Saturday, 14th December 2019

Alex was watching TV with his daughter when the doorbell rang. Hearing it, little Bethany arose to answer it. He dutifully got up and followed her, just in case it was someone shady at the door.

To his surprise, it was his daughter's namesake, 19-year-old Bethany Walker. Judging by the look on her face, he could tell that she didn't have good news for him. Although he was glad to see her again, he wondered if someone had been rushed to the hospital or something.

"Daddy!" chattered his young daughter in amazement. "Her name's Bethany too!"

Alex paused for a moment. His little angel had no idea behind the significance of her name. Memories of his 'resurrection' came flooding back to him, making it feel like it'd happened only yesterday.

"It sure is, sweetie," he answered, gently gripping his daughter's shoulder. How long it would be before he could tell her the full story of her origins?

"Can I… talk to you for a minute?" asked the teenager grimly.

Alex looked at her hesitatingly. He realised that there could be only one reason why she'd come to see him at this hour. "Sure, yeah," he replied. "Uh, come in."

A few minutes later, he and Bethany were alone in his private study. He was so glad his wife was away visiting relatives for Christmas.

"What's up, Bethany?" he asked her worriedly.

Bethany sighed, clearly in distress. "Alex…" she began, "I don't even know how to tell you this, but…"

He dismissed her concern with a wave of his hand. "Bethany," he reassured her, "I've heard that before. Getting stuck in a video game for 20 years… you know the rest. Whatever it is you wanna tell me, I think I can handle it."

"Alright," replied Bethany, swallowing. "Alex… Spencer went back into the game."

Alex was dumbfounded. He'd expected devastating news, but this was a whole new level.

"He what?" he blurted out incredulously.

Bethany buried her face in her hands. "The four of us had arranged to meet up at Nora's this morning. It's our annual get-together. When Spencer didn't show up, we went to his house looking for him. Instead, we found the busted console in his basement, half-fixed and barely working. We put two and two together and realised where he went."

"Oh, no!" groaned Alex, facepalming. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that any one of them would be so stupid.

"Martha, Fridge and I decided to go back in to retrieve him," Bethany continued. "You know better than anyone how hard it is to beat that thing alone. Problem is, I got left behind."

"So Martha and Fridge are both in there too?" he asked her sternly.

"Yes," confirmed Bethany. "What's worse, that stupid machine must've sucked in Spencer's grandpa and his visiting friend Milo Walker because they've disappeared from the house. Once I realised that the game shut me out, I drove here right away to ask you for help."

Alex sighed. This was a lot of information for him to process all at once, but he knew Bethany was right.

"I'm... I'm sorry," she said, "I just... I didn't know where else to go."

"Oh, no, no, no," answered Alex, "it's okay. I'm... I'm glad you came."

"Do you think you can… help me get the machine to start?" she asked him hopefully.

Alex let out another sigh. "That is so dangerous," he told her, shaking his head.

"I know," Bethany replied, "but I have to try." There was a determined tone in her voice. "They're my Team," she said finally.

Alex looked up at her. All of a sudden, he was back in the Transportation Shed, being asked to pilot the helicopter. He remembered the lesson about teamwork he'd learned then, and how the others had risked their lives to get him home. Now that Spencer, Fridge and Martha needed his help, could he really say no?

Alex made his choice. He knew from experience that only together could they beat the game, and he knew that they would need Seaplane McDonough.

"They're my Team too, Bethany," he told her at last. "Come on, we've got a jungle to save."