“Haha, got you!” I said to my sister,
laughing. My sister turned around and scowled at me. I am Calli, and my sister
is Anna. I am 12, and my sister is 5. We often play games of Star Wars on our
computers…as we were doing now. Basically, you get on a server, and you are
each on a side. You get to choose from about 5 different characters, and then
you try to capture command posts, shoot guys, and avoid getting killed
yourself. She and I can play HOURS of this game. I grinned and kept shooting.
She grumbled to herself, and then hit respawn.
My character
ran through Cloud City, shooting everything in her midst. I grinned as I saw my
sister running at me. I dropped a time bomb and ran for it. My sister ran right
over the time bomb- just as it exploded. I grinned again and kept going. Just
then, a message popped up from Anna. “Hey, why are we on the same team?” it
said. I double checked that we were, and we were actually on the same team! I
was shocked, because that never happened. “I don’t know, bug glitch maybe?”
My Dad
called downstairs “Come on up girls, it is midnight!” Me and Anna shut down our
games and ran upstairs. “’Night,” I called to Anna. “Night, sis,” she called
back. I scrambled into my pj’s, turned out the lights, and closed my eyes.
“MOVE! MOVE!”
Huh? I thought to myself groggily. I sat up in my bed- but there was a problem.
I wasn’t in my bed! Instead, I was sitting on a marble floor in a white room. I
was still in my pj’s, and sitting on the floor next to me was my sister, who
was staring upwards with a look of shock on her face. I too looked up, and saw
something I didn't quite believe.
Standing
over me and Anna was a storm trooper from our game! I was shocked. “Move,
MOVE!” the trooper said to us again. Me and Anna hopped to our feet and looked
about. I saw a window in the room, ran to look out. WE WERE IN CLOUD CITY! I
couldn't believe it! How had this happened? My sister ran over to me and held
onto me. “Calli, where are we?” she asked. “I don’t want to believe it,
but….Cloud City!” I stammered. “I need backup!” cried the trooper from across
the room. I gasped as laser flickered through the room. Pouring out of a
hallway that I hadn't noticed until now were rebel soldiers, guns in hand!
I grabbed my
sister’s hand and ran to the dead soldier’s body. I grabbed the gun, and
started shooting at the soldiers. My sister clutched onto me and screamed as a
bullet zoomed past her head. Finally, after what seemed like forever, I fought
off the soldiers. I turned to tell my sister that it was alright, but she
wasn’t there! I looked around the room, and saw the soldier’s bodies fading.
There was no other way out of the room- so she must be here! Just then, I heard
a beep behind me, and saw my sister standing there. “Where were you!?” I yelped
at her. “I died,” she replied softly. “I think I respawned…it didn’t hurt.” She
seemed in shock. “Well, there is no use in waiting here,” I told her. “Let’s
move on and see what we can find.”
We ran down
the hallway, hand in hand, and found ourselves in a stairwell that spiraled
downwards. I heard shooting going on down the stairs, so we instead headed into
a separate tunnel. The tunnel lead out to a bridge in a black room, and the
bridge had no railing. Just a narrow strip of metal leading to another tunnel
across the room. I nervously stepped onto the bridge, and started walking
across. My sister followed close behind me.
We followed
the tunnel on the opposite side of the bridge into a large room that I
recognized as the Carbon Freezing Chamber. I saw a few troopers standing by
weapon dispensers, and so I automatically ran over and got a weapon for my
sister. I explained to her how to use it, but she shrugged me off and said she
knew, she had played the game too. I walked to the lower part of the chamber,
and heard a noise in the corner. Upon investigating, I found a boy! A real boy,
from the REAL world!! I was so excited.
“Hello, who
are you?” I asked him. “Jack,” he said. I told him me and Anna’s names, and
then started chatting with him. He explained to me that he had also gotten
sucked into the game, and that after time he learned that only if he defeated
the rebels was he able to leave the game. Once you complete one fight, you were
free. So far, he had not been able to, and he begged me and Anna to help him. He
told me that the only way to even come CLOSE to defeating them was by waiting
here, in the Freezing Chamber, and then when the rest of the soldiers were
killed, the rest would come down here. Then, he usually tried to kill them, but
with no avail. “Now that you and Anna are here,” he finished, “we may stand a
chance.”
So Jack,
Anna and I waited. I learned that he was from a small town in Texas.
After awhile, I took a liking to him…he was friendly, funny, and VERY cute. He
had tanned skin and dark, curly hair with warm brown eyes. My sister and I
looked like the exact opposite of him! We both have straight, platinum blond
hair, pale skin, and big, blue eyes. After an hour or two, we heard footsteps
on the bridge. We all picked up our guns, and got ready to fight.
Rebel
soldiers poured in from all angles, guns pointing towards us. Jack leaped to
his feet and shot down 5 soldiers in a matter of seconds. I picked up my rifle,
and started shooting the rebels coming in at the side passage. The more I shot,
the more comfortable I got. My sister had two little pistols, and was helping
Jack take out snipers on the bridge. Things actually seemed to be going our
way!
But it was
too good to be true. We ran out of ammo quickly, and with all the machines down
and soldiers coming in like water to a sinking ship, we were surrounded and
defeated. It took a few moments, and then we all respawned again. We were back
in Cloud City, back in the Freezing Chamber, with hours ahead of us before the
real battle begun. But this time, me and my sister explored a bit. We found a
tunnel leading up to a hidden ledge above the bridge- perfect for picking off
unsuspecting rebel soldiers as they tried to swarm in on us.
I stationed
my sister on the ledge, and me and Jack took the chamber. As we sat, we talked-
I told him all about how my sister and I lived in a log cabin on a mountain in
New Hampshire, and he told me how he lived with his 3 brothers out in a small
town in Texas. We talked for hours, just exchanging stories, laughing, and
joking around. We even exchanged email addresses so that if we ever got out of
the game, we could be e-pals. Soon, it would be time for our fight. We planned
on heading out to the bridge a few minutes before the fight, so that we could
meet the rebels in battle.
Finally, it
was time. We rushed out to the bridge, guns pointed at the tunnel. The soldiers
swept around in a wave, and we all shot at them. My sister had good aim, and
picked off 10 of the rebels in a minute. As one of the soldiers fell, I saw
something interesting on him. I bent over his body and pulled off a small
wristwatch. On it was a small counter showing how many rebels were left. There
were 100 rebels- against just the three of us.
The rebels
pushed us back into the chamber. There were only 25 left! I was so happy, I
couldn’t believe it! We could actually make it! We shot down 24…but no more
came. It still said that there was one more person left! Suddenly, a message
flashed on my watch: “Good fight. See you in Jabba’s Dungeon, suckers!” I
gasped! How could that be!? How could my watch receive a message? I turned to
ask my sister and Jack if they were playing a trick on me, but the battle was
already finished and we were respawning in a new level.
The new
level was strange. I checked my watch- only 50 rebel soldiers this level! I was
pretty happy. I looked about for Jack and Anna. I remembered this level, and
knew a way we could easily defeat it. Anna was standing a few feet away from
me, but I couldn’t see Jack. I pulled her to the side. “Sis, I am about to
share with you the way I always defeat this level in the game. There is a
hidden tunnel, and if we go there, the rebels cannot get in. It seems in this
game, it doesn’t matter about command posts, only if you survive. I have a suspicion,
but I need to find Jack first.”
With that
said, I grabbed my sister and sat her in the hidden tunnel, and told her not to
move and inch until I got back. Then, I stepped out to look for Jack. I crept
quietly up the stairs and looked around. There was a hangout up here, and
there, sleeping on one of the couches, was Jack! I ran over and shook him
awake, and told him to follow me. He got up, and, looking sleepy, followed me
to the tunnel.
The tunnel
was a dark, underground cave, almost, and it smelled of rot. There were a few
benches, and health and ammo machines as well. I explained to Anna and Jack
that if we stayed here, we would never lose the battle as the computer
programmed rebels couldn’t come in to my knowledge. I said that if we each took
turns, going out to kill rebels, we would be certain to win!
Then, I
confronted them with my fear: There was another real person in the game-one
that was NOT on our team. I told them about the message that had appeared on my
watch. Jack was shocked. “How could there be another person- one that we have
never even seen?” he asked. “I’ve been stuck in this game for 3 days now- and I
have not seen anyone else!” I wondered about that too. “Obviously it is an
advanced user, since it knows how to change board levels AND communicate
through the watch,” I said. “Calli,” said my sister, “if it is a real person,
can’t it find us here?” “Yes,” I replied, “But it would be one against three,
it wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Anna and I
took the first turn out on the kill. We each took a passageway to defend and
killed 20 during our first turn out. Anna was able to sneak back into the cave
and refuel, but I got killed and had to respawn before returning. “The rebels
aren’t really that tough,” I said to Jack. “You sure?” he said. “Anna said you
got killed.” “Yea, yea, but I stepped on a mine. It wasn’t my fault,” I argued.
“Now get out there and wipe those rebels out!” With that, Jack stepped out and
started shooting.
I watched the
score of the fight as he fought. We were down to ten fighters, eleven if you
counted the mystery person. Jack returned, and Anna and I went out to kill the
last ten. After we were done, we returned to the cave to consult with Jack.
Jack was sitting in the corner, huddled into a little ball. “Oh my gosh, what
happened!?” I gasped, running over to him. “It- v-v-visited me,” he mumbled.
“What is it?” I asked, trying to keep calm. “Th-THAT!” he screamed, and pointed
behind me and my sister.
The thing
must have been 7 feet tall. It was wearing a huge metallic suit with a saw
coming out of its hand. It was scary! Poor Anna screamed and dove under one of
the benches, whimpering and shaking with fright. Then, it spoke. “Hahaha! Now
you shall die… and I shall at last be free!” Slowly, the suit stripped down
until a small girl stood there. She had jet black hair and brown eyes, and had
an evil smirk on her face. “Who are you!?” I exclaimed angrily, stomping up to
the girl and staring down at her.
“I am
Jetta,” the girl replied. “I, much like you three, was also sucked into the
game. I have been here for 3 years now, trying to escape- and I cannot unless I
defeat everything. I have learned many hacks and cheats, but have not been able
to defeat the game without someone left over. Only one team can escape the
game, you see, and it will be me!” She laughed maniacally, growing back into
her suit. She raised the saw and slashed down Jack and Anna, leaving me
standing there with a shocked look upon my face. “Goodbye,” she said, laughing.
I stood up.
I was back in Cloud City. Anna was there, and so was Jack. We were all wearing
suits, as if we were a permanent part of the game. Jack hung his head. “We are
defeated,” he said sadly. “I shall never see my family again!” And with that,
he broke down crying.
I felt bad
for him, I really did. I couldn’t believe we were stuck in this infernal game!
There had to be some way out, there just had to be! Why would Jetta have waited
for Anna and me when she could have just killed Jack to be out of the game? Was
she bluffing? Were these suits just one of the hacks to make us think we lost?
WAS there a real exit out of the evil game? I pondered all these questions as I
shot rebels down, one at a time.
We defeated
the rebels, and I wondered what would happen next. I looked down at my little
watch to see if Jetta was still in the game. I doubted it, but- WAIT! My watch
said zero, but on the map below us, a tiny red speck was running towards the
Freezing Chamber! “Aha!” I cried, showing Jack and Anna. “She never left, the
bluffer- let’s go get her, once and for all!” With that, we all charged down
the tunnels into the Freezing Chamber.
We ran in,
and almost hurled ourselves over the edge of the chamber because we were
running so fast. “Where is she?” asked Jack, breathing heavy. “I don’t know,” I
answered. “My watch said she was right here!” I looked at it again, and it said
she was right in the room with us. “Look for her,” I commanded. “She might have
used an invisibility hack.” I walked right to where the dot was on my map, and
stood on it.
“Show
yourself!” I yelled. Slowly, Jetta faded into view a few feet away from me. “I-
I cannot leave,” she muttered. “Yeah, neither can we!” I said angrily. “Well
don’t yell at me!” she cried. “I just want to get back to my family, like you
guys! I don’t want to be a rebel, I want to be a trooper!” “Then be a trooper!”
I exclaimed. “You don’t have to fight for the rebels- just join our team!”
So Jetta
joined us. She was actually really nice, once you got to know her. She told us
that she had not been used to sharing the game, and was trying to scare us into
leaving her alone. We sat in the Freezing Chamber, since there were no more
rebels left other then Jetta, and talked. Anna had an idea: She figured that
since Jetta was so good with hacks, she could just combine a couple that would
get us out of the game!
“I didn’t
think of that!” exclaimed Jetta. “I will give it a try. First, you need to sit
in a circle… Ok, good. Now hold hands and I will type in the code on my watch.”
Jetta typed in a bunch of code and pressed the button. Jack shimmered- and then
disappeared. Jetta smiled. “I got it,” she said. “I just need to add in a
multiplier to make us all go.” She pressed a few more buttons, and suddenly, I
and my sister and she were flying through the air and then- it stopped.
I sat
straight up in my bed. Was all of that a dream? I wondered to myself. I ran
down the hall to Anna’s room. She, too, was sitting up in her bed, wide awake. “Was
that real?” I asked her. “I think so,” said Anna, wearily. “Well, I am going to
go email Jack,” I said. “If he remembers, we will know it was real.” I emailed
Jack, even though it was late at night, and got an almost automatic response.
He did remember our adventure, and wished to stay in contact with me and Anna.
We did stay
in contact, and Jack even came down from Texas one summer to visit me and Anna.
It was a nice visit, and the next summer, me and Anna visited him. We all wondered
where Jetta was from, for we never heard a word from her again, and for the
rest of our lives, none of us could explain how we had come to be inside a
game.
Well, the tournament went off on Saturday- and it went great. Not only was I able to compete, but I also spent some time with friends I hadn't seen in awhile. Being my divisions went off at the end of the tournament, I was able to watch my friends compete and hang out with my other friends while they weren't. Before I move on to what I got, I would like to congratulate all of my fellow competitors. Everyone did great!
