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  “Is the trouble on your end or ours?” Dad laughed when everything started working again. “I did have a little lag playing Warcraft tonight. Things have been OK here. We miss you, though.”

  “How is it staying at Atomic Frontiers?” his mom jumped in. “They sent us photos of your dorms. Looks nice—I bet it’s neat there. What’s William J. Culum like?”

  “He’s pretty cool, actually,” Rogan said. “He’s really excited about Sun Station One and about this contest. About everything Atomic Frontiers does, really.”

  “Wow,” Mom said. “It must be like hanging around with Thomas Edison or Alexander Graham Bell or Steve Jobs. Living history.”

  Dad spoke up. “Maybe when you get back we’ll go have a stay at that hotel with the waterslide.”

  “Oh, that would be fun,” said Mom. “Especially if we could wait until after the election. Like we could go in December when it is all cold outside, but nice and warm by the pool. And I wouldn’t have so much for work.”

  “There’re lots of options,” Dad said. “But don’t worry about any of that right now, Ro. You just focus on winning that tournament. That Sophia Hahn told us you’d advanced past the first round.”

  “We knew you would!” Mom said. “You have gaming in your blood.”

  They talked like that a while longer, encouraging Rogan to play his best, filling him in on all the family news from his cousin who went to camp and accidentally swamped his canoe to his grandmother thinking about selling her house in Tacoma and moving to a retirement community just north of Seattle.

  X finally stepped into the vid call room. “Time to wrap it up.”

  “Oh, you have to go already?” his mother said. “I hope we’ll be able to talk again soon.”

  “Me too,” Rogan said. He meant it.

  “We miss you, buddy,” Dad said.

  “We love you, RoRo,” his mother added.

  “Me too,” Rogan answered.

  And then X was back in the room, and his parents clicked out of the call, and Rogan was suddenly very aware of the many miles between him and Seattle.

  X led Rogan to the hallway outside the vid call room where Takashi was waiting for his turn. “Can you wait here a second while I get Takashi set up?”

  Rogan nodded and leaned back against the wall when he was alone, blinking against the sting in his eyes and the tightness in his throat. After a moment he kicked out against the wall. He wasn’t going to be a whiny little homesick kid like this.

  “Are you OK, Rogan?”

  Rogan looked up. William J. Culum had somehow approached without his noticing. The man never looked any different, like he was his own action figure come to life. Black pants and black button-down shirt, long gray cardigan with pockets on the front. Wild gray hair. Just as he looked in the arena or on hundreds of online videos. The difference, the big difference now, was that he was here, in person, talking to Rogan one-on-one. And Rogan had just kicked the wall of his company headquarters.

  “I’m sorry, sir. I shouldn’t have done that.” Rogan ducked down, licked his fingers, and started trying to rub out a faint scuff mark on the white wall.

  “No, no,” Mr. Culum said. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll have someone in facilities come fix it. I don’t care about the wall. I’m more concerned about you.” X came out of the vid call room right then, but Mr. Culum waved him away. “Come on. I’ll walk you back to the dorms.”

  They walked in silence for a moment. Rogan was very aware he was in the presence of a computer god, one of the most important men in the world. He didn’t know what to say, so he tried being honest. “I kind of can’t believe I’m walking with you, Mr. Culum.”

  “I’m not that old,” Mr. Culum said.

  “Oh no! Not that! I just mean it’s so exciting to be here with a legend. The changes you’ve made to technology …”

  “I appreciate that,” Mr. Culum said. “But for me, it’s not about changing technology. It’s about using technology to improve people. To help make their lives easier, safer, and most importantly to bring them together.” He laughed a little. “And I know that sounds like an advertising slogan, but I really mean it. I was working with what was considered advanced computer technology by the time I was twelve, almost graduated from college by the time I was fourteen. Do you know what it’s like being in college before you’re even old enough to drive?”

  “I can’t imagine,” Rogan said.

  “But see, I think you can,” Mr. Culum said. He smiled sympathetically at Rogan’s confused expression. “It’s isolating. It’s lonely, Rogan. I know you haven’t been to college yet, but I also know you’ve logged an impressive amount of game time on Laser Viper alone, to say nothing of other games. You have to play a lot to have such a high gamer ranking. And to be so young and have your own apartment in Virtual City. Are you there a lot?”

  “Yeah,” Rogan admitted. “Kind of.”

  “Were you so upset tonight after your vid call because you are missing your parents while you’re so far away from them, or were you upset because that short vid call was one of the longest conversations you’ve had with them in a long time?”

  Rogan’s cheeks felt hot, and he knew his face must be as red as Mario’s hat. He was grateful when Mr. Culum didn’t look at him.

  “It’s OK, Rogan.” Mr. Culum pushed his hands into his sweater pockets. “You don’t have to answer. And I don’t have the cameras on us. You’ll notice we’re free of cambots.”

  They walked without speaking for a while, the only sound the soft whisper-scrape of Mr. Culum’s worn black shoes. “You called me a legend,” Mr. Culum finally said. “And you mentioned your excitement. But it might interest you to know that I am excited for the chance to talk to all of you gamers. And I mean that. You are the future. This, what we’re doing here with this contest, will be the beginning of many important changes. And I believe, Rogan, that sometime after this is all over, sometime sooner than you think, perhaps, technology will help make your life better, so that you never need be lonely again.”

  They stopped outside the dorms. Rogan smiled at the older man, wanted to pat his slightly stooped shoulders. Mr. Culum was a lot older than Rogan, but Rogan wondered if the man knew what it meant to be twelve better than most, if he knew why Rogan wanted to be a famous gamer so bad. “I’m going to win this contest,” Rogan said.

  Mr. Culum smiled warmly. “I have a feeling you might, Rogan. I simply wanted to tell you that I know how you feel, and I’m only a few tablet taps away if you want to talk about anything.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Culum. That means a lot,” Rogan said. He meant it.

  Good morning, gamers!” Mr. Culum stood before Shay, Jackie, Rogan, and Takashi in the arena, but instead of being dressed in his usual black and gray, today he wore a game suit and held a VR headset in his hands. It was the morning after their vid calls home, and they had finally been summoned back to the gaming arena.

  Rogan exchanged a skeptical look with Shay. Was William Culum going to play Laser Viper with them? In one way, it would be cool to play alongside one of the world’s tech giants—especially after their talk yesterday—but if he intended on joining them for the tournament, things would be messed up.

  As far as Rogan could tell, there were two possibilities. Either the genius creator of the game was an awesome laser viper and would totally dominate the fireteam or he was always too busy with Sun Station One and a zillion other projects so he never played and would drag the fireteam down. Either way, this wasn’t good.

  “I appreciate your patience while you wait for the second round of the Laser Viper Final Challenge. As you have no doubt noticed, the game rounds in this contest aren’t unique merely because of the advanced technology of your game suits and this arena, but also because of the revolutionary advanced programming of the NPCs in each stage. Far from mindless drones running around in the background to be shot at, I have the best AI team in the world working to program them with the most sophisticated voice recogn
ition software and response protocols. You saw some of this in action with the Chinese characters on the Tianjin level. It cost a fortune to bring in Chinese linguists to make the language authentic, but if I let cost hold back technology, there would be no hyperstream data cable, no hypernet, no digi-space, no Virtual City. Instead of the world coming together to meet face-to-face in virtual reality, we’d all still be reading primitive websites and playing around with simple text-based posts and comments on social media.”

  “The only thing this guy loves more than technology is hearing himself talk,” Jackie whispered in Rogan’s ear.

  Rogan frowned. Maybe Jackie was right, but Mr. Culum was a really nice guy.

  “So that’s why it’s taking so long to get you to the next round of gaming. I’m sorry about that. My chief designer promised me the game stage was ready, but when I viewed it, I told him, ‘Not good enough,’ and sent the team back to work. So while we wait, I thought you might like to come with me.” Mr. Culum looked at them all expectantly, saying nothing but smiling with excitement.

  “Um, where?” Takashi finally said.

  Mr. Culum pointed straight up. “To the stars!” He shrugged. “Well, not quite to the stars, but to space at least. I thought you might like a tour of Sun Station One.”

  “You mean a virtual Sun Station One,” Shaylyn said.

  “Well, I’ve long advocated for an expanded definition of real life, the phasing out of the distinction between the virtual and the so-called real. You see, with the game suits and the harnesses here in the arena, we are about to enter a nearly exact replica of Sun Station One. We will float down its corridors and visit its command center. We will interact with real-time reproductions of the people who live and work aboard the station, while they will wear special augmented reality glasses, which will show them images of us in their own environment.”

  “So we’ll be in a sort of game environment, only it will basically be a projection of the actual station, and the people in space will be able to see us?” Rogan asked. It sounded so incredible, the next best thing to actually blasting off in a rocket.

  “Exactly!” Mr. Culum said. “You get it!”

  “But how will we open doors and stuff ?” Jackie asked.

  Mr. Culum’s super excited mood deflated a little. “Ah. Well, you won’t. When you touch a wall, your game suit will stop your forward movement so that you will feel that wall. But you won’t be able to change the environment aboard Sun Station One.”

  “We’ll be kind of like ghosts,” Takashi said.

  “Oh, way better than ghosts!” Mr. Culum said. “You’re gamers. The first to go into space in quite this way. Kind of gamer astronauts! What do you say? Are you ready to ride technology into the future?”

  “He really loves that line,” Jackie said.

  Technicians helped them suit up, and moments later, the arena digi-morphed to be replaced by a white hallway, lit by glowing white panels in the walls beside them. The corners where the ceiling and floor met the walls weren’t square but interrupted, sort of rounded off, by a foot-long panel at forty-five degrees.

  The gamers all appeared as very accurate digital reproductions of themselves, wearing their normal clothes. Rogan figured that having cameras around them all the time gave Atomic Frontiers plenty of opportunities to get good images for VR appearance simulations. He didn’t have too much time to think about these things because they all quickly found out what useless concepts floors and ceilings were as they floated in zero gravity.

  “Whoa!” Takashi laughed, flailing his arms as he rolled backward.

  Jackie whipped herself into a tight roll.

  Shay floated kind of helplessly. “I miss the flight system in my viper. I keep trying to activate thrusters to move around, but nothing happens.”

  Rogan found a handle on the wall. Or maybe it was the ceiling. He’d already lost track. Although he could still feel the pull of gravity in the arena, the environment created by his VR helmet coupled with the sensation caused by his game suit and harness created a very effective illusion of zero gravity. Up and down didn’t make sense anymore.

  “Grab a handle, everyone!” Mr. Culum said. “Take hold of something to steady yourselves.” He waited until the gamers had themselves under control. “Welcome to Sun Station One! This is the pinnacle of solar power and space engineering. You are the first of what I hope will be a great many tourists who will visit the station this way. I brought you here and let you sample weightlessness because we have access to the arena. But since most of the visitors won’t be able to experience this tour by floating around, I’m going to have X activate gravity for you. You’ll notice that panel there is of a slightly darker shade than the others. Please place your feet on that panel.” Mr. Culum smiled. “OK, X. One g, please.”

  In the next instant Mr. Culum and the gamers were standing solidly again. Rogan knew that in the real world, they’d simply been lowered to the floor of the arena.

  “Of course, everyone who is”—he made air quotes with his fingers—“really on Sun Station One will be floating. We cannot so easily turn on gravity in space yet.”

  “Yet,” Jackie laughed.

  “Give us time, Engineer.” Mr. Culum smiled.

  A hatch opened at the end of the corridor, and a woman and man in dark blue flight suits glided through. They both wore slightly tinted sunglasses that glowed a little around the edge of each lens. Rogan figured this was like wearing small see-through screens that superimposed the image of Culum and the gamers over the view of what was really in front of the two astronauts.

  The woman’s red hair was tied back into some kind of knot or bun, and she waved as she approached the others. “Welcome! Mr. Culum wanted me to give you some time to adapt to this environment before I greeted you. I’m Dr. Valerie Dorfman, chief engineer and science officer aboard Sun Station One.” She nodded to the man who floated beside her. “This is Dr. Muhammad Sharif, commander and operations manager for the station. He’s the man who’s going to make sure this station runs smoothly when it goes online soon. He’s also the lead scientist in the development and construction of the power receiving station on Earth.”

  “Welcome,” said Dr. Sharif. “We are excited to have you here, and we are eager to show you this station. Right now, you are standing in one of three main corridors, each of which runs through the center cylinder of the station, allowing repair access to the central power shaft and connecting the command habitat module with the energy conversion and transmission module. Currently, the final phase of construction is taking place on the energy transmission systems. You might see workers floating about. You should know that our workers are safe, but they do not like to waste time. They are not wearing augmented reality glasses or earbuds, so they cannot see or hear you. To you and to us, it will appear as though they are passing right through you.”

  “We’re space ghosts,” Takashi said.

  Dr. Sharif nodded. “Yes. That’s a good way to put it.”

  “If you’ll follow us, we’ll show you our command center.” Dr. Dorfman spun in the air and, grabbing one of the many handles, launched herself down the corridor, flying ahead to lead the way.

  “I wish we could fly too,” Shaylyn said. “After being Flyer in Laser Viper and then floating around in here, walking seems so lame.”

  “Yes, I suppose it does, Shaylyn,” said Mr. Culum. “But I think what you see next will thoroughly impress you.”

  They entered a room that looked like something straight out of Star Wars: a round room with computer stations lining the lower half of the wall. The upper half and ceiling were made entirely of double-thick glass, offering a spectacular view of space. There were four completely massive hexagonal reflector panels behind them, like four flat parachutes. And the word behind only made sense in this context because out the windows on the opposite side of the room they could see the central cylinder with the circular conversion and transmission module at the end.

  And beyond that, E
arth.

  Dr. Dorfman made a sweeping gesture of the room. “Welcome to Sun Station One’s command center. We are in geostationary orbit about twenty-two thousand miles from Earth. You’re lucky you came here digitally. Our ship takes about seven hours to make the trip. On the other hand, the solar power collected by this station and transmitted to Earth as microwave energy will reach the receiver in the desert outside of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in less than a second, with enough energy to power that entire city and more, indefinitely, and with no pollution.”

  “All this to power only one city?” Jackie asked.

  “Dubai is a major city built in a very hot, very dry desert,” said Dr. Sharif. “It uses an enormous amount of electricity for normal power needs, air-conditioning, and water desalinization. But our next step is designing and installing a massive battery system so that surplus power reaching the receiver can be stored, to put the city on batteries while Sun Station One adjusts position to transmit power to a different receiver for a different city.”

  “We have also constructed a network of large relay satellites, essentially reflectors in space, so that when Dubai is running on fully charged batteries, we can divert power to ground receivers near other cities. Eventually there will be dozens, perhaps hundreds of these stations, powering cities around the world,” said Mr. Culum. “The video games you love so much will someday be powered by energy from a station just like this.”

  “But did you say microwaves?” Shay asked. “Isn’t that dangerous? One time I forgot to take foil off a sandwich I was heating up. Sparks, like, everywhere. My parents were so mad.”