As soon as they were back in their own house, Fred and Ellie had a brother-sister conference in the playroom. First item on the agenda: should they tell their mum and dad what was really going on?

“I don’t think so,” whispered Ellie. She was whispering as the playroom was next door to the living room, where her parents were. “They wouldn’t believe it anyway. And, if they did, they’d take the Controller away and …”

“Try and sell it?” said Fred.

“Well, I was going to say give it to some scientists for tests or something, but …” and here she opened the door a little and looked at Janine and Eric, who, despite the fact that their son (and cat) had both been in danger of their lives two minutes earlier, were now settling down in front of Cash in the Attic, “… yes, probably.”

“But what shall we tell them about what happened out there?”

Ellie thought. “We’ll just have to make something up.”

Fred nodded. Ellie opened the door and they walked into the living room.

“Fred!” said Janine, not taking her eyes off the screen. “That was amazing!”

“Yes,” said Eric. “Amazing. Have we got any bacon?”

“Actually,” said Ellie to Fred, “let’s not bother.”

They went back into the playroom.

“So … what was happening?” said Fred as soon as the door was shut.

“I don’t know. I was controlling you …”

“I know that. But how?”

“I’ve no idea.”

Fred thought about it for a while. “What game was I being?”

This might sound like a strange question, but Ellie knew what he meant. “Super Mario.”

Fred nodded. “That’s why I was good at jumping and landing …”

“Yes,” said Ellie.

“How do you know? Which game it is?”

Ellie shrugged. “That’s the one I was thinking about. While I was operating the Controller …”

Fred nodded once more. “Do you think … you might be able to think about other games … in other places …?”

Ellie again knew what he meant. She looked at him and smiled.