Ready Player One: The Adventures of Jack
Chapter Nine
GoldDragonZ: Thank you for reading. The story continues.
Mark made sure that his hair was combed nicely. He looked at himself in the mirror, and breathed deeply. He had arrived at Fraticelli's ten minutes before five o'clock. He was sweating a little bit and took the time to calm down. He needed to wash his face with cold water. He sighed and left the bathroom. He saw that Amira was waiting for him.
"Hey Amira," Mark said, smiling as he walked up to her. "How are you doing?"
"I'm good." She said smiling back. "How are you?"
"I'm good. I saw Nick Harvey earlier today."
"Yeah he's been a good mentor to me. I thought that he could help you out."
"He said I should go out with you."
"I would really like that."
"Okay, so where do you want to sit?"
"Jessica, our friends and I usually sit by the window, wherever there is an open space."
"Okay, let's go."
The couple went to sit down at a table that was vacant closest to a window. A waitress walked up to them.
"Good evening." The waitress said as she gave Mark and Amira two menus. "My name is Candice, I will be your waitress. What can I get you to drink?"
"Water for now." Amira said.
"I'll have water as well." Mark said.
"Okay, take your time looking at the menu." Candice said. "I will be back in two minutes to take your order."
And with that the waitress left them to go over what they wanted to eat.
"So, what's good here?" Mark asked.
"For starters, maybe try the Gelato." Amira told him. "They have vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut, or pistachio. Which one would you prefer?"
"I'll try the chocolate." Mark replied. "What about you? What do you want to get?"
"I like the coffee flavored Tiramisu." She said.
"Okay, let's order." Mark said, putting up his hand to get the waitress' attention.
"Hey what will you be having today?" Candice said as she came up to the couple with a pen and paper pad, ready to take down their orders.
"I'll have coffee flavored Tiramisu." Amira said.
"And I'll have chocolate gelato." Mark replied.
"Wow, skipping dinner altogether and going right for dessert." Candice beamed. "You guys aren't kidding around. Okay, I'll let my chef know what you want and be back with your orders."
And with that, Candice left them once more. Mark and Amira shared a laugh and quieted down. Mark blushed and looked away from Amira.
"I like you, Amira." He said softly. "Thank you for this. I'm glad we can get to know each other better. I wish I started speaking with you sooner. This time in a few months, you'll be off to University, and I …I don't know where I'll be…"
"Mark." Amira said as she reached for his hand which he held together in front of him on the table. "We have the OASIS. It doesn't matter where I am, as we have that, we will be fine. I'm not the type of person who will sleep around or will find other men. I like you for you, Mark."
"I don't deserve you, Amira." Mark said softly.
"You have to have faith, Mark. Have faith in me. I will be there. I will help you up out of the abyss that you find yourself in. Please Mark. Don't give up on me."
"I'll try."
Amira smiled as she stroked his hand with hers. They did not speak for a while, and only immersed themselves in each other's presence. Candice came with their desserts.
"Before we eat, do you mind if I say a little prayer?" Mark asked.
"Go ahead." Amira said.
"Dear God." Mark began. "I turn to you for support. Whenever I stumble, I pray that you be there. Whenever I am weak, you lift me up. Please bless Amira Qad as she longs to help me, and develop a relationship with me. I pray God, that I can help her as well. I pray that you bless the food that we are about to consume. Please bless this establishment and the hands who prepared this food. Please bless us in your Holy Name, amen."
"Amen." Amira said, and they began eating their desserts.
"That was awesome." Mark said upon finishing. "But I'm still interested in more."
"Yeah, me too." Amira said. "You should try the Cannoli."
They ordered Cannoli, Semifreddo, Tarufo, and finished with Sparkling Rosemary Limeade.
"Wow that was good." Mark said. "I think I'm going to get sick later."
"I love doing this occasionally." Amira said. "You can't do this every day."
"You know Prom is coming up, so I wanted to officially ask you if you wanted to be my date, Amira."
"You know it." Amira said happy that he asked her in real life. "My friends are renting a limo…unfortunately everyone needs to pay their share."
"Yeah, I was going to go with my friends and pay for their limo as well." Mark said. "I can just pay whoever is paying for the limo that you and your friends will be taking instead."
"Are you sure you want to come with me and my friends?" Amira asked. "I don't want to come in between you and your friends."
"They are my best friends." Mark said. "I would be happy with them if they got a date. Yeah, I should talk to them first to find out how they feel about it. I will see you at Prom anyways."
"We will dance the night away." Amira said, smiling.
They continued talking about school and life, and then at eight o'clock, they were finished and went home.
Friday, the day of the announcement came. The High Five had not heeded Mark's warning that Lynx would show up. Mark remained in The Tensa Zangetsu, watching the proceedings as Jack_100292402. Tom_001 and Gadanza were there in the crowd. Jack's two Mac Cannons were powered up to maximum. He had built and bought several dozen interceptors, which were robot ships that would carry out his will no matter what the task. They were built to fix things, attack things, and carry things. Jack opened a channel. Players all around the OASIS were at the presentation where they would see the heroes of the OASIS speak about what they had planned for the OASIS. Others were monitoring the presentation at different locations throughout the OASIS, much like Jack was doing.
"Hello everyone!" Parzival said to a rowdy crowd. "It's been a while since the High Five has spoken to you. There are several things that we want to bring to your attention. Please, quiet down so that we can begin."
Everyone watching held their breath. They waited to hear what the High Five had to say. Art3mis took the stage after Parzival.
"Hello everyone." She said. "We are announcing several challenges. Halliday had left us full control of the OASIS, and we want to share what we have. We have had our best programmers come up with different tasks that you must do to find Easter eggs that we have hidden throughout the OASIS. The Easter eggs will grant you different abilities that you can use throughout the OASIS. One Easter egg that we are beginning with is called the Superhero egg, which allows your Avatar the ability to fly without using energy reserves. One was the power to turn your avatar invisible for a short time, however they could not have the ability forever. One is a cache of special weapons. There are various caches that have been left throughout the OASIS. They contain spells, special ammunition, heavy weapons, costumes, skins, accessories, uniforms, hair styles, vehicles, power-ups and links to different websites that allows free access for a certain amount of time."
Art3mis stepped down, and Shoto came to the stand.
"We have other items hidden throughout the OASIS that are very different than the Easter eggs that we just mentioned." Shoto told the crowds. "We have Skulls that make the game play more challenging for you. One skull takes away the automatic aiming mechanism. One makes your health shorter, or your armor weaker so that you must be smarter while you battle other players. One makes your vehicles lose speed. We will come out with more Easter eggs and Skulls as time goes by."
Aech took the stand.
"Now, with the programmers we have working with us, I can expand my Garage." Aech said. "I have opened up several garages where you can come and have your items fixed for a fee of course. We have programmers playing and they will help you fix your vehicles, weapons, or other tech."
Parzival came to the stand once more.
"We also have extended our reach to other genres." Parzival said. "When new movies come out, you can pay to see them here on the OASIS alone, or with a group of friends. You can use Google Maps and look at a location in 3D. You can find new dance moves, different dancing games and different Meetups that have been planned. Halliday and Morrow had wanted to have the OASIS as an escape. We want to keep with that spirit, but we also would like to urge you all to come out in the real world to talk about things that you have done. There are still things that you can do in the real world. Go out for something to eat with friends. We have reviews for restaurants online. Give cinemas and theme parks your business, otherwise they may close forever. The OASIS will continue to be unavailable on Tuesdays and Thursdays so that you can form real bonds with people in the real world. Just talk to each other."
The crowd soaked this in. For a while, no one knew what to think. The High Five were willing to share the wealth. They were interested in keeping things in the real world alive. They wanted people to go out on their own to form bonds. They also wanted to make gameplay in the OASIS more attractive so that people would keep playing. Players started giving thumbs up to the speech. And then Parzival started talking once more when they were all finished.
"There is also some bad news." He said. "There is someone out there who wants to destroy what Halliday and Morrow have built. He has destroyed several maps which will take our programmers weeks to repair and restore to their previous state. His online name is Lynx. If you have heard about him, please try and talk to him. He's also stolen several items belonging to other players. Normally, when you are killed in the OASIS, you lose coins, but somehow, he was able to take gear from dead players as well. He has also stolen vehicles. We were testing out new Easter eggs, and he could detect them without us telling everyone about the eggs. He has unlimited ammunition, the vehicles he has can move faster, and he cannot be killed by conventional ways. He wants to be the only player with these abilities, however we want other players to be able to play and win things that can last. Unfortunately, we have no choice. We want him to come to justice. The OASIS is for all players to play fairly. We are looking to have someone, one of you to help apprehend him. We are offering 500 million coins for him. This is a bounty. Magic and specialty items like black holes seem to work against him, so please, find something that can end his reign of tyranny."
And then there was a loud boom. An Imperial Star Destroyer from Star Wars appeared right above the meeting place that the High Five were broadcasting from. A blue ball suddenly appeared above the players before the Star Destroyer opened fire, raining green laser blasts onto the unsuspecting crowd. The blue ball was a spell, and shielded them from the attack. Black Interceptors from The Tensa Zangetsu zipped towards the Star Destroyer. Lynx seemed to be preoccupied with the interceptors that he did not notice the much bigger ship, the Tensa Zangetsu appear on the map.
"Per the projections, we have a 65% chance of hitting players who are not participating in the battle." The computer said to Jack. "That is if you choose to fire both Mac Rounds at the same time."
"Then we need something else." Jack_100292402 said.
He ordered his ship to monitor the situation and fire upon the enemy with lasers or missiles if anything changed. They also had to be prepared as the interceptors were once again being shot out of the sky. They were just not fast enough. Jack went deeper into his ship. He opened his vault and went into the innermost chamber of his armory. He needed to provide a palm print and facial recognition to access what he was after. It was a weapon that he never thought that he would have to use. He went down on his knees and said a prayer.
"Dear God." Jack said. "I know this is not real life. Whatever I do here will not have a lasting effect, but I need to protect others. I need to defeat the enemy Lynx so that he doesn't steal from other people again. In Jesus' precious name, I pray that I am successful in my mission, amen."
He got up, and donned the armor of the Gold Dragon. His player went through a metamorphosis. He grew two feet taller. His arms and legs tripled in size. He also had to change his hair style to accommodate a golden helmet. Gold armor appeared all over his body. The head of the dragon was on his left arm with red eyes that just sparkled, and out of the mouth was a black cannon. On the right arm was the tail, which ended in a broad obsidian blade with Japanese characters written on the blade in Gold. His feet were like talons, and he wore a black and red cape. His eyes glowed blue as well. He went to the nearest exit and left the ship, leaving orders for the ship to retreat.
Upon seeing the enemy disembark from his ship, Lynx decided to leave his as well. Lynx raised his eyebrow. This was not the same Jack that he had previously faced. This person was wearing Gold Armor. He was seven feet tall. His arms and legs looked akin to tree trunks in size. Jack aimed his cannon right at Lynx's ship. The blast was bright blue and brightened up the area so much that all Lynx and the other players saw was blue. The ship had been hit with an electromagnetic blast that powered it down. The Star Destroyer no longer fired at anyone and started falling from the sky. Lynx had no choice but to put it away.
"You have some skill." Lynx said as he contacted Jack. "But you are no match for me."
Lynx took out his Proton Cannon and fired it at Jack, who countered with a red beam which was meant to destroy and not depower. They caused a massive explosion. Neither of them were hurt. Jack powered up a jet pack that was on his back. He flew towards Lynx. Lynx took out his laser sword which was like Halo laser sword. Jack aimed his right arm, and fired the blade of his sword, which was attached to a black chain. Their weapons rammed into each other. Jack pulled back his blade, and flew closer to Lynx.
"You have a limited amount of time, I'm guessing that you can use that suit." Lynx said. "That's how those idiots designed this world. They wanted to give people limits so that everything could be fair. But I have no limits. I will be a god! I will design this world into one where I can rule supreme. The High Five were given a gift, but they squandered it. They only chose to give people Easter eggs after I found the first one. They are hypocrites. How about this. You join me, and I give you back your abilities, the immortality, the unlimited ammunition, and the speed. Without those, you can't do anything against me. Me on the other hand."
Lynx fired several missiles right at Jack. Jack's armor on his back combined with the blade on his right arm and formed a shield. The missiles exploded, flinging Jack from the air to the ground. He got to his feet as Lynx landed several meters away. Lynx used a tank missile, which Jack slashed out of the air with his sword, causing another explosion. This gave Lynx an opportunity to strike as he used his laser sword to cut into Jack. His armor held, but the force of the attack spun Jack right around. Jack lifted his left arm, pulled out his cannon and fired it at Lynx, who used a proton shield to stop the electromagnetic shock from depowering his suit.
"Did you think something like that would work against me?" Lynx seethed. "I am a god. You have nothing that can harm me. Your suit on the other hand will either get damaged, or depower over time. This battle cannot last forever. I will win. I always win."
Jack swung his blade, not willing to relent. Lynx grabbed the blade with his bare hands. Jack was not finished as he brought out his cannon. He aimed it at Lynx.
"Let go, or I make you let go." Jack said through gritted teeth.
Lynx laughed as he kicked Jack right into the solar plexus. This forced Jack back. It also ripped his blade out of his arm. Jack held out his right hand and he whispered several spells at once. A blue ball blasted from Jack's hand, smashing into Lynx. Lynx tried to retaliate, but then Black chains erupted from the ground he was standing on. Yellow rings of light surrounded Lynx and held him in space. Jack ran and stopped in front of Lynx. He aimed his cannon right at Lynx's head and fired without consideration of anyone who might get in the way.
"What the hell was that?" Lynx asked when Jack was finished.
Lynx broke through the chains and the rings of magic with ease. He brought out his massive proton cannon and fired it right at Jack at point blank. Jack was sent hurtling through the stands where people had congregated to watch the speech that the High Five were giving. Jack got up to his feet. His chest piece was cracked. He aimed his cannon once more at Lynx, who took to the air. Like a bug, he dashed left and right, making it hard for Jack to track him. Lynx fired several missiles which exploded all around Jack. Jack fell to the ground a second time. He tried getting up, however a massive boot planted itself on his left arm. He could not move it. Lynx looked down at his enemy and brought his hands together to make a ball of energy.
"You poor, insignificant piece of shit." "Lynx said, shaking his head. "You seriously thought you could beat me with this gaudy armor? Face it, Jack, was it? You're all by yourself."
Suddenly, someone grabbed Lynx from behind in a bear hug.
"Jack is not alone." Aech said.
"He has all of us." Gadanza said, flinging the Pokemon, Muk right at Lynx's face to obscure his vision.
Art3mis ran towards Jack. She had something in her hands. It was an Easter egg.
"This was created especially for you, Jack." She said. "It will counteract the effects that Lynx had on you. Together we can end this."
"He can't be stopped." Jack said. "He's immortal here in the OASIS. He's just like you and I."
"We have come up with a solution." Art3mus said, however she seemed reluctant. "Have you ever seen the classic film The Matrix?"
"Yeah, that was one of the most groundbreaking film back in the 1990s." Jack said. "What about it?"
"Do you remember what happened at the end?" Art3mis asked.
"Neo showed everyone something special and flew away?"
"No, before that."
"Neo kills Agent Smith?"
"Yes. We can grant you all the powers that have been yours for a long time." Art3mis explained. "You can be in this form right now and shoot rounds like your Mac rounds on the Tensa Zangetsu. You can fly faster than your Interceptors. You will be able to cycle through all your spells and weapons without having a previous load out. With this egg, we can grant you all of this for a short time. You will be immortal, powerful, and you will be the one to make this end. But it comes with a price. You can only use this egg once, and once you use it all, you will disappear from the OASIS forever until Lynx comes back. You are the only one that can use this egg, and its affects will also be the same for Lynx as it will make him disappear. If he finds a way back online, you will come back with everything you have. We need you to do this. You are the ace we have in the hole."
Jack's eyes widened, although no one could see them. He looked up at Aech and Lynx, who were fighting each other. Parzival was using a massive, robotic fist to punch Lynx, but it was not having any affect. Lynx pulled out two laser swords and cut both in half. This move transformed them into coins and gear, which Lynx gladly took up after grabbing and blasting Muk into a charred heap. Tom used a missile launcher to try and kill Lynx, but Lynx swatted it right out of the air. Tom aimed a Mac 10 carefully and fired at Lynx. Lynx fired right back, his bullets rupturing Tom's body, turning him also into coins. Gadanza pulled out his Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts and started slashing right and left. He tried stabbing Lynx, but Lynx grabbed the blade with his left hand, and pointed his right palm up at Gadanza's head. Gadanza was turned into coins. Daito and Shoto leapt into battle, firing different weapons at Lynx. Suddenly, there was a surge as other players witnessing the battle became bold. They could not just sit here and watch the heroes of the OASIS be killed. They started surrounding Lynx, firing missiles, spells, and other techniques to either kill Lynx, or render him powerless. Binding spells were cast so that his arms and legs were tied together. He used codes to break out of the restraints that no one could see. He fired at the other enemies with missiles, using his World Breaker missiles to destroy everyone around him. He flew into the air and dropped mines. Other characters took to the air and tried fighting him. However, they did not have luck as Lynx used missiles that locked onto other players and went after them. He used missile launchers and ended the players right then and there.
There was no time to think. Jack nodded and grabbed the Easter egg. He slammed it onto his chest. Out of the sky, the Tensa Zangetsu came, turned miniature and flew right into Jack's armored body. His ship, his weapons, his museum were all now part of him which also included the Easter Eggs, which were restored. He flew right up to Lynx and grabbed him. They flew away from the area which still had many players respawning after fighting Lynx. They took to space and went back to one of the worlds that Lynx had devastated. The air was green with radiated mist. Lightning and thunder became evident. Jack threw his enemy to the ground. Lynx got up in an instant, and fired a tracking missile right at Jack. Jack used his shield and batted the missile away. This time, nothing happened to Jack. He aimed his cannon at Lynx, who pulled out his proton cannon right at the same time and they fired at each other. And then, just like his Optimus Primal skin, cannons came up out of Jack's back and aimed right at Lynx. Lynx thought that as the blasts stopped he would have time to do something else.
Jack fired miniature Mac Cannon rounds right at Lynx who was blasted into cliffs. Jack opened his armor and several pieces of it turned into the Interceptors that he had been using to battle space craft. He made them attack Lynx. Lynx was pummeled into the ground. Jack made them come back. His armor started shifting as his helmet and several other pieces formed a new gold blade on his right arm.
"Well, Lynx." Jack said. "You and I will probably never meet in real life. If we do see each other, I'm guessing we won't know who each other is. If you are my friend, I would want you to continue being my friend."
"What you think this is over?" Lynx asked. "This is just the beginning. I'll keep killing players until you and I meet again."
"Not this time, Vlad." Jack said, revealing that he knew exactly who Lynx was. "There will be consequences to your actions, as there are consequences to mine. I am no god. I will give up everything just to save everyone else because it's my duty. I choose to end this now before you infect the whole OASIS with your anger. I don't hate you. You were probably having fun and got carried away. I do the same. I kill people on the OASIS although it is against the law to kill in the real world. We indulge in illegal activity here so I understand the need to express your anger with people. Maybe you should talk to someone in the Real World."
"Oh Jack," Lynx said. "Nice speech, but do you think your fancy armor and your holier than thou attitude is enough to stop me? You're nothing but a scrub noob."
"You're probably right," Jack said. "But I cannot stand idly by why you steal and destroy things. Halliday and Morrow spent a lot of time creating this world. It's in their honor that I help defeat you. Plus, you have no idea what I have to give up to stop you."
Jack ran forward with his new Golden Blade. The cannon on his left arm turned into a booster pack that flung him forward. Lynx barely had time to act. The Gold Blade sliced through Lynx's body like butter. Lynx screamed in anger as he realized that he had been wounded. Jack closed his eyes as his armor started glowing white. First, his avatar and all that he had on the OASIS disappeared. Next, Lynx started disappearing a well.
"You haven't seen the last of me, I will be back." Lynx said as his avatar began disintegrating into coins.
Mark pulled off his Virtual Reality Headset and sighed. He placed it in the corner so no one stepped on it. He took off his X1 suite, and cleaned it as he had sweated a little bit inside it. He put it in a drawer up in his room. He took out his cellphone and looked up Nick's number.
"Hello?" Nick said as Mark had called him. "This is Nick."
"Hi Nick, this is Mark." Mark greeted him. "I just need someone to talk to."
"Yeah man, I have a few minutes I can spare." Nick replied. "What's up?"
"Do you know anything about the OASIS?"
"Everybody is using it. And then recently there were reports of several bombings. Some people thought it was an act of cyber bullying or terrorism. I used it quite a bit before my son was born. It's a great escape. Its good exercise as well, if you subscribe to something like that. What's been happening?"
"There was this hacker who claimed Three Easter eggs. Artemis and I joined forces and relied on each other to get the eggs as well. All three of us got the eggs, however, this hacker, who goes by the name of Lynx did not want to share. He was a coding expert and could do things no one else could. Were you online recently?"
"Dude, I'm at work. It's against the rules for us to be on any social media, let alone a game console."
"Sorry, I guess I am kind of a noob."
"No this is something important, otherwise you would not be talking to me."
"He's the one who bombed several maps online. I believe that the High Five are going to fix things but they needed my help. They gave me the ability to defeat him, but it came at a cost. My Avatar and everything I had was deleted and will only be brought back if he hacks in and returns to the OASIS again."
"Why you? They own the OASIS. Surely they could have chosen someone that worked for them directly to create an avatar and supply it with all the highest scoring tech in the OASIS."
"There was no time as he attacked them while they were giving a speech. It was either attack him right there before he stole other items, or let him keep getting away with it."
"And what's to stop him from buying another console and just making a new Avatar?"
"He won't have the Easter eggs that he won. And then I have another problem as well."
"What happened?"
"Amira and I were planning on spending time together on the OASIS while we go to College and University. She's smart, and I don't want to hold her back. I'm scared that she might meet someone new when she goes."
"And what's to stop you from doing the same?"
"Her and I did speak about this. We just need to have faith with each other. That's what she had said."
"You're right, Amira is a smart girl. But I guess this might come as a blow to your friends who want to hang out with you as well. Can't you just create a new Avatar somehow?"
"The High Five may need me again someday. I will wait until they call."
"That's not fair, you paid, or your parents paid good money for that console. You need to talk to the High Five again somehow. That is totally not fair to you, to your friends and family, or to Amira. It's not right."
"Now that you mention it, you are right. But I was happy to be a hero."
"You should be rewarded for doing what's right, plus he was everyone's enemy; the High Five should do more against hackers like him. Did you want me to talk to them on your behalf?"
"What? No, that's not necessary. I'll talk to them and see what they might say. Thank you, Nick."
"Don't mention it, buddy."
Vladislav put down his Virtual Reality Headset. He was confused. The High Five had used something powerful against him. He turned on his computer and jacked it into the OASIS as a bot. He ran through his battle with the High Five, Jack and the other players online at the time. He watched what happened between Art3mis and Jack. So, Jack had sacrificed himself to stop Lynx. With that kind of power, it would not matter if he got his gear back and the Easter eggs. They won. They stopped him from carrying out his plans. He had to get off the computer and take a long while to think about what his next plan would be. He called Lewis Roger.
"Hey bud." Lewis said. "I saw what you did on the OASIS. Are you okay? The High Five destroyed you. They are taking apart your Star Destroyer right now to pay all the players that you stole stuff from."
"So, people are stealing my gear now?" Vladislav said. "What about my Easter eggs?"
"As soon as you died, Parzival and Artemis went and grabbed them." Lewis said. "They looked through your inventory and gave everything you stole back to the players you stole them from. You've lost everything."
Vladislav swore in Estonian. His evil reign in the OASIS was brought to an abrupt end.
The next day was Saturday. Mark and his siblings went to their piano lessons. Mark was taught for one hour, Rodney was taught for one hour, and Alexandra was taught for one half hour. They were making progress. Their mother was there, as the teacher had to tell her everything that the children needed to work on. Their teacher also wrote down everything in dictation books for each student. They did well and made their mother proud. They left their teacher's office and went back home. Their mother cooked their dinner while they worked on homework for school. They also did some chores, and when everything was done, after they ate and said a prayer, they played on the OASIS. However, it was odd that Mark was not playing as well.
"Mark, what's wrong?" His mother asked. "How come you aren't playing on your video game?"
"I lost everything." Mark replied. "There was this hacker, and there were other players counting on someone to stop him. They gave me this ability to beat him, but it costed everything. If he comes back, I will get everything back."
"What do you mean it cost you everything?" His mom asked.
"On the OASIS, we could get prizes for winning games." Mark began explaining. "I won a spaceship with robots and I was able to help people if they had broken items online. I had weapons, clothes, vehicles, and other things that I liked to collect online. It took me years since you bought me the console and the headset. Now all of it is gone. I can't create another avatar and start over in case the High Five need me to face the hacker again."
"This might be temporary. Think about it Mark; they may come up with a solution. If you helped a lot of people, they might miss you."
"My friends probably would miss me. There's also the girl I was telling you about. She wanted to keep in contact, and the only way to do it is to use the OASIS."
"You can use your cellphone to call her. I want you to be happy, Mark. You do need a job and the right education to get that job so that you can live happily."
"But that's in the future. Why can't I be happy now?"
"Everything takes time. There are phases to life, Mark. What you are interested in right now won't matter to you in five years. Believe me. There were times where I thought I would be a nurse. And then life happened, and now I'm into computers and building maintenance. I don't want you to feel sad, though. Your dad and I have given you kids everything. You don't need to work right now because we will pay for everything for you. We just need to know that you will do the right thing."
"I don't know. A friend of mine said that I need to have balance in life. No man is an island, and we need people."
"People do come and go, but I never stopped you from making friends. Please talk to us as well if there are any problems. You can trust adults, Mark."
"I want to make you and dad proud. But I also want to find that balance my friend was talking about. I'm not saying that I'm going to go out and drink with crack addicts, but I would like people to like me for me. I feel lonely…"
"I am sorry, Mark. Since you were a small child, I was telling you friends weren't important. But now, after hearing you say you are lonely, I want you to find someone you can be at peace with. This Amira girl, is she a good person? Do you know?"
"I have to talk to her more to get to know the real world. I think she is a lovely person, mom."
"I just want you to be happy, Mark. I don't want you to feel sad. You can come to us if you have any issues. You can trust us."
"You and dad…You guys say the same thing all the time. Education comes first, education comes first…But now I'm not so sure. Since you guys are all about learning, maybe it's not too late to start something new? I would like to start learning martial arts. With the time it will take to keep pursuing a good college to go to, with music and martial arts, I will be focused on different things and will not miss the OASIS."
"Are you sure it will not take away time from your studies?"
"It will help me be less stressed. I will be able to concentrate better. Its exercise; we all need to exercise, why not start now? Rodney and I can go."
"I'll ask your brother, and if he says yes, I will let you both go."
Mark smiled and went to tell his brother the good news.
Princess May revved the engine of her bright yellow Porsche Boxster. She was wearing a bright bluish green jumpsuit with a matching helmet. She began a race in eighth place. It was a track with many twists and turns. She needed to concentrate. She revved her engine as she waited for the countdown to begin. There were fast cars from many generations. People were using state of the art vehicles from different movies, plus some were real; people had bought and driven some of these cars. Others were like driving huge matchbox cars. This map was only about racing. It was against the rules to use weapons to stop other drivers, however players could ram into each other and force each other to crash. Princess May did not like cheating so would prefer just passing her fellow racers and not push them off the track or slam into them to spin out. She waited for the race to begin.
Then she saw that countdown begin in her Heads-Up Display.
3
2
1
GO!
The racers began firing up their engines and were off. Princess May drove like a professional. She passed two players, and then someone in front crashed. Mines started going off, destroying other players' cars. The players got out of the wreckage of their cars, swearing at each other. And then, out of no-where, a machine gun went off, destroying one of the players. The others scattered, going into different portals to leave the area despite their vehicle wreckage still being there. Tridosk appeared, after using up his active camouflage. May put her car into reverse, and looked back. Other players were going passed her, unaware of what was happening to the other players that were ahead of them. She got out of the car and opened a portal out of the arena. Suddenly, there was a big explosion, and Princess May was knocked down. The portal was just one foot away from her. Suddenly, Tridosk appeared in front of her very quickly.
"I have a message for your boyfriend." He said.
Princess May screamed.
GoldDragonZ: I updated the entire story, looking for errors and things that did not make sense. I tried my best to make it better. I hope people like it.
