Chapter 11

Perry hobbled forward; his hip, leg, and back still injured from battle. Greg watched as he took each laboured step. Slowing down his own pace to gawk at Perry. He tried to catch up to Fibby and Shane for a bit, passing through the materialized door into a futuristic hallway.

The size of it was odd, far too spacious for the human form. At least twelve feet ceiling, and wider than it was tall. Maybe it was to accommodate some larger species. But not the hammerheads, the ones he saw were about the size of a grown adult human male. The walls, ceiling, and floor had an illuminated strip, in the middle of each, that emitted tinted blue light.

The group up ahead stopped for some reason, allowing Perry and Greg to catch up. When he did, he saw the other huddled around Priya who sat on the ground. She stared vacantly at a spot on the ground. Perry immediately noticed her busy bosom as he approached, for no other reason than that was where her green shirt was stained with blood.

“Why’d you guys stop?” asked Greg.

Shane looked over as they approached. “Priya said she needed to sit down.”

“Is she bleeding?” asked Perry.

Katie flipped her hair back. “That blood is from her bleeding nose, remember?”

“I remember, but I think she’s still bleeding. Some of that blood is fresh.”

Heather knelt down beside Priya and began searching through her long hair. “Found it,” she said. “She must’ve hit her head when she got swiped. How are you feeling Priya?”

Priya continued staring blankly at nothing. Heather waved her hand in front of Priya’s eyes to no reaction.

“I think she’s had a concussion,” said Heather.

“Hey, can you heal our injuries?” asked Shane. He directed the question toward Fibby, but he didn’t react. He just continued looking away. “Fibby? Can you heal Perry and Priya’s injuries?”

Fibby turned, startled. “Oh, you were talking to me? Hm. Probably not. Sparky, heal the two this guy referred to.”

“Unable to comply.”

“You heard him. He didn’t have your species on file, for some reason. So, he doesn’t know how to repair you. My suggestion is, once you’re settled in, talk to customer support and see if they can help you out. You guys did submit your biology specs when you entered the game, right?”

Katie’s face became flushed red. “No! No, we didn’t! We didn’t sign up for your stupid game! One minute we’re on the train, then the next we in that maze, in the dark.”

“Interesting.”

“What do you mean! Interesting! Is that all you have to say! I almost died in there! We almost died.” Katie no longer even tried to hold back her tears.

“Well, I haven’t encountered that before. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

It was the same ground as earlier. Perry knew he needed to move this forward. They needed information, and complaining was just wasting time. “Assume we don’t know anything about this game. Could you please tell us what we need to know about this game?”

“Okay. This sounds like fun. You are in an interactive experience contest. There are spectators, sometimes. If you manage to make it out alive, it’s considered incredibly lucrative. Individuals from all over the galaxy apply, but only a few are chosen. At each level, you will be given a goal to accomplish and obstacles in your way. Usually, the goals and obstacles are meant to be surprises. We like it when you have to think on your feet.”

“What did you mean when you said ‘spectators sometimes?’”

“Well, during intermission there’s no one watching. Also, there have been times when certain teams have gotten abysmal ratings. Most species like just watching their own team. And if they have multiple teams they’ll watch their more popular teams. You know, like, the ones filled with celebrities.”

“So we are considered a team?” asked Shane.

“Yeah.”

“Are we competing against these other teams?” asked Greg.

“Sometimes. Though often you have to cooperate. It depends on the specific game. I wouldn’t worry about the games too much, they are designed so you can’t really prepare for them. If you really don’t know anything about the game though, then what you need to know right now is about the intermission.”

Yes, thought Perry. They needed to prioritize the immediate. Like Shane would say if you are in a survival situation you need to prioritize immediate danger, then water, then heat, then finally food and shelter. Every later problem could be left as a bridge to be crossed as they came to it. “Alright, tell us about the intermission.”