I don't own Minesweeper the game. But everything behind the scenes there is MINE, my preciousss...

Anyway, Chapter Three is here. Read and enjoy! ^_^

Sunglasses
Chapter Three

The whole of the Smiley Kingdom was in chaos. Never before had such a thing happened; and now that it had, everyone was at a complete loss as to what to do following the sudden rebelliousness of the newest Smiley king, #936. It was the first time a king had left without naming the next Smiley to play The Game - true, #1121 was technically next according to the lottery results, but the king needed to acknowledge the results before the lottery-chosen Smiley could play. That had always been the way for the couple or so years since the birth of the Smiley Kingdom on the Minesweeper's computer, but #936 had not done so.

Rebelliousness was not something new. Some of the Smileys, the older ones in particular, could remember several occasions where a particularly mutinous Smiley would refuse to enter The Room to play and had to be forced in against their will. Such happenings were rare, though, and never talked about among the Smiley community more than necessary. The names of those disobedient Smileys were taboo for many: #278, #716, #583... and the first who dared oppose the rules of the Smiley Kingdom, thus setting the way for others, #39.

Those names were whispered in fear whenever mentioned, for their owners were not Smileys to be proud of.

No one knew what made them the way they were - so resistant to the rules that were diligently followed by every other Smiley. No one knew what made them fail to see something that was so clear for everyone else: the role of the Smiley was to play The Game.

If they died in the outcome, too bad, that's life. If they won the sunglasses, good for them; they'd be spared from being chosen until the next got the sunglasses. And if the Minesweeper broke the high score - after winning a level for the seventh or more time - with their Game, why... they would be safe then forever from the murderous clutches of the Minesweeper, never again having to mingle with the common Smiley crowd. They would be of the highest position possible for a Smiley, higher even than the kings and queens, who could lose their position any time. They were the Elite, the best of the Smileys, looked upon with awe by everyone else.

But such Smileys were rare. Currently, only seven were known to exist somewhere in a place known as the Upper Realms; a place young Smileys dreamt of at night and everyone else thought of with longing. Anything, The Game or otherwise, was worth it if it presented even the slightest possibility of entering the Upper Realms. All the Smileys held some hope of the Minesweeper breaking the high score on their game for the seventh or more time for that level. This only applied, though, for the Intermediate and Beginner levels - the Expert level had only been conquered once, by #936. Such Smileys were very seldom lucky; yet, the rest of the Smileys never gave up hope. The rebels, of course, were the exceptions... but these until now had always been one of the commoners.

For the first time, however, it was a Smiley king who had refused to follow the rules. And as a result, life at the Smileys knew it ground to a halt as the emergency alarm sounded.

It rang loud and clear, a sound never before heard in the Smiley Kingdom, from the palace to the school to the waiting room that held a hundred or so Smileys. On all of their faces were etched similar expressions of panic and fear as a flag, possibly #2579, yelled an announcement into the Smiley Public Address System (SPAS).

"Do not panic! I repeat, do not panic!"

This served only to send the until then relatively quiet crowd into a screaming state of further chaos. It was as much as many could do to make out the voice of the flag over the din.

"The computer has been shut down!" - gasps from the crowd - "Flags have been sent out after His Majesty. We have everything under control! I say again, there is no need to panic!"

More screams arose from below.

Among the crowd, however, one Smiley was silent as he stared up at where the king had just moments before sat. #936 had done it for him, #1121 - for the sake of his life, #936 had broken the rules of his position and run...

Tears started to roll down the young Smiley's face as all around him, Smileys were breaking down into various stages of hysteria. "Thanks," he whispered, blinking the tears away and evaporating them. If it hadn't been for #936, he'd probably be dead by now.

Meanwhile, in another part of the Smiley Kingdom, #936 had not stopped moving. Hurtling through the myriad of low white corridors that filled this part of the Kingdom, he paused only occasionally to catch his breath, hovering in the air for several seconds before zooming off again. At the corners, he lowered himself to the ground and rolled around them; but otherwise he flew most of the way.

#936 had absolutely no idea as to where he was going. He had heard the flag's announcement over the SPAS, and it gave him only more reason to move faster. He didn't know why he was running away in the first place. All he knew was that if they caught him, it would all have been for nothing and #1121 would almost certainly die... followed by who knew how many others until one of them got the sunglasses, whereupon he would return to the common crowd. The new king or queen would then take charge, and everything would continue as per normal. His current kingship was only a brief respite from the terrible life each Smiley was forced to live. And that was if he wasn't stripped of his position the moment they caught him. Sooner or later he would have to die, and all the other Smileys too. It was just a matter of time.

"It's not fair. It's just not fair!"

"Nothing is. So bear with it. It'll be over before you know it."

"I'll be dead."

"Big deal. We all die someday. The Minesweeper will too, one day. And when that happens... we'll be free. All of us. No longer slaves to the Minesweeper. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"Not if we're dead."

"Even if we don't make it, there will always be others. Other generations of Smileys. And one day, somehow, we'll be free. I know it."

One day. When? Now?

#936 didn't know. He just kept moving on through the maze of corridors, caring only that he put some distance between himself and the security flags before they caught him.

~8~8~8~

The crowd was getting more restless and more angry with each passing moment. Never before had they experienced a time when nothing happened, a time when no one was playing The Game. Rest Times were different. Those happened when the Minesweeper stopped playing and switched off the computer. Then, they were allowed to move off to their own areas of residence in the Smiley Kingdom to wait until the Minesweeper turned her computer on again, whereupon they had to go back to the waiting room to be put on Standby. And even Standby was different, because they always knew what was going on. The big screen in the waiting room displayed short messages that told what the Minesweeper was doing on the computer. They always knew.

Now, however, nobody had any idea what was going on. They weren't playing, on Standby, or having a Rest Time. The king or queen was the Smiley who gave an announcement whenever one of those situations changed into another. But now their king was gone, and they were all at a loss. The screen was still; there had been no directions other than the plea to not panic that had been issued through the SPAS what seemed ages ago.

"What IS this?" an angry voice sounded loudly from the crowd. "How could our king just desert us like that? Doesn't he know what he's done? I mean, look at this! We're just standing here doing nothing! We're not on Standby and there's no Game going on. I want action! I want to do something! I say we charge up there and demand our king back!"

Murmurs and nods of agreement followed #674's short speech.

"No," another voice relied flatly. Eyes turned towards the source, staring as #1031 floated up onto the platform that housed the screen. "Don't you realise what #936 is doing?" she asked. "He's trying to save us. If he hadn't run, who knows how many of us would be dead by now?"

"That was how it was meant to be, and you know that," #674 shot back. "We're Smileys! We were created so we could die!"

"You know that doesn't have to be. You heard what #936 and #841 said earlier, before either of them played The Game. We can fight this, I know!"

"Oh yeah? So you expect us to take advice from three young, inexperienced Smileys, one of whom is dead, another of whom has abandoned us, and the last of whom is a freak?"

The room fell silent. Most of them had already noticed the slight disfigurement of #1031's face. Half of it was perfectly normal, but the other held one half of a frown. Together, the half-smile and half-frown combined to give her a look of perpetual confusion. Unique, yes. Accepted, no. Until then, the crowd had made no comment about it; but #674's little outburst drew their eyes to #1031's strange deformity.

The Smiley gave a thin, crooked smile. "Do you think it matters? So what if I'm different? It's not as if that's going to change anything. You all know what happens to most of us in The Game. Normal or not, it doesn't affect how anything turns out in the end. We're all going to die, sooner or later. And now, when someone like #936 tries to do something that will change this, you become angry? He's trying to save us, don't you see?

Down in the crowd, #213 shook his head slowly. An ex-Smiley king, he was one of the oldest members of the Smiley community. "Always wanting to save the world, these youngsters. No respect for tradition, that's what it is. You mark my words: nothing good is going to come out of all this. Just trouble. You don't go against the rules like that and expect nothing bad to happen. A king, too." #213 gave a weary sigh. "Times have changed, oh yes. Back then, kings and queens knew what a privilege it was to be what they were. They didn't go running off whenever they felt like it."

"He saved my life!" #1121 yelled, lifting himself slightly off the ground to glare at the crowd. "An' he saved yours too, an' you know it! If it hadn't been for him, who knows how many more of you might be dead by now?"

"You shut up, kid!" #674 rose up too. "Don't talk about things you don't know about! Didn't you learn anything at school? This is life, understand? Everybody has a part to play in it. We do what we have to, the flags do what they have to, the Minesweeper does what she has to, and everything will be fine. Disrupt one part of that balance and who knows what disasters might come of it? We can't take the risk!"

#1031 almost had to shout to make herself heard in the growing commotion. "What do we have to lose? We're all going to die, anyway! We must as well die fighting!"

"Fighting, fighting!" #213 mocked. "That's all you young lot ever think about. Always rebelling against the ways of life that generations of Smileys have been following for years. May I remind you that to be a Smiley is an honour! We live for The Game, we die for The Game, and we do it with pride! Why, would you rather be one of those flags?" The Smiley snorted derisively. "Living forever... how boring is that? Have you ever seen a flag smile with happiness the way a Smiley does?"

#1031 looked ready to cry. "You all don't care, do you? You're all going to die, and for once someone tries to do something about it, but you all don't care." She turned to #1121. "Come on, kid, let's get out of here. We've got better things to do than stay around with this bunch of losers." She hovered up to the balcony where #936 had been, then looked back at #1121. "You coming?"

#1121 took a last apologetic glance at his fellow Smileys, then whooshed up to join #1031 as the others stared on in various degrees of disapproval.

"Where're we goin'?" he asked.

"I don't know for sure," came the reply. "We're just going to get away from here. And maybe, if we're lucky, we'll find #936." #1031 threw a wry smile at #1121. "Are you scared?"

The young Smiley shook his head determinedly. "Let's go."

And the two Smiley outcasts zoomed off through the door and down the white corridors, flying off in search of their freedom.

TO BE CONTINUED... please review!

allhail'tallica13: Thanks for reviewing!

Spiritsnare Flux: Thanks for your review!

Hawkeye's Seductress: MUAHAHAHAHA... ahem. Yeah, poor Smileys...

Serpent Falme: Me too. Flags are good. ^_^

hi: My classmate's record is 100 seconds for Expert. I haven't won an Expert game since, though.

Naomi Sisko: Yup, you started something wonderful! Minesweeper fics forever! We rule ...

Lily Chelstane: So did you win? ^_^ And if you read HP and LOTR, go read my other fics too!

Lei: *makes you piss somemore* Thanks for reviewing!

SpacemanSpiff: Well, I continued! Thanks for your review!

Blissey: Which human girl? The Minesweeper?

Treek: Chapter Three has entered the building.

bwilbur: *feels special* ^_^