Chapter Forty-seven – 'As the world turns'

"It happened again, didn't it?" The professor realized as he looked at the flowing fountain and regretted his decision. "At first it seemed like a good idea to take breaks without this interior world knowing any different..."

"You were telling the story of how you became a mayor and then... then... you just froze. " Lisa told the story from her point of view. "I tapped your shoulder, and I was alone in the world..." Memories flooded her mind of starting the game with her friends and competitors then leaving them one-by-one, childhood idols like Mr. Begrstrom disappearing, and now Professor Frink being frozen in time.

"I designed this game so breaks could be taken between each round and... different house rules inserted fairly." The Professor explained. "It started as a simple idea by Burns, but now he has turned it into this..."

Lisa knew part of what Frink was explaining. The game would freeze when Burns was talking over the loudspeaker, but she still had free will and movement around the property.

"So how does it work?" Lisa had to know. It seemed physically impossible for her to physically walk around a frozen liquid fountain.

Professor Frink pointed his finger into the air and waved it as if he was arranging thoughts on an invisible chalkboard. This was very high level mathematics and he needed a way to dumb it down for Lisa. He paused and moved a few thoughts around and began his explanation.

"Burns wanted a way to talk to the participants of the game and to insert house rules fairly in between turns without the non-playing characters living in the world to know they were part of a game." He followed the outline drifting in the air before him. "I had brainstormed for days before the idea hit me, and I literally mean hit me..." It was a funny story, but also one to be seen to be believed. "I was stepping out of the shower one evening, reached for my bathrobe, slipped on the floor, grabbed the shower curtain, and it fell directly on my head."

"Oh no." Lisa added.

"I was fine... except for the bruise on my forehead." He rubbed the area the shower curtain hit as if he was erasing a non-existent bruise. "I stood up, and drew on the mirror using the condensation I had generated."

He demonstrated in the air the same way he had organized his thoughts.

"I want to know!" Lisa excitedly jumped onto her feet. "Tell me! How did you make it work!"

"An electromagnetic pulse sent at a super low frequency across the entire game universe which interacts with the MyPads causing time to remain at its constant for the player while the non-playing residents suffer time dilation on a larger scale." These words Frink put together work... in theory, however, in practical application it did not. "It had to be low frequency to cover all forty properties in this world, but also meant the range of effect was very small... you could say zero. So if the player was not holding the MyPad, this would have no effect."

"And there is no guarantee everyone would be holding their MyPad at the same time." Lisa concluded as she glanced at hers laying on the edge of the fountain. "So how does it work now?"

"That's the problem now. I don't know." The Professor admitted to his shoes. "It works as recently demonstrated..." Lisa did not like the reminder. "...but this isn't my work."

They both drew the same conclusion, but neither wanted to state it. There was only one answer to this question.

"It's your idea, but..." Lisa started.

"Someone else finished it." Frink finished. "Someone with the level of knowledge required to make this work, then be able to work on it between me discontinuing this project and before all the players, you included, started playing this game."

The next thought was obvious. The next words were the scariest part of the game so far. "If that's the case, someone is helping Burns and it isn't you. Wonder who?" Lisa climbed onto the fountain as her soapbox and released all her thoughts into the world. "We have to find out who is helping Burns."

"Easier said than done from inside this world. The whole point of this world was to trap everyone who enters." The Professor knew more than anyone else stuck inside this colorful world filled with statues, holograms, and things yet to be seen.

"It seems we have two options: we need an escape plan to get out of this world, or we need to continue playing and see where this race car takes us!" Her plan was foolproof, until Frink pointed out the major flaw.

"Actually... you have one option: win to escape." This was not the ideal solution. "This game is... was designed that the winner got to leave this world and reenter Springfield while anyone else who entered here would be trapped forever."

Lisa gasped in shock. This was it. Win or never leave. The thought of never seeing her family again was more depressing than seeing Frink frozen in time. "Then it appears I have one goal in life now... win Burns' game." Triumphantly, she raised her hands as the MyPad flashed indicating it was time to leave Professor Frink, the same as she left Mr. Bergstrom at the train station. "I never do well with goodbyes."

A tear rolled down her cheek as she realized what she had to do short-term and long-term. But now was not the time to let emotions take over. She pressed the Roll icon on the MyPad as the familiar booms echoed across the sky.

"Three?" She complained as the MyPad displayed the second-lowest roll possible with two dice. "Well, I'm not going very far apparently."

This was it. Time to say goodbye to her second friend in this world. "Just remember Lisa. I'm the mayor of this property, a property you own by the way, so please stop by anytime the dice allow and say hi." Frink's words were very calming to her.

"I will." She hugged him, hopefully not for the last time, and jumped into her race car parked next to the fountain. "Goodbye friend." She mouthed as the token came to life and gave her one last tour of the gardens before exiting through the shrub wall and iron gate.

The moonlight reflected off the flattened grass path. Flowers of white, orange, yellow, and purple reminded her of the secret deep forest meeting with all the holograms. The race car passed these flowers without incident.

The idea of winning the game to escape the game world brought a special paranoia to her short ride from the gardens to the next property three spaces away. She peered over her shoulder every few seconds, searching for a hologram camouflaged against the colors of the flowers.

"This can't be a long ride as I'm only going three spaces." Lisa rolled her eyes at the MyPad and buried under her foot. "At this rate, I'm never to going to see Mr. Bergstrom or Professor Frink again."

The small shrub wall eventually turned into a line of large trees. The path narrowed as it entered the dark forest, which seemed darker with the canopy obstructing the light from the moon. The multicolor flowers all faded to shades of gray, indistinguishable from one another.

Thoughts raced through her head as the darkness surrounded her and random noises were heard. "It's just a chipmunk." She told herself. "Soon I will be back amongst people."

Just as the air thickened with a thin fog, the race car emerged from the forest, greeted by the moonlight. A tall mountain appeared in the distance, but Lisa felt it was more than three spaces away... The scene changed from dread to that of a party.

"Where am I?" She wondered as the light of a neon sign glowed through a grove of trees. "Three spaces... this has to be it."

And she was right. More billboards lit her way as the grass path widened into a field with small buildings appearing at the base of the mountain.

"Is it a campground?" She guessed but dismissed it. "Is it a desert tourist trap?" Wrong again. "Is it... I have no idea." She pouted as the race car approached the first set of buildings.

They grew in size enough to divide the field into sections. The more she passed, the more she decided this might be a desert tourist trap. As the neon signs attached to the buildings glowed their advertisements, she knew this was not a place she would normally go.

Her intuition was right as the race car stopped in front of the largest time waste of a tourist trap of them all.

"A wax museum?" She audibly sighed. "Can I roll again?"

"You have arrived at North Carolina Avenue." The MyPad announced so Lisa would look at the animation of moving her three spaces.

"I have indeed arrived." She mocked the MyPad, jumping out of her race car to be greeted by a large and slowly rotating globe with a 'For Sale' banner wrapped around it. "I'm going to guess... yep." It was made of wax along with everything else nearby.

"Please don't touch the globe." A high-pitched squeaky voice warned her. "Your body heat will put indents in the perfectly round sphere, which I will have to fix as you tour the world's largest wax museum this side of the mountain."

"That implies there is a wax museum on the other side of the mountain." Lisa countered. "Can I just buy this place without taking a tour?" She did not want to be here and it showed. "How much?"

The squeaky voice teen couldn't handle all of her questions. "I'm going to have to check with my mayor." He took one step away from the ticket booth but immediately stopped due to a loud squishy handprint penetrating the globe. "No, no, no! Please stop before I get my mayor." He needed a quick distraction before she melted the entire globe. "Please take a free tour of the museum and stop destroying my globe. Go right through here and enjoy your tour."

"Fine!" She conceded. "I just want to buy this place and make money from it." She traded places with the squeaky voice teen, so he could reshape the world.

Inside the wax museum was exactly what Lisa expected. Cheaply made wax figures that mostly represented classic television, historic people, and... animals.

"Did they run out of ideas?" She complained again. "If I were in charge, this place would be filled with music and colors."

It really was unimpressive as Lisa read a few placards and compared the wax likenesses to her memory. It was close, not perfect, but at least the tour was free.

"I couldn't imagine paying for this... but if I bought this property, everyone else would have to." This was am idea she was totally for. "I could set the price of a tour at ten dollars/ No, wait! Twelve dollars." Her mind raced as the possibility of making money on such a dull attraction elated her. "Fifteen dollars!" This tour was worth eight dollars at best.

She continued searching for the statue as this was the key to buying the property fast and leaving. A few minutes later revealed it wasn't part of the classic television exhibit, but neither was anything figure which captured her interest.

"Did Professor Frink design every detail of this game, because he picked television no one watched and is well before my time. Hopefully the historical people are ones the general public have heard of." She entered through the door dividing disappointment and hopefulness.

Excitement took over as some figures were recognizable from a distance. The brightest minds of science, calculus, art, history, politics, and... Carl? Someone ran out of inspiration or another familiar face and friend was standing across the room from Lisa.

"Carl! Hey! Is it you?" Yelling and running, she wished this was true, but there was no answer. "Carl! Please be real." Again, no answer. He was now a couple feet from her but felt like he was miles away. One desperate measure was in her bag of tricks. "You better be real." She grabbed at the muscle on the back of his leg and squeezed as hard as she possibly could until she got the response she wanted.

"Stop it! That hurts!" Carl swatted at her hand so she would relieve the pressure. "It's difficult to read the biography of the wax Julius Caesar when you are yelling at me across the room." He scolded her.

"Sorry about that." She didn't know what to say other than to apologize. "So..." It was the obvious question to ask.

"How did I get here?" Carl filled in the blank. "It's actually quite the adventure..."

"Can I have the short version while we walk and the long version when my turn is over?" She compromised. "Anything to get me out of this cheesy wax museum."

"Did somebody say cheese?" A voice called from the door dividing hopefulness and laziness. "Let me grab my camera to commemorate this wonderful..."

"Please don't." Lisa interrupted. What was worse than a wax museum? A wax museum with a mascot. "Do you belong in the classic television section or the animal section?" She plainly inquired. "Because you can't claim both."

A cat mascot entered carrying a camera and stood next to the mouse mascot with an oversized head. "We aren't part of the exhibit." The mouse explained. "We are the mayors of this property."

Finally, Lisa breaks her streak of bad luck. "I thought each space only had one mayor..."

She was correct and the tall cat mascot confirmed. "There is one mayor per space, but I have the privilege of having a minimum wage assistant to wear this mouse costume and entertain the children... who just haven't arrived yet." His excuse was poor. "One day this little town will be the biggest little town on this side of the mountain." His voiced trailed off because he wasn't even convincing to himself. "Anyways, want to follow me?"

"Where to?" Carl asked as the only person interested in seeing more of the wax museum. "If you are giving us a guided tour of the animals section, count me in."

"Whatever." Lisa shrugged as the mouse ran to the doorway and gestured for them to enter. "If I buy this property, I'm paying you less than minimum wage." Lisa coldly said as she passed the mouse and entered the laziest room of the museum. "It's not even finished!" Lisa yelled.

Inside was one wax polar bear, two desks, and a stone statue. "It's really just an office, but we labeled it as an animal exhibit. Let's count..." The tall cat took charge of a dismal situation. "One..." He pointed to the polar bear. "Two..." He pointed to Itchy the mouse. "And Three..." He pointed to himself.

"I don't think two guys in costumes qualify." Carl disapproved. "I wouldn't pay for this."

"I want to pay for this... mainly because I need to buy this property and not necessarily what is here." Lisa knew the game came first and whatever this mess was, came second. "Maybe when I leave, you all can finish this exhibit."

"We did install the seven placard telling the story of the history of polar bears." Itchy added. "That took forever to engrave." They turned to admire his work on the far side of the room.

Carl left the group in a trance, attracted to the journey he was about to learn about. "Fascinating." He remarked. "Did you know..." His words were lost as the other approached the statue.

"This is what I want." Lisa gently placed her MyPad into the hands of the stone statue and waited for the hologram to appear. It felt delayed, but eventually appeared.

"Greetings. Welcome to North Carolina Avenue where this great property is on sale today..." The green hologram started but caught Lisa's attitude.

"Great?" She said under her breath. The hologram was not amused.

It continued, ignoring her comment. "For one turn only, this great..." It emphasized. "...property is on sale for two hundred seventy dollars. That's a savings of ten percent."

It was the same sales message she had heard several times now. 'Where do I click?" She rushed the hologram and it grew more agitated.

"Slow down a minute." It interrupted. "You rolled a three to get here, you aren't exactly zooming around the board." Any insult Lisa had, the hologram had another. "Any player landing here can take a tour of this wonderful museum for twenty-six dollars..."

"Twenty-six dollars?" This was double her original guess. "Are you kidding me?" She looked around the room and pointed to Carl. "Twenty-six dollars to see a wax polar bear and read its life story?" The price might be more impressive than the tour. "Glad that's not twenty-six dollars real money."

"Anyways. Make your decision." Lisa knew the answer. She reached up and pressed the Buy icon displayed on the MyPad and the hologram gave her one last word of advice. "When all the properties are purchased, the real game begins." It smiled as it knew the reason for the riddle, while no one else in the room had a clue.

"I'm sure it will." Lisa concluded. The usual two pieces of paper printed below the statue's hands showing her title-deed for the property and the two hundred seventy dollar purchase deducted from her previous total of six hundred dollars, leaving her with three hundred thirty dollars. "That's not a lot of money remaining. I've spent..." She did the quick math in her head. "Eighty percent of my original bankroll. I've got to save money. In fact..." She had always wanted to say this. "You're fired!" She screamed at the mouse with the oversized head. "You can stay if you work for free. I can't afford to pay you."

"Well... now that you bought this place, we don't have to stay, so we quit!" Scratchy the tall cat said as they pranced out of the room.

"That was not expected. Everyone keeps leaving me." Lisa watched as the mascots exited hopefulness and entered disappointment.

"I'm still here." Carl reminded her. "Don't forget about me. I still have a story to tell." He finished the life story of the polar bear and prepared to start his own story.

Loud booms echoed across the sky. Was it the same as before or a giant mouse and cat slamming the front door to a boring twenty-six dollar museum tour. Didn't matter. Lisa had Carl, for the moment, and neither were going anywhere.

"How about that story? How did you get here? Are Marge and Homer...?" She listed every question she had for the visitor from the outside world.

"Everyone is fine, except I don't know where the others are." Carl began his story with finding Burns and hearing more information than Lisa knew. As the minutes went by, Lisa tried to absorb every word she could without losing track of details in her mind. "Once the seven of us enter the transport room, I haven't seen anyone since..."

"You said Bart, Milhouse, Nelson, Sheri, Terri, Lenny... That's six..." She counted on her fingers.

"Polar Bear makes seven." Carl joked to Lisa's blank face. "Me. Seven." He stated.

"Oh, right." It seemed like an easy mistake to make. "Well, shall we go look for them, friend." I have all the time in the world since it's no longer my turn. "Just promise me, you won't leave me like the others."

"I can't promise that as I'm alone and I have no idea where the others are I entered with." Carl was just as alone as Lisa, which brought up his idea. "Let's stick together as long as we can."

"Deal." Lisa agreed as they entered hopefulness once again.