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  “You still in the game, Jackie?” he asked her.

  She nodded slightly and made some kind of garbled computerized groan.

  “Then let’s do this,” Rogan said. He jumped clear of Neuschwanstein Castle, slamming his exfil rockets past full power.

  As the computer alarms rang in his head, Rogan carried Engineer, soaring up above the beautiful wooded wilderness and fairy-tale castle below, above a tough but awesome and hopefully successful game round.

  •   JACQUELINE SHARPE

  I would prefer not to do one of these interviews right now. I messed up. How else can I say it? I. Messed. Up. I should have reacted faster when I first noticed the target. I should have swept the whole room with nonlethal pulses as soon as I entered. I try to look at every situation logically, try to look ahead to possible dangers. I shouldn’t have been ambushed the way I was. I’m very disappointed in myself right now.

  Who do I think should stay in for the next round? … It’s hard to say. Shaylyn was nearly destroyed too. Takashi saved her. Rogan captured the Polyadaptive Nanotech Cloak. He should probably move on. Shaylyn flew it out of there, but that was only after Takashi repaired her again. I don’t know. These people have become my friends now, and I’d be sad to see any of them go. But someone has to be cut, and I hope it isn’t me.

  •   TAKASHI ENDO

  The game started very fast. No time to plan. Why did we play in the middle of the night? Why did the game have to begin so quickly? What difference does it make what time the game starts?

  I feel like I did OK. Actually, this time I saw a lot more combat than usual. Two guards on the third floor, and then this guy lit me up with a machine gun when I was trying to reach Jackie and Shay. I stunned him quick.

  Other than that, my job is to fix the other vipers. I did my job. I saved Shaylyn. I would have fixed Jackie, but we were out of time. It was a weird level.

  Most other times I’ve played Laser Viper, there have been a lot more enemies to fight. Or like on just about any Halo, the Covenant aliens keep coming, more and more. And in just about every stage there’s some kind of end boss. A much larger alien or big robot or something. This is the championship tournament and the boss was one guy with a laser? I don’t get it.

  I don’t know who should move on in the game. It would help if we knew how we’re being scored. Rogan probably stunned the most nonplayer characters, and he captured the PNC. But I’m Healer and I fixed the most vipers. It’s like comparing a professional football player to a dentist. Which of them should get the prize for being the best? Maybe there should be a prize for whoever can get the glitches out of the game.

  •   SHAYLYN SPERO

  How do I feel about the last round? I … I don’t know. No, I don’t think I did a good job. I was nearly blasted out of the game. Yeah, I ended up with the PNC, but I didn’t earn it.

  No, I’m not mad that Rogan captured the target. I helped him defeat the laser guy in the gift shop, but that’s fine! I took most of the target’s attack, almost like a shield so that Rogan could stun the guy out and get the PNC. He’ll get all the credit probably, but that’s fine!

  I’m not. I’m not mad. It just wasn’t that fun, OK? What’s the point of a video game if it’s not fun? Flying around stunning tourists? I don’t care how cool the castle was. What I always loved about Laser Viper was that I had the chance to be this awesome flying robot taking out these evil Scorpion terrorists. But this last round? Weird. That’s all I’m saying.

  And why do the NPCs keep screaming? Like the civilians panic in most games, but they just kind of get in the way while they run for it. They were weird in this round. Annoying. A little freaky.

  I had the PNC in the end. I should move on to the next round. Fine. Rogan too. Yeah, he’s a good gamer, even if he’s, like, a total stuck-up jerk about it a lot of the time. The other two? You should probably keep Jackie. She was shot up pretty bad and Healer was nowhere around, but she still got the job done and wiped those cameras.

  •   ROGAN WEBBER

  I did my best. I don’t know how this contest is scored. It’s not like my grandpa’s old games, not like clearing levels in Super Mario Bros. Dump Bowser in the lava and you win. So I don’t know.

  No. I’m not laughing at you. I’m … OK. I guess I was trying to play it cool, but I think I did pretty great. I stunned the target. I captured the PNC. I was damaged a couple times, but that didn’t stop me. Shay did all right, I guess. Takashi helped out on repairs, had a couple of tough fights. Jackie. She’s the one I need to be worried about in this competition. It’s weird when your viper is damaged, how the suit slows you down or how even though, of course, her hand was still in her suit, you can’t see it in the game. It’s kind of freaky, if you really want to know. But Jackie’s hardcore. She crawled into that camera room with extreme damage to her viper. Still accomplished her mission. So, I guess she deserves to go on to the next round. All three of them are kind of cool, but this is gaming, this is Laser Viper, and what do you want me to say? We can’t all win. As much as I hate to see the others disappointed, I want—I need—to win this.

  “Super!” Sophia Hahn stoop up from her chair behind the cambot and started walking around to him. “That was perfect, Rogan. All that bold confidence.” She clapped her hands and nearly bounced. “That’s the kind of thing the audience loves.” The cambot shut off its bright light and buzzed away to the door leading from the interview room to the commons, eager to find someone else to film.

  Rogan smiled from the praise. Sure, Sophia was always gushing, with super nice things to say about all the gamers. But her words had felt especially great just then because he’d been worrying a little that he wasn’t providing her and Mr. Culum with the right kind of entertainment for their reality show. And if the point of waking them up in the middle of the night for the latest game round was to see how well they could handle playing while tired, if they were being judged by criteria other than basic gameplay, then maybe pleasing the cameras was important.

  “Ms. Hahn?” Rogan asked.

  The cambot zipped back in front of him. She turned her sparkling smile toward him. “Please, call me Sophia.”

  “Sophia.” Rogan nodded. “How did you get this job, working here at Atomic Frontiers, with Mr. Culum?” Whenever people asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, his answer was always something about video games, computers, or other technology. “I mean, it seems like the perfect job.”

  “It was a long process. I wish I had time to explain it all to you.” Sophia tilted her head a little. “But it feels like I’ve been here forever. Atomic Frontiers is a natural fit. Technology has always been a part of me.” She refreshed her smile and motioned toward the door. “Now, shall we join the others?”

  The atmosphere in the commons later that morning after their interviews was less than energized. The gamers were fried, sitting slumped on the big couch and staring into space, wishing they could give up on fighting to stay awake, but too eager for the game results for them to go to their rooms.

  “Well,” Jackie said after a long, long silence. “It’s a good thing this place is full of cameras. This should make some great TV.”

  Rogan and Shay looked at her for a moment, then at each other, before the two of them burst into laughter.

  “Come on, Takashi,” Shay said. “That was at least kind of funny. Worth a chuckle.”

  “Sorry,” Takashi said quietly. He motioned for them all to move closer. Rogan was already sitting by him so he only leaned in. Takashi beckoned again for Shay and Jackie. All three cambots rolled up around the back of the sofa to try to get in on the conversation, but they could only get so close. When the gamers had all huddled up, ducked down to use the back of the sofa as a privacy shield, Takashi spoke barely above a whisper. “I don’t want the cameras and microphones to hear. This game. In the castle. Something is wrong. The castle level made no sense. I think—”

  “OK, gamers!” Sophia’s chip-chi
pper voice rang out from the main door to their common area. They all rose up to look over the back of their seat. X towered next to her, as always. “Sorry to keep you waiting!” She leaned forward with her hands clasped together on her knees. “Oh, look, Xavier. They’re all huddled together. Sharing little secrets like best friends!”

  She stood up straight, letting out a long breath, patting her right hand over her heart as though she couldn’t hold in all the emotion that threatened to gush from her. It did gush in her voice. “This is the hardest part. Unfortunately, we will have to say goodbye to one of you, and our judges have made their decision. So, gamers”—she moved her hand back and forth along the line on the floor next to the giant screen where they’d all stood for the first elimination—“if you’d all get into position, please?”

  They all looked at Takashi like they were hoping he’d finish whatever he’d tried telling them, but he only shrugged and led the way to the mark.

  “Perfect!” Sophia clapped. “Three of you will be advancing to the next round of action-packed Laser Viper gaming. But for one of you, the journey of a lifetime ends now. The first gamer who will continue in the Laser Viper Final Challenge is …” She looked at them all, dragging the experience out in a dramatic pause. “Shaylyn Spero!” Shay’s giant portrait popped up on the screen a second before Sophia called out her name. “Come on over here! You’re safe! Congratulations!”

  Shaylyn lit up like someone had thrown a switch and activated her happiness. She pushed a blue lock of hair out of her face as she jumped up and down. She hugged Jackie, hugged Takashi, and then, after hesitating with her old archrival, hugged Rogan before running to stand beside Sophia and X.

  “Perfect!” Sophia said again.

  Rogan remembered the cameras and kept smiling, wondering why Shay had been declared safe before he had. He’d played better than her. But maybe they were giving more points for the one who brought the PNC in. He’d be safe next, for sure.

  Sophia exchanged a look with X, like the two of them had been holding on to a huge secret for months. “The next gamer who will stay with us to game another day is …” A cambot slowly rolled by in front of the three gamers still in jeopardy. “Jacqueline Sharpe!” Jackie brightened and nodded to the two guys before joining Shay in the winner circle.

  Now Rogan figured they were just keeping the best for last. Unless the judges were impressed with how Takashi had fixed Shay’s flight system. He’d watched plenty of reality shows on which the eliminations made no sense. Maybe he wasn’t as safe as he’d thought. All the same doubts he’d experienced during the first elimination session surged again, only amplified by the feeling that he had disappointed Mr. Culum.

  Sophia’s mega smile transformed, almost like the morphing of the Polyadaptive Nanotech Cloak into a new appearance, into the saddest frown a human could make. A double depressed sad clown. “The person whose name I’m about to call is a terrific gamer. You all are. But we have to say goodbye to this next person, who will not be moving on to the next round of the Laser Viper Final Challenge. I’m so sorry …” Again with the longest pause. “Takashi Endo.”

  Takashi’s shoulders slumped, his face dimmed with disappointment.

  Sophia clasped her hands over her chest. “Takashi, please say goodbye to your fellow gamers and then return to your dorm room to pack your belongings.”

  Rogan thought Takashi might offer a high five, a fist bump, or even a handshake, but he was surprised when the guy pulled him in close for a hug. “Something is wrong here,” Takashi whispered in Rogan’s ear. “Be careful. Look out for the others.”

  Then Shay and Jackie joined them in a big, weird group hug. Rogan’s family weren’t big huggers, and he couldn’t wait to escape. Fortunately, X gently eased them apart and pulled Takashi away. No shouting tantrum. No threats. Instead, Takashi went quietly to his room. Rogan watched him go. Takashi was a cool guy. He’d have to find him in the Laser Viper war room sometime after this big tournament so the two of them could team up again.

  “Congratulations!” Sophia pulled the three remaining gamers to the space in front of the three giant portraits on the big screen. Three cambots rolled up in front of them. All the ceiling and wall-mounted cameras in the common area pointed at them. “Rogan Webber. Shaylyn Spero. Jacqueline Sharpe. You are moving on to the next round of the Laser Viper Final Challenge!”

  They might have freaked out more, jumped up and down, celebrating, if they weren’t so tired from being yanked out of their beds in the small hours of the morning. They were happy, though, and they congratulated one another.

  “Enjoy this time, gamers,” Sophia said. “You’ve earned it. Take some time to celebrate.” She looked at the three remaining gamers and laughed. “Maybe after you get some sleep!”

  The two adults slipped out of the room, leaving them alone. After another round of congratulations, they went to their rooms.

  Lying in his bed, Rogan thought about the tournament and about Takashi’s warning. What did he think was wrong? Was that what he had tried to tell the group just before Sophia had come in to conduct the elimination? He had been talking a lot about how the last round had been strange, and he was right. The gaming in this contest wasn’t like normal gaming. The pacing and objectives, and the whole idea that if their vipers were destroyed they were simply out of the game, was unlike anything he’d ever played. And what was that sound and voice that had cut into the middle of the action? What a weird glitch.

  He yawned and laughed a little. Maybe everything just seemed a little off because he was so tired. He should be grateful that he was still in the contest. He thought about being Laser Viper Grand Champion, about the $250,000 and one million game credit prize, about being able to forget his e-viction notice and flat-out buying his own airship apartment above Virtual City, about how proud his parents would be when he got home. With the afterimage of robots and laser fire floating behind his eyelids, he drifted off to sleep.

  After long naps, the gamers were awoken late in the afternoon, more gently than last time, to another surprise. As they emerged from their dorms into the commons, they saw Mr. Culum seated at the central table, which had been set with plates, cups, silverware, and several different dishes. He pressed his lips together, holding a hand to his back as he rose from his seat to greet the gamers. “I would be honored if you would join me.”

  “Wow! Really?” Shay said.

  Rogan could hardly believe it. A whole meal with the greatest technology genius of modern times?

  “Sounds great, Mr. Culum,” Jackie said. “We usually eat—”

  “Pizza and cheesy puffs.” Mr. Culum laughed. “I’ve noticed.”

  Rogan moved to the table first, eager to get started—

  “I’ve wanted to give you gamers the opportunity to experience my healthy way of eating,” Mr. Culum said.

  —until he saw what was on the table. Forget pizza or burgers or even Hot Pockets.

  In a few minutes everyone was seated and had been served. A pressed bean-mash patty for the main course, served on a gluten-free rice-based bun. Quinoa salad with white chunks of tofu and some kind of little twiggy things on top. The best thing available was a fruit cup, though even that contained enough cantaloupe to ruin the dish for Rogan’s tastes.

  “Go ahead and dig in!” Mr. Culum said happily. “My lifestyle, working with computers and technology, is inherently unhealthy. All that sitting. But I do what I can to stay fit through the healthiest diet possible. Some people may find it strange, but—”

  “Wha—” Rogan spoke through a mouthful of the bean patty thing. He forced himself to look happy as he struggled to keep from gagging. “Mmmmm.” When he swallowed he coughed a little and took a drink of his soy milk. “S’good!”

  Shay had known him long enough to understand that Rogan, the world’s leading connoisseur of Hot Pockets, probably wasn’t converting to Culum’s diet quite as fast or wholeheartedly as Rogan was letting on. She held a napkin over her mouth to hide her la
ughter.

  “Technology has made tremendous progress in increasing food plant yields so that we can better feed humanity. But still population outpaces food production. And raising food animals is hardly the answer. Cruelty considerations aside for the moment, the livestock industry continues to contribute to deforestation, creation of greenhouse gas methane, and other problems.” He held his hands up. “It is probably not surprising to hear me say I believe technology can help us to overcome these problems. But I did not come here to lecture. I simply wanted to sit down and spend some time with my semifinalist gamers. Very soon, you will compete for the chance to participate in the championship round. And I’m sure you’re excited about that, but I also want to make sure you’re all doing OK. I know that the last game round started abruptly, and that was a bit stressful. I know you’ve been away from your homes and families for a while now. How are you all doing?”

  Cambots moved up close to the table, recording it all.

  Jackie laughed. “Is this a test?”

  “Not at all!” said Mr. Culum. “If the cameras are bothering you, I can have them shut off. We’d miss some great material for the reality show, but I care more about all of you than the show.”

  “It’s fine,” Jackie said. “I don’t mind the cameras. I’m great. Actually, my family always takes the time to sit down to meals together, so this is kind of nice. And I love quinoa!”

  “Me too!” Rogan lied.

  Shay pretended to cough to cover her snort.

  “Are you all right, Shaylyn?” Mr. Culum asked.

  “Absolutely,” Shay said. “I was just thinking that this meal with the four of us—well, the four of us plus the cambots—is kind of small. I do miss my family. But it’s a large family and meals can be really crazy sometimes.”

  “A little calmer with your Atomic Frontiers family, then.” Mr. Culum smiled. Then he turned his attention to Rogan. “Ro, how are you holding up through the tournament?”