5: Familiar Faces
Tark and Zyra were following Tee again, yawning and stretching but feeling much refreshed for having slept in comfortable beds.
‘I trust you slept well,’ said Tee. He no longer wore his cloak. He was now in a simple pair of brown leggings and tunic, with black boots - much like Tark’s outfit, only better fitting and in better condition. ‘We can continue our little talk while you have something to eat. There is still so much to tell you.’
Tee led them back to the common room and towards the kitchen, where groups of Outers were eating at several long trestle tables.
‘We have a Zyra,’ called an excited voice from one of the tables. ‘At last!’
Tark and Zyra stared, mouths agape.
‘I don’t believes it,’ said Zyra.
‘Wot’s with ya?’ said Tark, stalking forward. ‘Is ya followin’ us everywheres?’
The boy with golden hair stood up, glaring at them. He looked taller, older and a little slimmer, with a much shorter haircut - but he was definitely Princeling Galbrath.
‘I am most certainly not following you,’ said the princeling, as he approached them.
‘This snotling gaves us heaps of trouble in thegame,’ Zyra explained to Tee.
‘We’re not in the game now,’ said the princeling, shaking his head. ‘And I’m not a snotling or a princeling or any other sort of -ing, anymore. You can call me Gal.’ He extended a hand, but Tark and Zyra both ignored the offer. He let his hand drop.
‘I’ve been here amongst the Outers for about ... oh
... must be at least three years.’
‘I don’t gets it,’ said Zyra, looking at Tee. ‘How coulds he ‘ave been ‘ere that long? It’s only been ...’ She struggled to think just how long it had been. ‘It’s only been a little while since we wuz in the game with ‘im.’
‘And how comes he looks different?’ added Tark.
‘Well,’ said Tee, ‘this is one of the things I have yet to explain to you. You might want to sit down for this.’
Tee indicated the stools standing by the breakfast bar in the kitchen. As he led them away, Gal watched their backs for some time before returning to his dinner.
Tark and Zyra sat down. The strangely familiar chef brought each of them an orange juice and a bowl of soup, and then returned to the large pot that bubbled away on the stove. Zyra stared after him, trying to recall where she had seen that chubby face.
‘Okay,’ said Tee, leaning up against the bar.
‘This is going to be a little difficult to explain.’ He ran a hand across his tired eyes. ‘In the Designers’ game there are what we call ‘essential characters’. Characters who are important to the way the game develops. Characters who can make decisions. And if any of these characters ever make the decision to not play, they are replaced.’
Tark nodded, took a sip of his drink, and then looked up at Tee. ‘I don’t gets it.’
‘About three years ago, Princeling Galbrathdecided to break the rules of the Designers because he no longer wished to play their game. He became an Outer. No longer part of the game; no longer able to interact with anyone or anything in the game; able to grow older; etcetera, etcetera. Okay so far?’
‘Yeah,’ answered Tark and Zyra.
Tee continued. ‘As soon as he became an Outer, the Designers replaced him with a new Princeling Galbrath - a Princeling Galbrath who would remain fourteen and continue to play the game. Unless, of course, he too, one day, becomes an Outer. Then he will be replaced again.’
‘That’s dumb,’ said Zyra.
‘That is the will of the Designers,’ said Tee.
‘Hangs on a tick,’ said Tark. ‘I thoughts the
Designers wuz no longer on the scene. I thoughts it wuz the Maintainers who ran things now.’
‘Ah,’ said Tee. ‘So you’ve met the Maintainers. I’m afraid that they too are just characters and their control centre just another game environment.’
‘Oh,’ said Tark.
‘I’d figured that out for meself,’ said Zyra, raising her eyes to the rocky ceiling.
‘Oh,’ said Tark again, running a hand through his hair.
‘Is that whys he looks familiar?’ asked Zyra, pointing to the chef
The chubby man turned from the pot on the stove and beamed at them. ‘I used to be the Skinny Rich Dude who lived up the Hill. You can call me Chuck.’ He walked over to shake hands with Tark and Zyra.
‘But you is not skinny,’ said Tark.
‘You can put on a fair bit of weight in fourteen months.’ Chuck patted his stomach. ‘My being skinny was programmed into me as part of the game. It was one of the rules. I was only allowed to eat a small ration every twelve hours. I was always so damn hungry. But now that I’m an Outer, I can eat however much I want and whatever I want, anytime I want!’
‘Is that whys ya left the game?’ asked Zyra. ‘Did ya wants ta eats more?’
‘No,’ said Chuck, looking away. ‘It was because of
Fido.’
‘Fido?’ asked Tark.
‘My dog.’
‘Ya means that furry robot thing that used ta guard yar safe?’ asked Zyra.
Chuck nodded silendy.
‘It’s been ages since I seen it,’ said Zyra.
‘He was killed.’ Chuck’s voice cracked a litde.
‘Every time you, or any other player, stole a key from me, you’d slip past Fido, or distract him. A couple of times you even found his off switch. But that last time.’ He choked up momentarily, then swallowed hard. ‘You brought a laser.’
‘Oh.’ Zyra looked a litde dismayed.
‘When I found him,’ Chuck went on. ‘There was no way I could put him back together. And he wasn’t an essential character.’
‘I ... I is sorry,’ said Zyra. ‘I is not sure I even really remember it all thats well.’
‘Oh.’ Chuck waved his hand. ‘It’s okay. You were just playing the game. You had no idea what he meant to me.’ He sighed, deep and heavy, and turned to face Zyra again. ‘I didn’t even pick up the pieces. I just went straight to the kitchen and hinged on whatever food I could find. And so, I became an Outer.’ He smiled half-heartedly. ‘Excuse me now, I need to get back to the soup.’
Chuck turned and shuffied back to the stove,whispering, ‘I still miss him.’
‘I am sorry,’ said Zyra, looking Tee in the eyes.
‘I know,’ he answered. ‘You were playing the game. You weren’t programmed to think about the people you stole from, or the consequences your actions would have. You were doing what you had been designed to do.’
‘So,’ said Tark. ‘Does this means there is anotherone of me out there?’
‘And me?’ asked Zyra.
‘Yes,’ Tee answered.
‘I wanna see ‘em!’ demanded Tark. ‘Rights now!’ Tee looked thoughtfully at them, running a hand along his beard. ‘All right. If we’re going to head out,we need to get you some weapons first.’