Chapter 40: Episode 7-Ender's Game (14)
The dreaded day had come. Like Graff had said, I had a few months to spend with my Launchies. Right now, I was eating dinner by myself. It was a regular meal, but I didn't have much of an appetite these days. Suddenly, Alai came towards me.
(The novel simulation is proceeding.)
"Ho, Ender."
"Ho, Alai."
Alai sat aside from me, and dug into his meal. I was eating mine slowly, and with measured bites. I felt stressed these days, mainly from all of the pressure I felt. McFarland was also a source of my stress. They weren't frequent, but he would invade my dreams, and try to kill me. I didn't know if you could kill a Fragment Holder by killing their soul-form, but I didn't want to take that chance. I had to escape him at every turn, and always be on edge.
"I finally figured out how you sent that message," Alai said. "Using Bernard's name."
"Me?"
"Come on. Who else? It sure wasn't Bernard, and Shen isn't too hot on the computer. I know it wasn't me. Who else? Doesn't matter. I figured out how to fake a new student entry. You just created a student named Bernard-blank, B-E-R-N-A-R-D-space, so the computer didn't kick it out as a repeat of another student."
I had to ponder these words. I didn't know if this was original dialogue, but I replied anyway.
"Sounds like that might work."
[You have received points for sticking to the dialogue!]
[10 points = 1 coin]
[Current points: 995]
I ignored the messages, and went back to the conversation with Alai.
"Okay, okay. It does work, but you did that practically on the first day."
"Or someone. Maybe Dap did it, to keep Bernard from getting too much control."
"I found something else. I can't do it with your name."
"Really?"
"Anything with Ender in it gets kicked out of the system. I can't get inside your files at all either. You made your own security system."
"Maybe."
Alai grinned and said, "I just got in and trashed somebody's files. He's right behind me on cracking the system. I need protection, Ender. I need your system."
"If I give you my system, you'll know how I do it and you'll get in and trash me."
"You say me?" Alai asked. "I, the sweetest friend you got!"
(I don't think I have any friends,) I thought depressingly.
I sighed outwardly and said, "I'll set up a system for you, but at a price."
(Doing things for free in this world is the first way to be taken advantage of. Everything has a price.)
"Now?" Alai asked eagerly.
"No, let me finish eating first. I'm still a growing boy."
"Alright then."
We ate in silence.
***
We returned to our barracks after we ate. In the novel, Ender would try to give his security system to Alai, but I knew where I was in the novel. This was the moment where Ender would be moved to a different area of Battle School; I would finally meet Bonzo Madrid. It all began with a slip of paper on Ender's bed.
I went directly towards my bunk. In the novel, there was some build-up and suspense, but I decided to cut the fluff. There was a white piece of paper on my bed, and I picked it up with my tiny hands. I read the text, which was printed in bold.
ENDER WIGGIN - ASSIGNED SALAMANDER ARMY - COMMANDER BONZO MADRID - EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY - CODE GREEN GREEN BROWN - NO POSSESSIONS TRANSFERRED
I clenched the paper.
"Ender? What's that?"
I showed the paper to Alai.
"What is this? You're smart, Ender, but you don't do the battle-room any better than me."
(It's how the novel goes.)
I was ready to take the next time, but I still felt apprehensive. It was regrettable, but my time at Battle School was becoming tolerable. Bernard was getting along with everyone, including me. I decided to forgive the boy, and let go of my hatred. I was able to have proper conversations with all of my Launchies, and the verbal throw-downs we used against each other eventually became light teasing. It was a testament to how we grew close to each other. Now, with this piece of paper, it would all be thrown away.
I pondered on this dilemma. I wanted to refuse the order. Dink Meeker - a pivotal character in the future - actually refused an order, and gotten away with it. Although, I knew. I knew if I stayed stationary, if I backed down, I wouldn't grow. The power I wanted wasn't with my Launchies, and it wasn't in my comfort zone.
(I remember something from a book that I read. Learning and growth doesn't come from the comfort zone, but by leaving it.)
"Salamander Army's in contention anyway," Alai said. "They're fartheads, Ender, they won't even let you take anything you own."
"It's okay, Alai. I don't own a lot anyway. Still... I don't want to go."
I looked to the ground as I said this, out of shame that I admitted my feelings, and out of sorrow. I was about to walk out of our barracks, but suddenly -
"I understand them, Ender. You ARE the best of us. Maybe they are in a hurry to teach you everything."
Alai said this while wrapping my arms around me.
"Are you hugging me?" I asked.
"Yeah."
It was strange. I never really hugged anyone, and no one has really hugged me back. I used to hug my mother, but I stopped doing that. To be truthful, I've never had physical contact with anyone, unless I was killing them. To feel a gentle embrace from a perceived friend... it was strange to experience after years of foregoing such behavior.
I let my arms hang on my side and said, "They don't want to teach me everything. I wanted to learn what it was like to have classmates again."
"Always my friend, always the best of friends," Alai said. He began to grin and said, "Go slice up the buggers."
I smiled and replied with a "Yeah."
Alai suddenly kissed me on the cheek and whispered the word "Salaam" into my ear. With a red-face, he turned around and walked towards his bunk at the back of the barrack.
(What the hell was that? That must've been a part of the original novel.)
I turned away from Alai. Ender wondered what "Salaam" meant, and figured it belonged to some suppressed religion. I forgot the origin of the word, and didn't pay it any heed. I was about to walk out of the barrack, but a system message appeared before my eyes.
[You are experiencing flashbacks to feel immersed in the simulation!]
"Gah!"
As if they were demons creeping into the forefront of my mind, I felt memories that weren't mine. I heard Ender Wiggin's mother mutter prayers as she placed her hands on my head, convinced that no one could see her, even me. I got a sense of time from the memory; this was before the monitor was imbedded into my neck. This didn't make any sense though. I entered this simulation before my monitor was removed.
(It's the false backstory again. The simulation is trying to make me adapt to it.)
I turned back to Alai, making sure that he didn't see me. When I did, I saw he was staring directly at me. Our eyes locked, and an understanding passed between us. I didn't know what it was, but I had to leave. I nodded to him, and left the barracks that I used to call home.
I wandered the halls, but found out that the color code would be in the public areas. I didn't want to see my old Launchies, and decided to venture away from the mess hall. I went into the game room, which was empty.
[Pl ay th e Mi nd Ga me.]
(Fraggy? Why would I do that?)
[I thi nk it w as in th e origi nal no vel.]
(Alright.)
I went to a public desk, and sat down. I launched the Mind Game program, and entered the main menu.
(I remember playing Minecraft on my phone, and playing Krunker at the local library. It's not the same, but it's a similar feeling.)
I booted up my latest save, and found my avatar where I left it: Fairyland. The Giant was dead when I arrived, but it was swarmed by rats that were crawling through it's dead body.
(How did Ender deal with the rats in the original novel?)
I vaguely remembered how he survived this tribulation. I grabbed a pin from the dead Giant's shirt. I waited for the rats to show aggression towards me, and when one did, I stabbed it with the pin. I pierced the rat's chest multiple times, until the pin was tainted with drips of blood. The rat crawled away from me in a feeble manner, while screaming out. Eventually, it died from blood loss. The rest of the rats avoided me afterwards.
[Constellation "Nail-Eating Rat" is disturbed by your murder.]
I began to examine the body of the Giant. The sun had dried it's skin, maggots ravaged the organs until there was nothing left, and the blood that pooled eventually washed away from rain. The body of the Giant turned into a yellow, skeletal, desiccated mummy. The fingers were curled and the flesh on the Giant's face fell away, which revealed two rows of teeth set in a rigid grin. The eye sockets were also empty, which reminded me how I burrowed through one of them.
I turned my attention away from the Giant Corpse, and went exploring. Since coming to Battle School, trees and streams became foreign sights. The only substitutes I had were these digital versions.
(I wonder if future generations will have to do this.)
The future of my Earth was bleak. Global warming was on the rise, urbanization required more land, which required the death of natural habitats such as forests. If humans continued their disgusting path of overbreeding, and overspreading, then future generations might have to resort to what I was doing: looking at virtual environments to remember what the Earth was really like.
My avatar walked past a river, which carried clear, gentle flowing water. I followed it, and emerged out of the dense forest. I came across a playground, which was filled with children. They were running around this park; boys and girls cascaded down the slide, traversed the monkey bars, and boosted each other on the seesaws. When I saw them, I was disarmed.
(There just kids playing....)
A part of myself awakened, and remembered. I remember being a little child, and having my usual recess at my old elementary schools. I remembered running around my school playground. I recalled how I would jump off the slide when you weren't supposed to. I remember swinging, and going higher and higher. I recalled playing tag, or some other make-believe game with my classmates. The children I saw reminded me of my past, and warm emotions began to well up.
(Maybe I can go through this playground...)
My avatar had changed and - for some reason - it resembled Asa Butterfield, fully adorned in a Battle School uniform. I closed the gap between me and the playground, and decided to waste some time by trying to go on some of the equipment.
Sadly, for some reason, I couldn't use any of them. When I tried to descend from the slide, I would fall through and land at the foot of the ladder. Whenever I tried to climb the monkey bars, one of them would loosen, and I would fall onto the dirt below. I could sit on one of the seesaws, but when it reached the apex, I fell from there. When I hopped onto the merry-go-round, it would move too quickly, and I would be thrown off.
(The fuck is this?)
After trying a few times, I was able to conclude this: I couldn't play in this park. After seeing my failed attempts, the children began to laugh at me.
(I... think... I remember this part of the novel.)
The real Ender also tried to go onto the playground. He found out that he couldn't. Why would the Mind Game generate an environment if the player couldn't use it? There was an easy answer. It was symbolism.
(Playgrounds are for children. By being barred from one, it denies a child's basic urge to play,) I reasoned.
My interpretation of that chapter was this: Ender wasn't like the other children anymore, and the simple joys they had didn't belong to him. These children could afford such a youthful privilege, but as a student of Battle School, Ender had to forego such behavior.
(This... this doesn't belong to me....)
I turned my back to the park. I went back into the forest. The escaped the sun's rays, thanks to the canopy of the trees. I walked past their girthy, wide trunks, and ducked under their knobby branches. I walked past wild anthills and animal burrows, until I came across an ancient path.
I decided to follow the trail that was laid before me. Even if this was a game, it felt relaxing, as if I was actually wandering through the woods.
(I remember... before the apocalypse, I used to do that.)
I followed this beaten path, and entered a clearing. It was decorated with tall grass stalks, yellow daises, and thickets. There was a well in the center of this place, with a sign above it that said: "Drink, Traveler." I walked towards the well.
(I ain't drinking from this. I could get parasites.)
It would be hilarious of the Mind Game programmers to add water-borne viruses, and I expected no less from them. I was about to turn my back to the well, but I heard a snarl from behind.
Turning quickly, I saw a dozen wolves creeping through the clearing, snarling and panting as they came closer. They weren't normal ones, though. The wolves had human faces. They had the faces of those children from the playground.
(Fuck... what do I do...)
I tried running past them, but they swarmed me quickly, and their sharp, feral teeth latched onto my avatar's skin. Their paws pushed me onto the ground, and I was pinned. Their jaws bit into me, and ripped apart my flesh from my bones. For some horrid reason, my avatar began screaming.
"AAAHHHH!!!! Guuuaaagghhhh!!!"
There was no begging. Just screams. The situation was made worse, since the screams belonged to a young boy.
"Gaahhh!! Auuaagghh!!"
I slammed my hand against the public desk in rage. Thankfully, my avatar eventually died, and the game restarted.
[Constellation "All-Devouring Wolf of Apocalypse" is chuckling at your death.]
I wanted vengeance. I wanted to kill those little children who were wolves in disguise. Sadly, I didn't have a sword in the Mind Game. If I did, I would be like Anakin Skywalker; I would've slaughtered them as if they were Tuskens, or the younglings in the Jedi Temple.
Alas, I had no such weapon. I would have to use my wits, and my prior knowledge of Ender's Game. I tried dropping down the well, but the wolves would reach me before I could. When I respawned, I saw the children frolicking through the park. When they saw me, they began to laugh and jeer in my direction.
(I know what you are. I know what's in your head,) I thought angrily.
I tried using a more direct approach. I walked behind a boy, and clamped my arm around their neck; I closed off their esophagus with the crook of my elbow. The other children saw this, though, and morphed into wolves to devour me. After respawning again, I decided to be subtle, and insidious. I pushed one of the girls, and they followed me out of anger. I climbed up the slide, and fell through. When the girl fell, the drop killed her, and she morphed into her true form.
I did this to all of them, and thought I was done, until I heard growling. When I turned back to the pile of wolf carcasses, I saw that every single one was standing.
(They resurrected!??!)
That was the last thought I had before my avatar was brutally mauled. I decided to take a few minutes of break.
(Is this how Yu Junghyeok felt?)
The Regressor... I could never understand the depth of his emotional pain, but I could grasp the concept. To be forced to play within a scenario, and to restart from the beginning whenever you died. I was frustrated from dying a few times; I couldn't help but imagine the anger and resentment I would feel after dying 1863 times, and living 1863 lifetimes.
(I can do it....)
I needed to be creative. I respawned, and tried to climb a monkey bar. I fell, and the metal rod fell with me. I made my avatar pick it up. I stared at the children.
(You know what it is.)
Clenching my melee weapon, I struck them until they were dead. I cracked open their skulls, pierced their internal organs, and shattered their very bones. I did this to every single child, until a dozen small bodies lay before me.
[Constellation "Abyssal Black Flame Dragon" is shocked.]
[Constellation "Savior of Corruption" is unsurprised by your savagery.]
Still, they rose up. I tried to fight them in their wolf forms, but they overpowered me.
(Damnit. How did Ender kill them in the novel?)
I began to think about it. What happens if I could spawn-trap the wolves, and every time they resurrected, they died again? I saw this concept a lot in crazy Minecraft videos; perhaps I could replicate the idea.
(The river... I could use the river to drown them. When they fall to the bottom of it, and resurrect, they'll be too deep in and they'll drown.)
Before I booted the last save, I made sure to breath in and out. I wiped the sweat from my hands, and restarted the Mind Game. It was time to eradicate the pack.
***
I struck the children, and led them to the river. I led them to a different part of the river. While the river was easy-going, this segment was a gushing rapid. I killed the children again, and before they could rejuvenate, I dragged their bodies and dumped them into the water. As I was discarding their corpses, the kids/wolves evaporated into dark mist. The bodies simply dissolved, as if I dumped them into acid instead of water. The only evidence of my massacre was the metal bar in my hand, which was slightly bent, and dripping with red liquid.
I cleaned my weapon with the river water, and went back to the park. I passed it, and returned to the clearing that I found in my past regressions. I saw the well. After some experimentation with my avatar, I made it grab onto the bucket rope, and slide down.
My avatar found itself in a cavern, which was dimly lit. The cavern was filled with precious jewels, and other priceless gems. I came across a table full of food, but didn't eat anything. My player-character didn't need to eat, so I thought it was peculiar to find food now. As I continued my spelunking, I saw cages hanging from the ceiling; each of them contained some exotic, friendly creature.
(If they aren't hostile, then I'll release them back into the environment.)
I ventured past these commodities, until I came across a door. Etched onto the door were emeralds, which spelled the following:
[THE END OF THE WORLD]
My real-world-body gulped.
(I need to open this door,) I thought,
With a flick of the controls, I made my avatar extend their hand, and grab the knob of the door.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
EnderGolem997
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