time. that's all i ever think about anymore. it's like there's never enough of it, you know?
it's strange. when the future's in front of you, it seems to go on forever. i mean, you never really get there. it's always one step ahead of you. it's like there's no present. there's no "now". as soon as you think, "i'm here", the moment's already gone. either everything's in the future, or it's in the past. there's no "now".
i'm in the past.
that's okay. i've got a test coming up anyway. gotta study.
killed herself?
he's a basket case. you've talked to him. you know that. he might as well be dead too.
look mr. weaver, i don't even know why i came here. i fine. really. it's like i said. it's just part of the past now. it doesn't matter anymore.
makes her way to the far corner of the cafeteria where a cluster of kids lounge around a table. these are alex's friends. and while none of them are your garden variety pocket-protector-type nerds, these kids aren't exactly part of the "in-crowd". they're a little off. quirky. all of them come from screwed up families, and that's what bonds them. they are:
he thinks i'm "sublimating".
i know.
i'm okay.
and then keep on driving?
it's okay, mr. finster.
go for it.
where's greg?
pushes her way back through the kids, making her way to the arcade machine.
where's greg?
has anyone seen greg?
so where is he?
yeah.
but he was playing the game. i mean, you saw him.
fuck-you.
pulls up in greg's skylark, scooping the arcade kit into her arms.
dad. dad.
did greg call, dad?
you should go to bed, dad.
yeah.
sits at the foot of her bed, facing her television. slowly, she draws on the cybergloves, testing her fingers. next, she pulls on the goggles. instead of a control panel, the home version has a control box, complete with joy-stick and a mini "escape" button.
how .
where's greg?
pulls herself up from the muck, brushing dirt and water from her face. she coughs, totally disoriented. looks around.
jerks her head up, terrified.
screamer.
hello?
nick.
listen to me! greg never came home. i think the game has something to do with it.
i have to talk to you.
no, in person. now.
i'm coming over.
shit.
okay. don't think about it.  okay.
funny.
what's that?
something weird's happening.
greg never came home. a few hours is one thing, nick, but this is different. something's happened to him.
can you turn off the game?
turn if off!
no. look, i know you're not going to believe me, but listen anyway.  i think the game's alive somehow.
no, wait. just listen. i hooked it up earlier tonight, and it said my name. as soon as i turned it on, nick. it said my name. how could it know? and then, i asked it where greg was, and it said, "in here".
it is.
so how did it know my name, then?
see, men always do this. "quiet down, honey. chill out. take a valium". i'm not a fucking idiot, nick! i did not imagine it!!!
there!
it turned itself back on, nick.
it's alive, nick. it's listening to us .
call the others. laurie, benz.
something's happened to them.
all of them?
because i didn't know where else to go.
sure.
if i were you, i'd think twice about playing that game again.
moves down the aisles of books, dwarfed by shelves which reach clear to the ceiling. she looks a little haggard, like she hasn't had any sleep. she turns.
well? where are the others?
everybody's sick, huh? it's fifteen after. we always meet here, you know that.
did you play arcade last night?
you want to hear something else, nick? i tried to call them this morning. greg, benz, laurie.  their phones are out of order.
and then i started thinking. about everyone else that was at dante's yesterday. i drew up this list. deloach, those other jerks .  their phones are out of order too.
we have to find out what's happened to them. i think they're gone.
if they're sick, great. but let's make sure. come on, nick.
and don't watch any television.
she's standing on the front porch of benz' house, talking with his mom. mom is currently shaking her head. alex turns away and heads back towards nick. she comes around the skylark and pulls open her door.
she thought benz was at school.
laurie's.
come on.
laurie. answer. come on.
shit.
this is like a movie or something. i mean, am i paranoid or what?
let's go around back.
she's here!
steps back a moment, concerned.
it is the game.
laurie!
laurie!
nick, what do we do?!
laurie. wake up.
we have to turn it off, laurie. i'm turning it off.
change the channel!
oh god.  he's in the cable system! he's out of the game!
laurie.
we can't.
where do we go?
meet you by the car.
what?
nick, what is it.
like the fractals?
but then it hits the relay stations.
anywhere. we have to stop it from getting out.
the police, then.
then where do we go?!
they made arcade. it's still a game, right? it thinks like a game. maybe it still has to play by the rules. someone had to program it in the first place, didn't they?.
and beat it at it's own game.
i was afraid you'd say that.
we need to see mr. difford.
why thank-you.
virgin sacrifices?
how'd you know it was us?
it's the game, arcade.
neither are we. something's wrong with the game, mr. difford.
there's something wrong with arcade. the game's alive somehow.
no i'm not.
we're having some problems with arcade.
we vere thinking there might be tricks. you know, surprises that you'd worked into the game.
what's the question mark?
how do you do that?
but how can it change every time?
dead?
maybe he's not dead.
the donor. maybe he's alive inside the game.
what are you going to do?
guns the engine and tears away in a cloud of exhaust.
i can't believe you made it!
you got the schematics?
so where do we play the game, nick?
dante's inferno.
the windows are barred.  there's a skylight. we can get in through the roof.
nick.  nick!
are you there?
you didn't hear me?
stop looking at it.
oh god.
what are you looking for?
is the game plugged in?
put in a quarter.
yes it does. don't you see? we have to play by the rules. that's what it wants.
two players, nick. you need to put in another quarter.
yes i am.
and what if something happens to you? am i suppose to go in after you alone?!
i'm going.
what?
i already have a boyfriend, nick.
fuck-you.
we know what you are.
you feel it? it's different this time.
one. in case.
yeah, well i figure these are unusual circumstances.
got it.
you've got the schematics, check.
the keys are supposed to be at the end of each level. once we get all the keys, we can unlock arcade's heart. and then.
the clock's already ticking.
there.
it only looks like it leads to nowhere.
yeah, that's what worries me.
there.
check your read-out.
there's another.
our time's up.
look around.
screamer.
plunges into the marsh-like water, waist-high, and it's then that she sees a glow emanating from beneath the water. she dives forward.
nick! it's beneath the water! we have to swim!
we don't have a choice!
one of them, anyway.  did you see it? the screamer?
there never is.
never been on a snowboard.
i guess we're walking from here on out.
time's up.
get up, nick.
get up!!!
it's benz!!!
is running at top speed, half-stumbling across the dunes. her wrist-display is beeping furiously.
benz!
run! run!!!
unfreezes. she's got seconds to make up her mind, the doorway. mouth or the screamer. it's really no choice at all. alex turns and dives straight down into the pulsing mouth.
she rises from the snow bank, disoriented. everything is impossibly bright, blinding. alex stands. she draws up her hand to shade her eyes and we.
she's been given a pretty good jolt. her hands shake for a moment, an after-seizure of sorts, and she stands.
fuck you.
continues her fall. she lands hard. no blue desert sand to cushion her here. it takes her a moment to rise.
guys! oh my god.
laurie? stilts?
what did he do to you?
wait! no! that's not it!
think! i want to go to the city of truth, and the truth teller is from there. but which one is which? the liar. think!
i'm thinking!
the liar. truth teller. liar. liar.
liar. did you come from the city on the left, or the city on the right?
but you always lie, so you didn't come from there. that means the city on the left must be the city of truth.
take me to the city on the left!
grab my hand!
how did you get here? did you play the game?!
thought so.
can you hang onto my back?
there's a monster here. we have to kill it before we can leave. that's what we have to do. i know it's scary, but i won't let anything happen to you. okay?
then we'll go home.
here goes everything.
which way?
sorry.
in this world, wrong is right!
oh god. oh god.
shit!!!
spins around, shooting indiscriminately into the crowd of bodies. blam! blam! blam! ninjas fall right and left, but in no time, twice as many move in to take their place. they're like the hornet's nest of alien monsters, black-clad shadows creeping towards them.
throws her hands over her ears as the sounds become unbearable.
shut up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
okay. i'm here, arcade. where are you?
where are you, damnit?!
you. you're arcade? but the donor.
no! no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i'm in the past.
no .  oh no .
mom? you're alive.
but i don't understand.
yes. but. how did you.
is. is that where we are? did i die?
guess what, ass-hole? you forgot about my free life!!!
looks down at herself. she feels odd. something is happening. she's fading out, as if she were a signal being lost. her image stutters, flickers and.
greg!!!
well, it's a long story.
i just thought of something. if we came back from the game.  . what if arcade did too?
okay. forget i ever said it.