Hope was staring up at the podium when Tark, Zyra and Tee ran in. The Ultimate Gamer wavered unsteadily, his form blackened and charred. The loops of gold were barely moving at all.
‘He don’t looks too good,’ said Tark.
‘I think he’s dying,’ added Hope.
Zyra ran up to the foot of the podium. ‘Are you going to be all right?’
The Ultimate Gamer slowly shook his head.
‘What about Bobby?’ Zyra persisted. ‘Is he you? Is he okay?’
‘We are each other’s avatars.’ The Ultimate
Gamer’s voice was weak and crackly. ‘We are two sides of the same coin. He is the desire to play. I am the ability.’
The loops stopped spinning and fell from the podium, dispersing into dust when they hit the ground.
The Ultimate Gamer shuddered and slowly leaned forward. As the podium crumbled beneath him, he fell.
Bobby hit the ground at Zyra’s feet, his clothing singed and smoking.
‘Bobby,’ she gasped.
‘No more games,’ he said, lying still. ‘No more winning.’
‘Oh, Bobby.’ Zyra’s eyes misted over.
‘I wanted to play forever.’ A tear welled up m the corner of Bobby’s eye, trailed down his cheek and splashed onto the dusty ground. ‘Damn the Designers.’
His eyes closed, his breathing ceased and he began to shimmer.
‘Wait,’ called Hope. ‘What about the cheat code? How do we get out of here?’
‘I am the key,’ Bobby whispered, even though his lips were still.
One by one, solid particles became shining pixels,until their light faded and Bobby’s body was no longer there. In its place something began to take form - a small oblong.
As it solidified into plastic, Zyra realised what it was. ‘A Designers Paradise key,’ she breathed.
Tark and Zyra, and Hope and Tee formed a semicircle around the key, gazing down at it in reverence.
Hope bent down and snatched it up, turning it over in her hands. It was white and blank - no logo, no embedded chip, nothing. ‘Now what?’
Tee took the key. He too examined it. ‘We find a way to use it.’
‘Bobby was scared of whatever is out there,’ said
Zyra. ‘He wanted to stay inside the game.’
‘Maybe we need to take this to the Oracle,’ said
Hope, ignoring Zyra.
‘We is Outers,’ said Tark. ‘It won’t interacts with us. ‘
‘Maybe it will only work for a particular person,’ suggested Tee. He held it out to Zyra.
Zyra reached out hesitantly with her forefinger and thumb, stopping millimetres short of the key. She took a deep breath, held it, glanced over at Tark, and gently took the key.
Nothing happened.
She released her breath and looked to Tark. He shrugged and took the key. It glowed briefly, and then went dull again.
Tark and Zyra stared at each other.
‘Both of you,’ said Tee. ‘It needs both of you.’
‘No way!’ complained Hope. ‘Why them? It should be me.’
Tee put a gentle hand on his daughter’s shoulder.
‘It doesn’t really matter who gets out, so long as someone does.’
‘It matters to me,’ said Hope. ‘I always thoughtit would be me . . . us. You and me. Father and daughter - out in the real world.’
‘It’s better this way,’ Tee assured her. ‘It feels right that it’s Tark and Zyra. It was the original Tark and Zyra who, long ago, were the first Outers. It was me and my Zyra who had a child to fulfil the cheat code. And now it is this Tark and Zyra who will step out of the game.’
Hope’s shoulders slumped a little in acceptance. Tark held out his hand to Zyra. She smiled andtook it.
‘Zyra!’ Hope hesitantly stepped towards her. ‘I . . . I never knew my mother.’ She hurriedly searched for the right words. ‘I’m not saying you’re her, because you’re not. You’re not my mother. But .. . thanks for sticking with me.’
Zyra smiled and faced Tee. He didn’t say anything
- but his expression spoke of repeated loss and new hope. Zyra mouthed the words ‘Old Man’ and squeezed Tark’s hand.
‘Let’s go,’ she whispered.
‘Wait,’ said Tark. ‘It all started with a kiss.’
Zyra’s smile broadened and she leaned in to kiss
Tark. As their lips met, she touched the card.
01100101 0 1111000 0 1101001 0111 0 100 glowed across the surface of the key.
Everything they had ever known melted away as
Tark and Zyra finally, irreversibly, left the game.