41 Episode 7-Ender's Game (15)

I pushed the door open. With tentative steps, I walked through. When I did, I gasped from what I saw. I was standing on a small ledge, which jutted from a high cliff. Down below was a vibrant forest, which was decorated with small villages, each one placed sporadically. In the far distance, there was a castle, with clouds circling it. When I looked towards the sky, I saw a vast cavern, which had crystal stalactites casting illumination.

(It's similar to the Underworld, but not as dreary.)

That wasn't the last thing I noticed, though. Beyond the forest filled with villages, beyond the castle, there was something so large, and gargantuan, I couldn't even wrap my mind around it.

There was a massive wall, which extended farther than the eye could see. It touched the ceiling of the cavern, and branched left to right. This immense wall was made from dark stone, which appeared blacker than night. It looked as if the wall would devour anything that came close, as if it was a blackhole in the depths of space. I questioned whether this wall was an environmental border, or some strange glitch.

[Constellations are shocked from what they are seeing!]

I turned my attention away from the public computer, and stared at the [Star Stream] messages.

[Many Constellations are wondering why the ■■■■■ ■■■■ is here!]

[Many Constellations are questioning this simulation!]

[Many Constellations are messaging the supervising Dokkaebi!]

(Why are the Constellations in a hissy-fit?) I thought.

[Constellation "Secretive Plotter" is questioning your existence!]

[Constellation "General-Slayer" is questioning your existence!]

(Gosh, the Constellations are annoying right now.)

I turned my attention to my game, and ignored the incoming messages. I manipulated my POV and felt a sense of excitement from the visage below. It was uncharted territory, and the excitement I felt was similar to finding new biomes in Minecraft. Deciding to pull a YOLO, I simply jumped from the ledge.

(That's what Ender did in the novel.)

As if it was a comedy skit, a cloud came at the perfect time, and my player-character landed on it. Instead of falling through it and obeying the laws of physics, I gently rested on top. The cloud carried me, and I saw my destination was the castle in the distance. As my sky journey began, I felt as if I was in a Studio Ghibli film. It felt similar to "Herald's Moving Castle" and "Castle in the Sky."

(I wonder how it would feel if I was actually in the Mind Game,) I thought.

Would I be able to feel the wind gushing against my body, the cool air caressing against my face, and blowing through my hair? Would I be able to inhale the pastoral fragrance of the forest below? Would I be able to run through a grassy field barefooted, and feel the luscious Earth beneath my feet? It made me ponder, and a somewhat treacherous thought crossed my mind.

(What if TWSA didn't come to life? What if it was another story instead?)

Could "Sword Art Online" come to life? What about "Percy Jackson and the Olympians?" Could a Brandon Mull series exist, such as "Beyonders" or "Five Kingdoms?" What happens if a happier novel became reality, something more fantastical?

Truthfully, it was pointless to think this. TWSA was my reality now. I questioned when reality and the novel began, but I simply had to accept the fact.

After a few moments, I was finally at the castle. I saw the sky-puncturing towers, the stone walkways, the machicolations, and the numerous courtyards. I came near a tower, and saw an open window. Making a leap of faith, I jumped from my cloud, and tumbled into the building. I turned around, and saw my cloud sailing away. It was an inanimate object, but I waved my little air-ferry goodbye.

Turning my attention back to the room, I saw it's stately décor. It was filled with expensive furniture, and there was an ornate fireplace tucked away on the side. For some reason, the room lacked a door; that only left the window as an potential exit. As I looked at the bare walls, I turned my attention back to the fireplace, and saw a small rug. Suddenly, the rug began to move, and it twisted and transmuted into a serpent. It had thick, serrated teeth, and the serpent itself sported a long, slender body.

I gripped my metal rod in hand, and I made my avatar enter a battle stance. For some reason, the serpent started talking and said, "I am your only escape. Death is your only escape."

Just as I was about to lunge and attack, the computer screen flicked off, and new words appeared:

-REPORT TO COMMANDER IMMEDIATELY. YOU ARE LATE. GREEN GREEN BROWN-

Surprised and sullen, I turned the desk off. I got out of my seat, and walked towards the color wall. I saw the color code, and followed it. As I walked, my mind became a subway train of thoughts.

(I need to go back. I can kill the snake, turn it into a rope, and use it to descend the tower. I also want to know what that strange wall is.)

I also wondered what would happen if I completed the game. Would I receive some type of achievement? How would the end look like? Would I have to kill some final boss, a creature akin to the Ender Dragon from Minecraft, or the Moon Lord from Terraria?

Would I have the freedom to roleplay whatever I wanted? Instead of playing as a wandering survivor, perhaps I could settle in one of those village houses. Perhaps I could make a garden, and farm. Back in my original life, I always wanted to try that. In the Mind Game, could I have some semblance of peace, unlike my real life?

I shook these thoughts away. The fated meeting was here. I was at Salamander Barracks, and I saw some older children filing out. When I entered, I saw the age-range of these kids. Some of them were young teens, while others ranged from ten to eleven. These barracks were larger than Launchie barracks, and there were more children.

I stepped into the room, and tried to look for Bonzo Madrid. Although, the moment I stepped into the room, I was noticed by one of boys.

"What do you want?" A boy on an upper bunk demanded. "You're not a Salamander."

I decided to activate the confidence, and I stated, "I'm supposed to be here. Green green brown, right? I was transferred."

I showed the slip to the boy, who must've been the designated door guard. He was about to grab the paper, but I withdrew it and said, "I'm supposed to give it to Bonzo Madrid."

After I said that, another boy entered the conversation. "I'm surprised you actually pronounced the name right on your first try. Some dumbasses pronounce bahn-zoe. Aqui nosotros hablamos español, Senor Gran Fedor."

"Well, I'm not one of them," I affirmed. I turned to look at the person who spoke, but froze when I saw them.

It was the young version of Hailee Steinfeld. I froze where I stood.

(She's not the actual celebrity-she's not the actual celebrity-she's not the actual celebrity-she's not the actual celebrity-she's not the actual celebrity-she's not the actual celebrity... Damn, what do I say? What's my dialogue?!)

[Yo u mu st be Bo nzo th en?] Fraggy whispered to me.

(Thanks, man,) I thought back.

"You must be Bonzo then?" I asked.

[You have received points for sticking to the dialogue!]

"No," Petra answered. "I'm just a brilliant and talented polyglot. Petra Arkanian, the only girl in Salamander Army. With more balls than anybody else in this room."

"Mother Petra she talking," a boy said mockingly. "She talking, she talking."

Another obnoxious boy chimed in and said, "Shit talking, shit talking, shit talking!"

(The hell are you people saying?) I thought worryingly. I turned my attention back to Petra.

"Just between you and me," Petra said, "if they gave the Battle School an enema, they'd stick it in at green green brown."

After Petra said this, the other boys began laughing, and returned to their dirty jokes and their raucous conversations. As I looked at them, I saw their aggressive demeanors, and wondered if they could be considered children anymore. To be truthful, I didn't even consider myself a child. My innocence was gone the minute I took a life in a sub-scenario, and I strayed farther from such a concept the more I lived and breathed. Innocence... it was a lie, along with peace.

As I stood and watched, I saw all of the boys grow quiet, and turn their attention to the only door in this barrack. Looking behind me, I saw the man himself: Bonzo Madrid.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Ender Wiggin, sir," I replied with haste. "Reassigned from launch to Salamander Army."

I held out the slip to him, and he took it in a swift motion. He then asked, "How old are you, Wiggin?"

[I a m si x yea rs, ni ne mon ths, a nd twel ve year s old,] Fraggy said within my mind.

"I am six years, nine months, and twelve years old, sir."

"How long have you been working in the battle-room?" Bonzo inquired.

"A few months. My aim has gotten better, sir."

(At least, what I perceive to be better...)

"Any training in battle maneuvers? Have you ever been in a toon? Have you carried out a joint exercise?"

These questions were spoken quickly, and were piercing bullets in the weak amount of knowledge I knew. I could only shake my head side to side.

"I see. As you will quickly learn, the officers in command of this school, most notably Major Anderson - who runs the game - are fond of playing tricks. Salamander Army is just beginning to emerge from indecent obscurity. We have won twelve of our last twenty games. We have surprised Rat, Scorpion, and Hound. We are ready to play for leadership in the game. So of course, of course I am given such a useless, untrained, hopeless specimen of underdevelopment such as yourself."

[Constellation "Abyssal Black Flame Dragon" is laughing from the savage comments.]

"He isn't glad to meet you," Petra said from behind.

"Shut up, Arkanian," Bonzo ordered. "To one trial, we now add another, but whatever obstacles our officers choose to fling our path, we are still-"

"Salamander!" All the boys shouted in unison.

(I see what he's doing. He's turning this situation on itself; he's using this surprising event to his advantage by taking control, and instilling moral into his army.)

"We are the fire that will consume them, belly and bowel, head and heart, many flames of us, but one fire," Bonzo continued.

[Constellation "Abyssal Black Flame Dragon" is yawning.]

[Constellation "Defender of Virginia" is interested in Salamander Army.]

"Salamander!" Everyone shouted again.

"Even this one will not weaken us," Bonzo said as his eyes flicked to me.

To be honest, even I was moved. The way Bonzo's presence demanded respect, the way his soldiers spoke in one voice, and how they showed such unity in this moment.... Even I could admire him. Although, I knew that I shouldn't speak at this moment.

"Wiggin," Bonzo said, "I intend to trade you away as quickly as I can. I'll probably have to give up someone valuable along with you, but as small as you are - you are worse than useless. One more frozen, inevitably, in every battle, that's all you are, and we're at a point where every frozen soldier makes a difference in the standings. Nothing personal, Wiggin, but I'm sure you can get your training at someone else's expense."

"I apologize for being an inconvenience, sir," I said in honesty.

"He's all heart," Petra said.

After Petra said that, Bonzo stepped in front of her, and backhanded her with enough force to leave her cheek bleeding. The marks of his nails were imprinted onto her face, and pinpricks of blood dripped out. When I saw this, my eyes widened from this blatant show of abuse. Even some of the Constellations were upset.

[Constellation "Savior of Corruption" disapproves of Character "Bonzo Madrid."]

[Constellation "Defender of Virginia" disapproves of Character "Bonzo Madrid."]

Bonzo turned his attention back to me as if nothing happened and said, "Here are your instructions, Wiggin. I expect that it is the last time I'll need to speak with you. You will stay out of the way when we're training in the battle-room. You have to be there, of course, but you will not belong to any toon and you will not partake in any maneuvers. When we're called to battle, you will dress quickly and present yourself at the gate with everyone else. Alas, you will not pass through the gate until four full minutes after the beginning of the game, and then you will remain at the gate, with your weapons undrawn and unfired, until such game ends."

I nodded my head in affirmation.

(I'm not even a part of this hierarchy.)

I turned my attention back to Petra. If she was any other girl, she would clutch her cheek and cry, but Petra didn't do that. She stood tall, and her face betrayed no hint of agony.

(I'll have to get to know her more. She's a supporting character in the novel.)

My bunk was at the far end of the room, and was far from the door - I couldn't even see it. The boys I met here looked sullen, as if joy was sucked from their bodies. If my assumptions were correct, then these kids were most likely the cannon fodder. The lowest of the low, the frontline troopers that are considered expendable. Now I was here, lumped with them.

I inspected my locker, and found that it didn't have the scanner lock-mechanism I afforded in my Launch barrack. This one had four rings you could easily pull open; privacy didn't exist in Army dormitories.

I checked the inner contents of the locker, I saw a uniform that was dark green, which sported orange trim. Just by looking at it, I could tell it was sizes too large.

(It wasn't made for little body-types such as mine.)

As I delicately placed the uniform back in the locker, I turned around and saw Petra walking down the aisle towards my bed. I stood straight as she came near.

"Relax. I'm not an officer."

"Don't you bunk near the front, though? Aren't you a toon leader?"

An unknown boy snickered.

"Whatever gave you that idea, Wiggin?"

I shrugged. It was my assumption.

"I bunk in the front because I'm the best sharpshooter in Salamander Army and because Bonzo is afraid I'll start a revolution if the toon leaders don't keep an eye on me. As if I could start anything with boys like these."

"Well, it seems like I'm one of them," I said in self-deprecation.

"I'm a girl, and you're a pissant of a six-year-old. We have so much in common, why don't we be friends?"

"I don't have any friends," I deadpanned.

"Well, maybe I can be the first friend for a loner like you. Anyways, when you're in the game, it's all military. School for us isn't like it is for Launchies. History, strategy, tactics, buggers, math and stars, these are things you need as a pilot or commander. You'll see."

"Can I expect any help from my new friend?" I added. I tried to imitate Petra's swaggering way of speech.

"Bonzo isn't going to let you practice. He's going to to make you take your desk to the battle-room and study. He's right, in a way - he doesn't want a totally untrained little kid to screw up his precision maneuvers."

After saying that, Petra's tone shifted into a mocking tone that was filled with heavy enunciation: "Bonzo, he pre-CISE. He so CAREFULL, he piss on a plate and never splash."

This remark elicited a good chuckle from me. It felt as if it was the first laugh I've had in a few weeks. I grinned afterwards.

"The battle-room is open all the time. If you want, I'll take you in the off-hours and show you some of the things I know. I'm not a great soldier, but I'm pretty good, and I sure know more than you."

I felt gratitude rise within me. I bowed my head towards Petra and said, "Thank you. If we can, I'll love to learn from you."

"Heh, you have more manners than most of the boys here. Anyways, we start tomorrow morning after breakfast."

"Alright. I'll look forward to it."

"Also, I have something else to tell you about the battle-room. There are nine of them, but they all have the same entrance. The whole center of the Battle School, the hub of the wheel, are battle-rooms. They don't rotate with the rest of the station. That's how they do the nullo, the no-gravity - it just holds still. No spin, no down, but they can set it up so that any one of the rooms is at the battle-room entrance corridor that we all use. Once you're inside, they move it along and another battle-room's in position."

"I see."

"Like I said, after breakfast."

Petra began to walk away.

"Hey," I said.

She turned to face me.

"Like I said, thank you."

She didn't speak, just turned around again and walked down the aisle.

***

As the lights went off, I went to the bathroom before sleeping. A boy gave me directions to the bathroom, which was to the left of our barracks. He also told me that I had to wear my uniform at all times outside of our dorm. The bathroom we used was also shared with Rat, Condor, and Squirrel Army. Members of Rat Army were also forbidden from speaking to members of other Armies, unless it was required. The only exception to this rule was the Game Room, the only place where we could get away with talking to different Army members.

(Gaming is the universal language,) I thought jokingly.

For some reason, the boy also told me to... uh... not "skin" by Petra. Basically, he was cockblocking me. It was an actual rule that Bonzo made. In the novel, Ender thought it was foolish because it made Petra different, made her stand out unnecessarily, and divide the army.

(Bruh, I'm six. I don't even have any substantial libido,) I retorted in my head.

Anyways, I wasn't interested in those things at all. In my old, ghetto neighborhood - before the apocalypse - I met and knew a lot of teenagers who couldn't be called chaste. Unlike them, I actually practiced sexual abstinence, which is probably rare in teenagers today.

After the boy was done informing me, I finally went to the bathroom. I urinated and washed my hands. As I was doing so, someone directed this remark in my direction, "Hey, they putting babies in Salamander uniforms now?"

I didn't respond. I just dried my hands, and prepared to walk out.

"Hey, look! Salamander's getting babies now! Look at this! He could walk between my legs without touching my balls!"

"That's cause you got none, Dink."

As I left the public utility, I heard someone say, "It's Wiggin. You know, the smartass Launchy from the game room."

I ignored them, and made it back to my designated barrack. I saw some of my fellow soldiers sleeping. If I didn't know better, they appeared to be ordinary kids. They looked as if they played Fortnite, or made stupid Tiktoks. I wouldn't assume that they were a trained army, ready to grow up and kill the Formics. As I walked down the aisle, I stopped and even stared at them. They looked... peaceful.

I made it to my bunk. I climbed up, and nestled myself within it's soft sheets. My head felt the nice comfort of my pillow, and sank into comfort. As the energy-sapping day caught up with my stamina, I felt my eyelids close shut. I didn't know when I fell asleep.

***

The white star, and the burning eye. As I floated aimlessly and observed, I felt a chill run through my mind.

(He's here.)

I reoriented myself, and saw Mathew McFarland waiting for me. He was meters away, but he came closer at the very second.

(Hello, Ethan,) he transmitted via thought. (You told me you would make my dreams a nightmare.)

Anger began to rise within me.

(Although, I find this situation in the reverse.)

After that, Mathew charged towards me, and I began to manipulate the dream to run away, as if this was the movie Inception. Despair and struggle soon came, along with dread.

This was the 41st time Mathew McFarland invaded my dreams.

(Goddamn bastard,) I thought.

If there was truly a god out there, I prayed that they would wake me up soon.