Gamer (Gamer Trilogy) Read Online Free Page B

saw Stefanie. All this shifting of forests and fighting for my
life had scattered me in the last hour, I’d felt like I was on
another planet. Stefanie was something real and familiar. I
had known her for so long and now she was something that
could tie me down to reality.
Stefanie smiled at me and Victor’s nostrils flared a little. I
tried to meet his eye but he looked away and stared at the
wall. It was going to be fun working things out with him over
the next couple of days.
Then a man just appeared. He was the one whose face had
been used for the illusion of all those staff in the lab. Straight
away my guard went up.
In a tinny voice he exclaimed, “My my, Lily and Xander,
you’re almost late! Not to worry, I was just about to give
everyone a briefing, take your platforms please.” He seemed
very theatrical and overly happy but for some reason I
couldn’t help but think he was insincere. There was
something not right about him.
“So you all know why you’re here,” he began, “this speech will
be just a brief outline of my line of work. You’ve all already
seen, in your own ways, the power of Simulator,” Lily and I
both kind of shrank back in sync, remembering the trees and
then the following darkness. We gave each other a look; there
was definitely some sort of bond formed between us. Stefanie
on the other hand seemed pleased with whatever illusions
had brought her here and Victor puffed out his chest, as if
overcoming giant trees trying to spear him made him feel
manly. B3ast and Grace just remained neutral, yet both
looking a little dishevelled.
“And I’m sure you’ve heard, er, rumours about the going ons
of the ISIM corporation,” at this his face turned sour and I
saw his façade had slipped away… only to return a
millisecond later, “but rest assured, you’re about to embark on
a wild adventure. Upon your entry, boys and girls, you get to
select a weapon or a tool and while inside, Simulator will
randomly assign you either one or more, er, superpowers.”
He danced around as he spoke and it was really off-putting
but all the same, I couldn’t help but linger on the thought of
superpowers…
Sensing the increased interest in his speech, Tech
elaborated, “We have over three thousand individual abilities
stored in our databases. From teleportation to superstrength, to telekinesis to time travelling. Some of you will be
instantly aware of your powers, while others will take some,
hmm, prodding to reveal theirs.” He paused. What was that
supposed to mean? “Whether you decide to ally or kill, know
that there may only be one winner and that regardless of how
much you enjoy one another’s company, the time will come to
fight or flee.” I started to become nervous. His speech was
nearing its end. “Be weary, be cautious and remember, keep
your friends close, but keep your enemies even closer.”
With that his speech finished and as we put on our goggles
and selected from the list of tools and weapons – I chose a
waterproof bag of supplies – we raised our hands, one by one,
indicating that we were ready.
Finally, just waiting for Grace, she murmured her apologies,
selected her item and then raised her hand too. Now that we
were all ready, a jolt of anxiety pierced me, I was genuinely
fearful for what might come.
Without any time to meditate on that thought, my screen
went white and suddenly, instead of looking in on the world
through the goggles – I was inside it.
I was standing in a clearing full of knee-high, golden grass
and lit by brilliant sunshine. Straight away it was sensory
overload, the sounds of birds chirping, the bright coloured
plants, the strange, intoxicating smells and… the glistening of
glass trees. It was literally a nightmare come true but the
unnamed emotion – irony, perhaps - lasted for barely a
second. Instantly we sized each other up, made up our minds
and then the clearing erupted into action.
The last