data, convert the host (encryption) and spread. The fact that Jumanji is a conscious entity made it evolve but it couldn't go over its own programming. Hence the damage it was doing to the game would ultimately be fatal and the virus would have died too in the process. That's why it needed desperately new hosts.

Corrupted Bethany:

It was pretty obvious, early on, that Bethany was in trouble but I wanted to distil the fact she was the vessel of the virus.

- The colours. Blue was for the virus and green for Jumanji. That, I think, was quite clear :D. But I tried to induce that the virus was inside Bethany with those colours. She made herself comfortable in her lair with deactivated pieces of corrupted kernel (the blue braseros especially). In fact, she was lead by the virus trying to corrupt the pedestal she had activated from underneath but I didn't develop the subject afterwards.
- The time. For Bethany time passed longer. She lived a computer time period. As computer go faster than human brain she did a lot of things in a short among to time.
- The electric touch Spencer experienced was in fact the virus trying to jump onto him. It failed but left some side effects (I'll tell you more in the endings ^^).
- Also Bethany decline from activating the pedestals. She grow exhausted. Her avatar is badly damaged and corrupted. So, as each pedestal activated destroy the virus, the shell becomes more and more unstable and fragile. The only thing that hold it together in the end is Oberon's will...

Communication issues:

It was a subliminal intention from me :D. I wanted to induce that the process of understanding would be compromised for all the characters at some point.

First, its Spencer and Martha for human reasons. Then, the technical issues in Brantford due to the virus (original). Then, the glyphs that couldn't be read. Then, the misunderstanding of Bethany's intentions by the teenagers. And finally, Jumanji's intentions. (more to come after the endings ^^)

For me, Jumanji communicated its intentions through the narrative process of the game (the riddles, the environment, the quest, the pnj...). As it was scrambled by the virus it was unable to do it clearly this time. The only things it had control over was the graphic representation of the environment and it glitched badly so the protagonists had to decipher everything - as for you dear readers :D.

Jumanji:

I don't know the book(s), so I don't know how Jumanji is "personified" in it but my personal interpretation from the movies is that the game is an entity neither good or evil. But what happens inside can be terribly amoral. That's why I chose to display what could be so wrong to be in one other's body. So, I raised the voice of Oberon for that. Where the movie made fun of it, I took the serious tone about it :).

Next week preview :)

Ok, as we're at the end now, next week, I'll post the two endings.

- The bad ending is the real one and it's really not a fun one. I think you can already guess what's going to happen...
- The good ending is lighter and has a very light touch of Alex/Bethany. I can't help... I love them too much :-]. So yeah, this is where Alex come back.

Have a nice day and see you soon!