“Positive,” Michael replied. “That KillSim barely got started on me and look what happened. According to Ronika, the whole point of those creatures is to erase your mind, remember? Not just your Aura but your mind in real life.”
Bryson stopped and looked at them. “And yet we’re jumping right back into the fire. What if KillSims are just the start of it?”
Sarah and Michael shrugged at the same time. Bryson followed, but he continued shaking his head as if he knew they were making the wrong decision, but he’d do it to appease his friends.
“You want to turn back?” Michael asked him, then tried to make light of it. “Just say the word, brother. I’ll buy you a pacifier and you can go home.”
Bryson didn’t miss a beat. “Nah, I’ll just borrow one of yours.”
And that was when they turned a corner and saw the sign for Devils of Destruction.
3
Michael loved how the VirtNet was a visual soup of archaic imagery mixed with the most advanced technology humans had ever known. This section of the Gaming Depot resembled an old boardwalk by the ocean, where arcades and restaurants and old-looking social clubs lined a walkway of wooden planks. Most of the shops here were actual games, though—a faux entrance to an entirely different world.
The sign for Devils of Destruction was huge and bordered with burning lightbulbs that flickered and sizzled. The letters were written in dark green—which Michael assumed was a reference to Greenland—with a red glow behind the word Devils. On the right side of the sign, there was a picture of a heavily clothed, helmet-wearing soldier, a machine gun pointed to the sky in one hand and a severed head, dripping with blood, hanging from his other fist. It seemed a little over-the-top.
They stopped right under the marquee, their necks craned to get a better look.
“Greenland,” Bryson said. “I’m almost seventeen years old and I’ve never played a game set there before. Must be one happenin’ place.”
Sarah turned to face her friends. “Most of it’s covered in snow and ice, big glaciers. We’re going to freeze our butts off.”
“Or something worse,” Bryson muttered. Then he flashed a playful grin like he’d just told the funniest joke of his life.
“Then keep ’em warm,” Sarah said with an eye roll.
He pointed to the front door, a rickety piece of wood that looked like it hadn’t been painted in ages. More specifically, a door that had been programmed to look like it had been neglected. It was all part of the atmosphere. “Well, we’ve studied the maps and we’ve made our plan. Let’s go for it.”
“When you die it makes you go back to the beginning,” Sarah said. “So if it happens to one of us, the other two need to die on purpose. We can’t get separated if we’re going to all get through.”
Michael didn’t necessarily agree with that. “I don’t know. As long as we figure out where the Portal to the Path is, that’s all that matters—we can’t waste a chance if we’re deep inside the battle zone. We just won’t actually go through the Portal until we’re all back together. If someone dies, the others wait for them.”
“Yeah,” Bryson said with a mock look of arrogance. “I’ll be sure to hold off until you guys catch up. Now come on.” Without waiting for a response, he walked to the door, opened it, and stepped inside.
4
It was an old-fashioned lobby with red carpet and lightbulb-bordered posters for other games covering the walls, the lights flashing around each in a clockwise loop. A concession stand stood in the middle, and the smell of popcorn filled the air. Michael noticed a teenage girl with black hair and bright red eyeliner at the register, smacking her gum like she hoped to pulverize it to nothing.
To the right was the ticket counter, behind which stood a woman, arms folded across her ample bosom, scowling at the newcomers. Everything about her was ample, actually. Large shoulders, thick neck, huge head. She wore no makeup, and her graying hair was stringy and unstyled. A real looker, Michael thought.
“Um, I’m scared,” Bryson whispered. “Could one of you buy the tickets, please? I think that lady slaughtered half my village when I was a baby.”
Sarah laughed, louder than she probably meant to. “I’ll do it, you big teddy bear.”
“I’ll come with you,” Michael whispered. “I think I’m in love.”
“What do you want?” the lady asked gruffly when they stepped up to the counter. “Popcorn’s over there.” She nodded toward the concession stand, but the rest of her body didn’t move a muscle.
“We’re not here for popcorn,” Sarah said coolly.
“Then what are you here for, smart aleck?” The woman had an unpleasant way of speaking out of the side of her mouth.
Sarah looked at Michael, half amused and half puzzled.
“Hey!” the lady barked. “I asked you, not your boyfriend.”
Sarah’s head whipped back to face the woman. “Well, obviously we want to play the game. Devils of Destruction? There’s a huge sign for it right outside your door? Maybe you’ve heard of it.”
Michael winced. Sarah was going too far.
The ticket lady laughed, a deep rumble that sounded like it should’ve come from a man. “Go on, kids. I’m not in the mood.”
Michael tried the nice approach. “Ma’am, we really do want to play. We have the day off from school. I’ve been studying Greenland.”
The woman unfolded her arms and put her hands on the counter, then leaned forward. Michael caught a whiff of something like cat pee. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
He knew his expression showed how perplexed he was. “Um … yeah. Why are you acting like this? We just want three tickets to the game.”
Her face actually softened a bit. “You really don’t get it, do you? You aren’t just being a wise guy?”
Michael shook his head in response.
“Kid, you can’t play this game if you’re under twenty-five. Now scram.”
5
The three of them stood back outside the building a little shell-shocked and very confused.
“What in the world?” Bryson asked, glaring at the shoddy door. “All I’ve heard about is how crappy this game is. What could possibly be in there that makes it A.O.?”