Chapter Thirty-three – 'Out to sea'
"Milhouse...?" Luann couldn't believe her eyes.
"Mom! I found you." Milhouse ran towards Luann. "It feels like it's been an eternity since I saw you. I thought I was going to be lost in this world forever and..."
Luann sternly quieted him. "It's been two days. Well not even two full days." She scoffed. "Your father should really be able to handle you for two days." She paused for a second. "Does he even know where you are?"
"Not exactly." Milhouse admitted. "I waited until dad was sleeping in his chair and I climbed out my window and..."
Luann scowled at this development. "What on earth would possess you to sneak out of the house. Kirk is going to get an earful when I'm finished with this game. He couldn't watch you for a couple days while I enjoyed myself playing a silly game."
"Mom. It's not that simple." Milhouse told Luann. "This game isn't over in a few days, in fact you may never leave." This thought completely changed the tone of the conversation.
"I should have figured Burns was up to no good." Luann sat on the stairs leading up to the marina building. "This was too good to be true. I wonder what Burns is really planning." She thought for a second and motioned for Milhouse to join her. "What have I missed in Springfield since I started playing this game?"
There was some much for Milhouse to explain. "Let me tell you some important parts we learned in Burns' mansion. First..." Luann interrupted him as if she had all the answers already.
"Wait. What do you mean 'we', and you went to his mansion?" She was surprised Milhouse had gained the courage to do something so brave and dangerous.
"Bart scheduled a tree house meeting and there were a group of us that decided to... break into Burns Manor." Milhouse told of the meeting and the adults splitting from the kids to make it into the manor and meeting upstairs outside Burns' bedroom. "Kent Brockman was asking Burns questions he didn't want to answer, however the only question he directly answered worried all of us, so we had to stop him."
Luann was almost scared to ask, but she did anyways. "You can tell me. I need to know everything if this game is as bad as you say it is."
"There are seven people playing this game." Luann nodded as Milhouse confirmed what she already knew. "There may soon be eight or more."
She was shocked to learn this information. "Eight? No. That's not possible. We already started playing. How?"
"Burns said he is joining the game and more specifically joining his team. I believe he referred to it as his army." Milhouse remembered from the interview between Burns and Kent. "This sounded horrible, so we convinced Burns to let us into the game."
"His army?" There were no words Luann could put together to convey her true feeling. "His army?" She repeated dejectedly. "We won't survive against an army especially since Burns designed this game and every aspect of it."
Milhouse agreed. "This is why we had to get into the game. We needed to help everyone find a way out, or try to stop whatever Burns is planning."
"You keep referring to people in the plural sense. Who else is with you?" Luann asked directly.
"Well..." He thought how to respond to her question. "I don't know where anyone else disappeared to. The last I saw anyone was in the transporter room, then we were transported and scattered throughout this world, I assume. You are the only person who knows about the game. All the fisherman and people on the yachts have no idea who I am or how I got here. I just wanted to find you." Milhouse had a tear roll down his cheek and Luann brushed it away.
"If we are gong to survive this game, we should work together. You need to be the man Kirk can't be, and I'll protect you as best I can. Since I am the one playing and you are just here, I make no promises you won't be on your own at some point." Luann knew his survival depended on her. She wondered how he even got this far into the game. "Back to my original question. Do you have a mouse in your pocket? Who else is here I don't know about?"
Milhouse began listing everyone in the tree house meeting. "Homer and Marge are still in Burns' executive office watching the monitors." Luann remembered the walls of security cameras before transporting into this world.
"If Marge is watching close enough, we can get her attention and send her signals to help us from the outside." Luann continued to think as Milhouse named off more residents that came to the players' aide.
"There were seven of us that were transported in here, only because there were seven pods. Marge and Homer decided to stay behind." Milhouse repeated himself to get back on track. "The seven of us to enter the game were: myself, Lenny and Carl..."
Luann laughed at those names. "Lenny and Carl. Are they sober enough to help anyone. Oh wait, they must be since Moe the bartender is already in the game. Anyways, they may be useless still."
"Sherri and Terri..." Milhouse started before Luann had a comment to make about them.
"They might as well be one person. No independent thought between them." She had an idea. "I hope the two of them get separated, just so they can think for themselves."
Milhouse counted on his fingers the names he revealed, and thought of the last two people who had a better chance of affecting the game. "The last two are Bart and Nelson."
The gears turned in her head. "Those two I can use on my team. Where did you say they ended up at?"
Milhouse had no answer and shook his head. "We were separated. I appeared on top of an expensive yacht. I ran down the dock asking everyone I saw if they could tell me where I was. The only responses I received told me this is a yacht club."
"That's because the mayor is the only person on each property that knows there is a game being played." Luann had run into this before at the box factory. "The average citizen is clueless. They just point to the mayor for everything, and the mayor is looking for a quick sale so they can be on their way."
Luann stood up and Milhouse followed as they walked around the main building towards the silver dog and the stone statue. The dog was busy frolicking in the water, but something else caught her attention.
"Is that a dog playing in the water? I want to go play with it." Milhouse was excited at the sight, however Luann held him back.
"Milhouse, no." Something wasn't right and she knew it. "Stay back here next to me."
"What's wrong? I just see a silver dog in the water. I don't see anything else dangerous." He explained surveying the water.
Luann focused his attention to the boat slip. "It's not what I see that is the problem. It's what I don't see that is the problem." She flipped the switch on the boat slip to raise the statue, but it was already above the water level. "The statue is gone..."
"Who took it?" Milhouse asked.
"Someone didn't take it. How do I explain this?" She thought for a second to delicately word her answer so Milhouse wouldn't take off running and screaming. "The statues are... how do I say this? I don't want you to get scared, but this world may not be a safe place for you or anyone else that entered." She saw Milhouse's face turn from gleeful to fear. "This game was designed by Mr. Burns, and I don't think we are safe to play it. The fact that you are one of seven people to come looking for us is worrying. Now there are fourteen people in here that shouldn't be here. We have to get you out."
The reality of the situation hit Milhouse. "I don't think that's possible." He looked down at his shoes while remembering Burns' speech. "He said we may not be able to get back out of the game, and we may have to defeat him..."
It made a little more sense to Luann. "That explains a few things and raises so many more questions."
"I thought I would be in the game with everyone else. I didn't know I would be separated." Milhouse knew he may be a bigger burden than a help.
"Nothing we can do about it now except press forward. You all shouldn't have come in here." Luann said after the fact. "The seven of us playing knew the risk we were taking. Whether or not Burns actually gives away the Power Plant was our issue to deal with. Now we have to worry about others." Her look softened toward Milhouse. "I can't be mad at you for wanting to rescue me. Let's go find the mayor and ask him a few questions. Cecil left after handing me the keys, so let's ask security if Gary also ran away."
"Who are Cecil and Gary?" Milhouse asked his mom.
"Cecil owned the Hydroelectric dam and Gary owned the Yacht Club, but I own them now." She thought about her previous turns. "I don't remember Cecil's last name. Didn't catch it, but I remember Gary's last name he mentioned as Chalmers..."
"Chalmers?" Milhouse repeated.
"We may not find him though. After years of being a superintendent, he is glad to be on his yacht on the water." Luann explained as the light bulb came on in Milhouse's head.
"Mom!" He exclaimed. "Superintendent... Chalmers..."
She realized the next level of darkness surrounding the game. "Superintendent Chalmers. Burns kidnapped people from Springfield and trapped them in his game. I wish I could remember Cecil's last name to prove my point. We need to find Chalmers and ask questions." She gave Milhouse a very stern look. "Now you need to stay close to me. This game is more dangerous than I thought."
"I'll be right beside you." He confirmed as they left the hidden boat slips and headed towards the front gate.
The long walk towards the gate was quiet. No one was outside near the docks or exiting the marina building. The property was essentially deserted. The only person they found was the security guard at the gate.
"That's close enough." The guard yelled at Luann and Milhouse while ensuring the gate was locked. "Stop where you are. I can't let you leave."
Luann was shocked at the way the guard treated her. "Excuse me. I own this property, so I can come and go as I please."
"Why should I let you leave? After that stunt you pulled to jump over the gate, why should I listen now. How about you go get your dog and jump the gate again." The security guard was upset at the display from earlier. "You breached my watch station and there was nothing I could do except watch the dog flying over the gate."
"That's in the past, and besides you work for me now. I purchased this property a few minutes ago." Luann pulled the title deed out of her pocket as the security guard had another idea.
"Actually, I don't. I can just walk away right now and let you find a way to protect your property." He smirked at her because there was no answer to counter his. "I don't have to protect your yacht club or direct visitors where to go. I could just walk into the distance."
"You wouldn't." Luann begged.
He went into the guard house and pressed a button to open the gate and emerged carrying his lunchbox. "You jumped the gate, violated my watchstation, and now want to leave. Find someone else to guard your property." The guard waved as he walked through the gate and disappeared.
"But who will watch my property?" Luann yelled in desperation as a blue hologram appeared at the gate.
"You have a lot to learn about the game." The hologram informed her. "No one can just leave the space they are on when it is not their turn. That's rule #1. Your precious property is safe... for now." It warned before disappearing.
"What was that?" Milhouse asked a surprised Luann.
"I'll explain along the way. Let's search the boat dock again." She knew the holograms were starting to show their true colors.
They backtracked to the docks and saw all the yachts were out to sea except for one moored at the far end of last dock. The horizon was full of masts and sails. The boats were heading to sea, but were still visible for a few minutes.
"I think that yacht is parked in the mayor's spot, so let's hurry and see if we can catch him before he leaves." Luann thought as she grabbed Milhouse's hand to pull him along.
She picked up her pace as Milhouse could barely keep up. In fact, he was slowing her from reaching the goal. He tried running but he simply could not keep up. "Just run ahead, and I'll catch up."
She thought about his offer. "I won't leave you behind." Luann picked him up and set him on her shoulders. "From now on, we need to stick together. I don't know what Burns is planning for this game, but it's not good. Hold on tight." She warned him and began to jog towards the docks.
The other yachts faded over the horizon leaving Luann and Milhouse as the only people on the property. They arrived at the mayor's yacht and began to search. "Gary!" She yelled to see if he would answer. "Gary Chalmers!" She tried again but no one responded.
"Superintendent..." He started to say when something grabbed his attention. "Is that a statue of Burns near the steering wheel?"
Luann saw it as she noticed a key attached to a note. 'To Luann, Here is the mayor's yacht. It is yours now. I'm heading out to sea with the executive chef. Something isn't right, but you will have to figure it out. Signed – Gary.'
"What isn't right?" Milhouse asked. "Why did everyone leave? Are we safe here Mom?"
The note shook Luann, but her curiosity still took over. She climbed onboard and approached the Burns statue. "This is the reason I am worried about this game."
"It's a stone statue of Burns. What's so bad about that?" Milhouse questioned.
"The Burns statue was in one of the boat slips earlier. That's what I meant by what I don't see worries me." Luann continued before Milhouse could ask any questions. "The statues aren't moved by a person. They move on their own." She held up a finger to silence him. "Moe and I found out at the Hydroelectric Dam. After they are used, they relocate so the next player has to explore to find it."
"Since we found it, will it move again?" Milhouse finally asked.
Luann placed the MyPad into the statue's hands. "Let's ask it." A surprised blue hologram appeared. Luann started to ask, but the hologram spoke over her.
"You already own this property. You do not own all the properties of a color group. You can not build houses or hotels. There is nothing you can do at this moment. Just wait for your next turn." The hologram reminded.
"How did you move from the boat slip to my yacht?" Luann quickly said before the hologram tried to disappear.
"You are playing a very dangerous game. Just follow the rules and you may survive." It cautioned her. "I see you found a friend from the outside world. Good luck to you both."
Luann's face turned red with anger. "That's my son and he is more than a friend."
"Is that so? I'll do you a favor. Not a good favor and not a bad favor. Just a favor. Your son can now join you for the rest of the game. Think of yourself now as Team Van Houten." The hologram grinned before disappearing.
"What does that mean?" Milhouse quietly asked.
"I'm not sure." Luann answered. "We are a team now, so let's win this game as a team..."
As she said this, her silver dog galloped down the dock and halted at the edge of the water. Directly behind it was a miniature version of itself and it stopped beside Luann's token.
Milhouse's eyes lit up as he realized what being a team meant. "Is that little dog for me?" The dog barked to affirm his question. "Now I can join the game beside you Mom."
Luann was speechless as Milhouse climbed aboard his miniature silver dog.
