"Dude, this is so retro!" exclaimed Chuck. "I like it!"

"It must be pretty old," said Mark. "Are you sure this can help?"

Chuck had managed to get hold of a copy of an older version of Ace Lightning. The graphics were pretty bad and the sound was dodgy but he'd figured they might be able to get some useful information out of it. That and he just wanted and excuse to play it.

"I remember this," said Ace, leaning closer over Chuck's chair. "Are you sure we need to see it? I already know what's happened."

Mark glanced up at Ace, feeling slightly concerned for his friend. Ace didn't seem too comfortable watching Chuck play. After all, he had only discovered a few days before that his life had, up until recently, been a video game.

"We might see something you missed," Mark finally said. "And sometimes they'll show things you didn't see. You know, like things that happen when you're someplace else, but they're still important to the storyline."

"Yeah, usually in an animated sequence or something," added Chuck offhandedly, too busy with making the computer Ace blast some dog-like machines. He was currently on a level where just about everything was mechanical. All the enemies were robot monsters of some sort. While they looked threatening they tended to attack the same every time, which made them fairly easy to destroy once you'd gotten the hang of it.

"This happened just before we lost Random Virus," said Ace suddenly.

"What?" asked Mark. He looked at the screen. In this earlier version Random Virus didn't have any of his mechanical parts yet. He was currently blasting the robots right along with Ace and Sparx.

"Look, you don't have to stay and watch this, Ace," said Mark when Ace didn't answer. He realised that perhaps the reality, or lack, might not be the only thing about the game that was bothering Ace.

"You said this could show us stuff I didn't see?" said Ace finally.

"Yeah."

"Well maybe it'll show us what happened to Random. And hopefully how to fix it."

"Sweet! I'm in!" exclaimed Chuck. He'd finally defeated the mass of robots. The point had been to get a bomb to the top of the level. While stupid robots were one thing, the boss of the machine world – yet to be revealed – had been experimenting on creating much more intelligent AI machines. These would pose much more of a threat than the ones Chuck had just disposed of. So much more in fact that they needed to be destroyed at any cost before they could be activated. This was what the bomb was for.

The game auto saved, taking a great deal of time, then finally loaded an animated sequence.

Mark felt Ace shift his weight next to him, obviously uncomfortable watching himself on the screen.

On the computer Ace, Sparx and Random Virus flew into a large room. Banks of computers and flashing lights filled it, towering up to the high ceiling.

"Right," the computer Ace was saying, "we need to take out all this. All the AI that controls the new machines should be here."

"I've got the bomb!" said Sparx, pulling a bulky capsule off the back of the lightning flash. "This should make quite a bang."

"We've got to turn the thing on first," pointed out Random. He took it off her and placed it on the ground. "I've just got to make sure the timer's going to work properly. It got damaged before. It's no good if that doesn't work."

"Ok," said Ace. "Do it quick though. I'd like to get some of those machines destroyed too. They may be able to operate by themselves."

"Hold on," said Random. He fiddled a bit more then stopped. "You and Sparx go and take care of them. I'll set this up then follow you."

"You sure?"

Random seemed to pause slightly before answering. "Yeah."

"Ok. Sparx, let's go."

The two lightning knights flew out.

Ace slammed his hand on the desk, startling Chuck. "I shouldn't have left him behind…" he started, but stopped as he realised the scene was continuing. He hadn't seen this before.

On the computer screen, Random tapped the timer a few more times. Then ripped it off and threw it across the room. He sighed and looked back at the bomb. "Sorry, Ace. But I'm going to have to set this thing off manually."

Mark expected the next bang on the desk to snap it in two, but it never came.

Ace glared at the computer, only turning away as the explosion lit up the screen. He walked over to Mark's window, staring outside.

Mark followed him over, unsure what to say but too concerned not to try. "Ace…"

"He lied to me," growled Ace. "He knew it wasn't working, that's why he told us to leave."

"You didn't know that then."

"I should be able to tell if my best friend's lying to me."

"Hey, don't blame yourself," said Chuck. "One time, I asked Mark if he had ice cream. He said no. But he really had this four litre tub in the freezer. I didn't realise he was lying til I found it."

"Wait, you ate that?!"

"The whole four litres…" Chuck replied, patting his stomach.

"That's not really the same," said Ace, looking both confused and annoyed at the same time. "Look, just keep playing the game."

"Ace, are you sure that's a good idea," Mark asked.

"It still hasn't told us what happened to Random."

"Dude, he got caught in an explosion. That's going to mess anyone up if they survive."

"Explosions don't rewrite half your program. Something else happened and I want to find out what."

"Alright, next level is loading."