Chapter 4:  Cataclysm (written by Dan Smith/ Planeswalker)  

The alarm by the side of James’s bed buzzed loudly.  
“Unnngh.” mumbled James, blindly slapping to try and turn off the noise, he’d 
barely got any sleep after talking so much with Beverly... and then he realised 
that he had set the alarm deliberately:  “WORK!”  
He jumped out of bed, hit the clock with a resounding slap, then dragged himself 
into the bathroom, and immediately found it unusual:  Kyla wasn’t hogging it 
like she usually did every Saturday morning.  
James shrugged it off, and seeing that his parents weren’t here either, assumed 
that they’d all gone out for the day.  
He dumped some bread in the toaster and then showered and got ready before 
dressing, twenty minutes later he dumped the charred remains in the sink and 
decided to give breakfast a miss.  
He checked his watch and realised that even if he caught the bus that went past 
in 30 seconds, he’d still be late.  
“Aw man, late for my first day at work...” he mumbled, going into the lounge.  
He decided to call ahead and give an excuse to Mr Burton...  Something about the 
bus he was on breaking down... or his cat dying...  
He went to pick up, but the phone started ringing before he had the chance, and 
then he remembered.  
“Ah crap.  What if someone had been trying to call?” he mumbled.  
He realised that, besides the hour or so this morning, the phone had been 
engaged since Kyla had first played the game, on Thursday afternoon.  
“Hello?” he answered.  
“Hello, James?” came the voice from the other end of the line, “It’s Dad.  Where 
have you been? We’ve been trying to phone you all night!”  
“Sorry, I forgot to unplug the computer on Friday, and I was talking all night.  
Where are you guys anyway?”  
“You’d better get down here James.” said his father, suddenly becoming very 
quiet, almost worried thought James, “We’re at the Saint Augusta’s Hospital.  
It’s your sister...”  
“Kyla?” croaked James, suddenly quiet...  
“We’ll tell you when you get here.”  
James numbly hung up the phone.  
He grabbed his keys from his coat pocket and set off for the hospital.  

The Dane family sat around the bedside of Kyla, she was in a sterile white ward 
at the hospital, where about 40 others were kept.  
James had learned that Kyla had been found at home, lying on the floor inside 
James’s room, but she hadn’t been moving.  
The computer was still switched on when they had found her, but they didn’t know 
of the DataGate which had obviously fallen and rolled under the bed, it was best 
not to mention it.  
They had called an ambulance, and Kyla was rushed to the hospital, where she had 
laid since, comatose.  
The hospital were rushed off their feet, as over the last 36 hours, more and 
more people were being admitted with exactly the same symptoms as Kyla, and from 
all over the large island:  The people seemed to be in perpetual sleep, never to 
awaken.  
The number of affected people stopped at 42, and they had all been put into he 
same ward to make it easier to care for them.  
A junior doctor, in his mid twenties with short dark hair, walked past Kyla’s 
bed.  
James, while being upset, was more concerned with what he could do than just sit 
around crying, and so chased after the doctor, he caught up with him just 
outside the ward.  
“Doc? What’s wrong with all those people? What’s wrong with my sister?”  
“To tell you the truth... I don’t know.  It’s like something sucked out all 
their brains...”  
“WHAT?” spluttered James, more disgusted with the doctor for such an idea than 
by the condition of his sister.  
“Sorry, I keep doing that...  I’m a science fiction fan, and I often relate 
scenarios to old movie plots...  How to describe it...  There’s no mental 
activity in any of them.  They’re all in a coma of some sort, and with comatose 
patients, all we can do is keep them alive until they find their own way back...  
And to think that so many of them were playing that game...”  
“What?...  All of them?...”  
“This... DataGate game thing.  A lot of the people here were brought in by 
friends and relatives who said that they collapsed while playing the game...  
The company who makes ‘em came in...  Real worried they were...  Anyway, it’ll 
be on the news.  I’ve gotta go, I’ve got to call my girlfriend and tell her that 
they want me to look after these people all the time...” he walked off mumbling, 
and James suspected that the last of his sentence was just a thought said out 
loud, he walked over to the TV as the news started.  

“And in Caras City, a strange epidemic has afflicted some of the population, 
casting doubts over the future of PerTec.  We’ll have more in a moment...“  
As the credits started up, James took a seat, and flicked through an old 
magazine until the news hit the relevant section.  
“Over forty people around the city and more in surrounding countries have been 
stricken by a mystery illness while using the new DataGate technology of 
PerTec.” started the news reader, “The technology, used for an internet-based 
game, came under scrutiny today when some users of the devices were rendered in 
a catatonic state during the game’s official opening two nights ago.  The game, 
‘Beyond Existence’, has become incredibly popular in the weeks since it first 
went on sale, but its future is in doubt after this disaster.  We now go live to 
a press conference with Karsten Myers, president of PerTec, and co-creator of 
the game.”  
The screen changed to a packed hall, with a suited man standing on a podium, 
“Hello everyone...  I’m Mr Myers, and I’m deeply sorry for what has occurred.  
The game was recently affected by a virus, obviously done by one of our many 
rivals.  I know that no amount of apologising will help those people recover, 
but I’ll personally make sure that their families are looked after financially, 
out of my own pocket if necessary.  I’ve spoken with medics at the Saint Augusta 
Hospital, where these poor people are being kept, and they tell me that the 
condition may be similar to the condition known as epilepsy.  Only a small 
fraction of the population would be affected, but as a safety precaution, we’ll 
be ordering a recall of all the DataGates until we can be sure that it’s safe 
for it’s intended use...  We’ve all been hit hard:  One of the game’s 
programmers is one of the affected individuals...  I’ll notify you all when I 
know more.”  
The news cut back to the studio and other matters, but James sat staring into 
space.  
He couldn’t help but think that Myers looked like he was smirking throughout his 
speech, although there was no way to prove anything...  
As he sat in the hospital’s television room, a plan was hatching in the mind of 
James Dane.  

Karsten stormed into his office, two aides followed closely behind him, nervous 
at never having seen their boss this mad before...  
“MY PLANS HAVE BEEN RUINED!” screamed Karsten.  
“Ummm, it’s not so bad Sir.  You’ll make the money back when you sell the fixed 
machines.” said the first aide.  
“I’m not talking about that! I had the whole world in my grasp, and now I have 
no choice but to fix the Problems in my world.” yelled Karsten, beginning to 
calm down.  
“That’s what we said Sir:  When you fix the coding problems, everything will be 
fine!” said the second aide, cheerily.  
“You really have no clue, do you? Never mind...  Send all the programmers home 
on full pay.  I’ll take care of my world myself...  Oh, and get them to sign 
non-disclosure agreements:  If a word of any of this gets out, make sure they 
know that the whole of PerTec will not rest until they are dealt with.”  
“Yes Sir!” said the second aide, hastily leaving.  
“And you! From now on, you’re paid to make sure that the ‘Beyond’ server remains 
active.  I’ll need it to complete my plans.  Now leave, I have work to do...” 
said Karsten, sitting behind his desk.  
“Will do Sir!” called the first aide, leaving.  
As the aide left, Karsten locked the door from a radio controlled locking 
mechanism that had been recently installed.  
In the sanctuary of his office, he activated his DataGate, and once again became 
Sovereign.  

James sat opposite Mr Burton in one of the booths in the cafe.  
He had just explained what had happened, and was relieved it fell on a 
sympathetic ear.  
“No worries James.  I’m glad that you got your priorities straight and went to 
your sister.  I’d have been angrier if you HAD come into work.  Anyway, don’t 
worry, you can start tomorrow afternoon instead...”  
“Thanks Mr Burton...”  
“And don’t call me Mr Burton.  Now you’re staff, you can call me Phil like 
everyone else.”  
“Okay... Phil.”  
“Anyway, you’d better meet the other waiter, I mean waitress...  Oh you know 
what I mean.  AMY!” yelled Phil.  
“COMING PHIL!” came a reply from the kitchen.  
A young girl wearing a light pink shirt, a black skirt and a white apron, with 
short chestnut brown hair came out of the kitchen carrying two plates, one piled 
with pasta and sauce, the other supporting a small pizza.  
She took them to a middle-aged couple at the opposite corner of the cafe, then 
walked over to James and sat down.  
“Amy.” said Phil, “I want you to meet the new waiter, James Dane.”  
“We’ve met before.” she replied, “We’re in the same year at college.”  
“Oh yeah...” said James in realisation, “You’re Will’s girlfriend.”  
“Pleased to meet you again anyway.” she said cheerily, before turning to Phil, 
“I’ve got to serve table 6, so if there’s nothing else...”  
“It’s fine Amy.”  
She got up and vanished into the kitchen again, Phil got up and went over to the 
till as a family had got up to pay.  
James was about to leave when Beverly walked in and sat with him in the booth.  
“What's up Jim?”  
“I wish you wouldn’t call me that...  It’s my sister.”  
He then proceeded to tell her the details of what had happened with Kyla.  
Amy walked over “Can I get you two lovebirds anything?”  
“What?” stammered James, thrown off track.  
“I’m just kidding...” she giggled, “You two are just so deep in discussion.” she 
winked jokingly, “I’ll get you a couple of sodas.”  
She sauntered off into the back.  
James leaned over to Beverly and started to talk quietly, “I think something’s 
up with the game...  All those people were playing it the other night, and now 
they’re vegetables...”  
“Not to mention the deal with your lip.” added Beverly, staring at James’s lower 
lip which he was still rubbing, “Do you think that’s what happens to people who 
lose?”  
“Its possible, and-”  
Amy returned and set down a glass of cola for each of them.  
“Thanks Amy.” said James.  
“No problem.” she replied, before walking to the next table, which she started 
to wipe down.  
“I think that someone’s hiding something.” James continued, “I’m gonna go in 
tonight and try and find that leader in the northern desert that Turbine 
mentioned, try and get some answers.  Could you help me out?”  
“So you want me to play a game that I should send back because it’s dangerous, 
just because you’ve got a hunch?” asked Beverly.  
James nodded.  
“Sure, what time?” she replied.  

That night, Excel and Oracle stood on the cooling sand.  
Following directions from some nomads, they had come across a small fort in the 
desert where they now stood.  
The nomads had warned them to stay away from the area, as it was where one of 
“The Servants of the World’s Master.” resided.  
The duo agreed that if anyone would know about what had happened to the people 
in the comas, it would be this ‘servant’.  
“Do you reckon anyone’s home?” asked Excel.  
“We’ll just have to get someone’s attention.” Oracle replied, pointing her hands 
to the sky.  
A beam of light erupted from her palms, illuminating the sky above them.  
Lights were started in the keep, illuminating the whole area, and a dull rumble 
was heard from inside, like a platoon moving to the front gate.  
The door, hinged like a drawbridge, began to lower.  
“Well, you got their attention...” remarked Excel.  
“Not theirs, human, MINE.” boomed a voice as the door continued to lower.  
The door hit the sand with a resounding thud, and the 9 foot archway was filled 
with a looming figure, who advanced until he loomed over the duo.  
“Who are you?” questioned Oracle.  
“I am Kormaand, the leader of Lord Sovereign’s armies in this area.  Who dares 
question me and through me Lord Sovereign’s rule?”  
“I’m Excel.  I’ve no idea who this Lord Sovereign of yours is, but we’re here to 
investigate some people who would have gone missing two nights ago.”  
“The people you seek opposed the rule of my Lord, and he therefore eliminated 
them as threats to his greatness.  They were incarcerated, and are now held at 
the mercy of my lord’s most trusted servants.”  
Excel was shocked, but also relieved, the game Had somehow sucked out the 
victims brains, but kept them here, somewhere in the game world, and that meant 
it was up to him to save Kyla.  
“Well where we come from, that’s just not Nice.  I assume you’re one of these 
bigwigs?” demanded Excel.  
“Big-wig?” asked a puzzled Kormaand.  
“The head honcho.  The spiciest meatball.  The guy in charge?” offered Oracle to 
the giant.  
“Yes.” replied Kormaand, turning to Excel, “I am one of my Lord’s most trusted 
servants.  You have found out what happened to your lost people.  Now leave 
before you try my patience.  Leave this place, and tell your people not to 
challenge the rule of our master, or they too may incur his wrath.”  
“You know what?” asked Excel.  
“WHAT?” demanded Kormaand.  
“Make me.  I’m freeing those people, and no one’s gonna stand in my way:  Not 
you, not your sovereign, not anyone.” he retorted, drawing his laser sword and 
activating it.  
He swung it in a wide horizontal swipe aimed at the giant’s hips, intending to 
sever his legs.  
The giant was too fast, and moved with greater speed than Excel or Oracle had 
anticipated, as he flung himself backwards, out of the sword’s range.  
He picked himself up from the floor with more grace than was expected, and 
grinned a toothy grin at Excel.  
“You have much spirit my little friend.  I shall enjoy ripping it from you and 
presenting it to my lord.”  
Twin metallic spikes erupted from the wrists of his armour, his appearance now 
unchanged from when he was first brought before his master.  
“Oh... so you want to fight me then? I’ll give you a fight...” Excel spat, and 
dived forward, lunging with his sword.  
Kormaand sidestepped, and responded by using one of his spikes as a club, 
bringing it down heavily on Excel’s head as he dashed harmlessly past Kormaand’s 
right hand side.  
Excel fell to the floor, momentarily dazed, he rolled over to right himself, 
looked up, and saw Kormaand’s spikes driving down to pierce him to the floor.  
With very little time to spare, he rolled to his left, out of Kormaand’s 
immediate range, dragging his sword with him as he rolled.  
“STAND STILL LIKE THE GNAT YOU ARE SO THAT I MAY CRUSH YOU! HOW DARE YOU DEFY MY 
LORD AND MASTER!” cried Kormaand.  
He started to run at Excel as he started to pick himself up from the sand.  
Seeing the charging giant, Excel flung himself forwards, and to Kormaand’s left.  
The giant, not expecting the smaller man to have any will to fight left, was not 
prepared, and momentum carried him past Excel, who rolled as he met the ground, 
then sprung up and dashed back to where Oracle looked on in awe.  
“I could use some help here Bev’!” yelled Excel.  
“Don’t use that name here in front of enemies!” cried Oracle, “This big lug’s 
confirmed that his master’s work caused those people to be vegetables! Who knows 
what danger we’d be in if we revealed our Real names to anyone we didn’t 
trust?!”  
“OK! Fine.  NOW CAN I HAVE SOME HELP PLEASE ORACLE?” struggled Excel, who, 
during Oracle’s speech, had been grabbed around the throat by Kormaand, and was 
now being choked.  
“Sorry!” Oracle exclaimed, moving close to the pair, pressing her palms 
together, her arms outstretched.  
A sphere of white light, no bigger than a tennis ball, formed in her palms, then 
shot upwards like a screaming firework, hitting Kormaand’s shoulder.  
Nothing happened except a brief glimmer of light, which quickly faded.  
“Hah.  My mother could cast magicks better than you in her sleep” laughed the 
giant, “Even if you were to beat me, you would fall to my outriders...” he said, 
moving his grip so that he held Excel, who was now gasping for air, with one 
balled fist.  
With his free left hand, he pointed to a dust cloud rising nearly a mile away, 
“I have riders who report back regularly, and even they would be enough to 
destroy peasants like you!” taunted the giant.  
Oracle followed Kormaand’s pointed finger to the dust cloud, barely visible 
within the centre was, indeed, a figure on horseback, and judging by the speed 
that it was moving, it would be on them in minutes, if that.  
Oracle looked back at Kormaand, then to Excel, who was now desperate for air.  
She quickly bent down and grabbed Excel’s pulse rifle where it had dropped onto 
the sand.  
She stood, holding the gun awkwardly, and fired at Kormaand’s gauntleted 
knuckles.  
The bolt of energy hit the giant’s armour, and he dropped Excel to the dirt, 
pushing his injured right hand into the depths of his left armpit to try and 
soothe the pain.  
With his free left hand, he batted the rifle from Oracle’s hands, then swiped a 
second time, catching Oracle around the head.  
She fell to the sand next to Excel, who had turned a worrying shade of blue.  
“I give you credit, little ones.  You’re by far the most enjoyable challenge 
that my master has generated for me.”  
“What did you say? You know you’ve been created? How? You’re not meant to 
know...” questioned Oracle, referring to how Turbine didn’t believe she was only 
part of a game.  
“I am one of Lord Sovereign’s generals.  For a life of servitude, and in 
exchange for the wisdom I own that I lend to him, he grants me more power and 
freedom than the gods provided me with.  Using that power, I shall destroy you.”  
Kormaand clutched his cutlass in his free left hand, and lifted it above his 
towering frame.  
As the blade fell, Oracle felt a gush of wind, as something fast moved past her 
face.  
The blade continued to whistle down, and Oracle closed her eyes.  
She opened them again when she heard Kormaand cursing in ways that only desert 
people knew how.  
She looked up and saw a transparent barrier, glimmering like a rainbow, 
protecting her and Excel from Kormaand’s assault like a steel wall.  
She looked around and saw a pink-haired woman in loose beige robes, with two 
long strips floating eerily behind her, riding a white horse with a 
technicoloured mane...  No, she thought, noting a spiral horn on the horse’s 
head...  Riding a unicorn.  
“Call me Celeste.” she called down from her mount, descending to join Oracle on 
the sands.  
“We don’t have much time.” Celeste continued, “The barriers that Terra, my 
Guardian Spirit, creates won’t last long.  I have the powers of healing, are you 
hurt?”  
“No.” replied Oracle, “But can you help Excel?” she asked, motioning to the 
fallen warrior.  
“I should be able to.” Celeste stated, “But when that barrier fails, you’ll have 
to deal with the giant.  I’m a healer, not a fighter.”  
“Okay...” Oracle muttered, standing to her feet, outstretching her hands and 
joining her palms as she had before.  
She glanced back to check on Excel:  Celeste’s hands were wrapped gently around 
his neck, both hands and neck glowing with a mint green light.  
Oracle glanced at the unicorn, Terra, and noticed that it had started to become 
translucent itself, she realised that as soon as it faded, so too would the 
barrier.  
She turned back to Kormaand, and saw the giant waiting calmly on the other side 
of the barrier.  
“When your toy fades, as it has started to, I will kill you all and paint the 
seven sands with your blood!” he bellowed, raising his sword above his head with 
both hands.  
The barrier suddenly vanished from existence, and in a desperate attack, Oracle 
again unleashed one of her balls of light at Kormaand.  
The giant screamed in pain as the sphere connected with his eyes, dropping to 
his knees and clutching his face.  
“Hah!” exclaimed Oracle, “Better aim that time, huh?”  
Kormaand struggled to rise to his feet, and stumbled off into the night, Oracle 
dashed over to Celeste and Excel, then glanced back at the fleeing giant.  
“AND DON’T COME BACK!” she yelled after him, she then turned her attention to 
her friend.  
“How is he?” she asked Celeste.  
“He’ll be fine.  He’s sleeping now.  Now would you answer me one question 
truthfully? Why did you two come out here to pick a fight with this general?”  
“His sister was put in a coma two nights ago...  He had a hunch that something 
had happened in the game, and that this general would know what was up.  He was 
right.  Apparently, this Sovereign character has captured the comatose people, 
and some of them are being kept here.  Would you help us look for them when he 
wakes up?”  
“Sure Beverly, James shouldn’t be out for more than thirty minutes.” replied 
Celeste.  
“WHAT? How did you know who we are?” stammered Oracle.  
“It’s not all that surprising.  I overheard you two talking in the cafe.  The 
story you just told me was the same one James told, so I put two and two 
together.  Betcha can’t guess who I am?”  
Oracle looked on blankly, thinking.  
“Not even if I call you two lovebirds again?” Celeste chuckled, winking.  
“AMY?”  
“Yup.”  
“But why are you playing this game?” Oracle asked, still shocked, then changing 
her tone of voice back to it’s usual confident manner, “Aren’t you going out 
with Will Callahan, the most liked guy in college? What’s up, you two having 
problems that you gotta pass time away in here?” she said, grinning just 
thinking about the gossip she could spread.  
“It’s not like that...” started Celeste, “Will and I love each other, but we’re 
not attached to each other 24-7 you know.  Anyway, he works weekend evenings, so 
he got me one of those DataGate thingys as a present, so I could relax after 
work.  I overheard you two talking in the cafe, and figured you could use a 
hand...  Looks like I was right.”  
“Seriously, thanks Amy.  You were great...”  
The two women eventually decided to leave Excel where he was for now and to to 
enter the fort without him.  

Excel awoke to the sight of the two ladies, who promptly explained what had 
happened.  
“What about the troops in the fort?” he asked.  
“No one’s home.” replied Oracle, “I checked the immediate inside out, and the 
giant was the only one in.  The whole place is just a well defended one bedroom 
giant house.”  
“So there are none of the comatose people in there?” he questioned.  
“There is one door that we couldn’t get through.” stated Celeste, “It was just 
too big for the two of us to budge, but maybe the three of us could shift it.”  
The three of them ventured into the giant’s home where they went to the door 
that the ladies had found.  
It was an oak door around about ten foot tall, a large brass pole was bolted to 
the left hand side of the door, which all three of them promptly took hold of.  
The trio pulled the door in unison, and it slowly creaked open.  
Behind the door was a stone spiral staircase that would have been wide enough 
for the giant to descend.  
When the three reached the bottom, they emerged in a lantern lit stone room, 
separated down it’s middle by vertical iron bars, with a door set against one 
wall.  
They quickly realised that this was a dungeon, and were about to leave when a 
pile of rags in one corner started to shuffle.  
“I’ll never tell you what you want to know” came a voice from amongst the rags.  
“We just want to find the captives and save them, but if you’re not 
interested...” said Oracle, starting to climb the stairs.  
The rags quickly rearranged themselves into an oriental man, dressed in ragged 
clothing, with dark hair cropped close to his scalp.  
He started to speak, but in perfect English, not in the oriental accent that the 
three expected:  “Who are you? Where’s Kormaand?”  
“We beat him and drove him off.” replied Celeste, “Who are you anyway?”  
“Are you Players?” the man replied.  
“Yeah.” said Excel, “We came here because we heard that a general might have 
some information, and he told us that people who were in comas in the real world 
were being held captive.  Are you one of these captives?”  
“You answer me first” the man stated, “Where are you?”  
“In a dungeon.” replied Oracle sarcastically.  
“No, in real life.  Only true Players will know the name of a real city.  I need 
to know you’re not drones sent by Sovereign.”  
“We’re all students of Kerraton College, in Caras City.  Satisfied?” asked 
Excel.  
“Yes...  Very...  I’m Eric Chen.  My real name is Xiang, but my English speaking 
friends call me Eric.  It’s easier that way.”  
“I recognise your name.” said Celeste, “You’re one of this game’s lead 
programmers.  What are you doing locked up?”  
Excel drew his sword and cut Eric a path out of the cell.  
“Something went wrong with the game during the first official night.” Eric said, 
stepping out the cell, “About 40 of us, all of us playing heroic characters, 
were beaten by powerful warriors serving a being called Sovereign, that 
physically harmed us as impossible as that should be.  And then something was 
done to us, involving a machine that I never saw any of the programmers include 
in the game, but its kept us stuck here, as our game characters.  Then we were 
locked up in quite a few different locations.  I was brought before Sovereign 
and he explained to me what was happening just to gloat...” he said, trailing 
off.  
“And?” prompted Oracle.  
“It’s Karsten Myers.  He’s become this Sovereign character, and he’s gone 
completely mad.  He wants to rule this world, and he sees Players as a threat to 
be eliminated.  You say we’re all in comas in the real world?”  
“Yeah.” replied Excel.  
“Then it would seem that Myers has separated our minds, trapped in the game’s 
servers, from our bodies...  I have an idea.  There may be a way for me to get 
back, now that I’m free.  Can you find a way of hooking my real body up to a 
DataGate?” he asked.  
“No problem.” stated Celeste, “I’m running from a laptop.  It’s possible, 
assuming we can get into the hospital...”  
“That’s not a problem.” said Excel, “I’ll just say I’m visiting my sister...  
She’s one of the people in a coma.” he said, addressing Eric.  
“Good.” said Eric, “Not about your sister...  I’m sorry to hear she’s like me, a 
ghost without a shell, but good that you can hook me up.  You’ll recognise my 
body in the hospital.  I never changed my head appearance for my in-game 
character.  I’ll program me a way out.”  
A green square, resembling a screen, materialised in front of Eric, with a 
virtual keyboard in front of it, Eric began to tap on the keys.  
“What are you doing?” asked Oracle.  
“Myers may have been the official head of the project, but I actually coded more 
of the game than him.  As a result, I can adjust the game’s code from inside, to 
save me time during development, and they left it in the final version.  I’m 
using it to program me a path back to my body.  Assuming I survive long enough 
to reach the real world, I’ll be able to code pathways for anyone you can 
free...  NOW WOULD YOU GET GOING? The longer I’m free in the game, the greater 
the risk of Myers finding out.”  
“Let’s go.” called Excel, dashing up the stairs.  

The three students sat hunched beside Xiang ‘Eric’ Chen’s bedside in the Saint 
Augusta hospital.  
Amy’s DataGate was perched atop the programmer’s head, wired to her laptop which 
had a modem cable plugged into an old hospital phone socket, she set the modem 
to connect to the Beyond Existence server, and the DataGate lit up.  
The three sat waiting in anticipation.  
“HEY! WHAT’S ALL THIS?” yelled a voice from behind them.  
The trio turned to see the same young doctor that James had met earlier standing 
over them.  
“I’m Kyla Dane’s brother.“ said James, “We’re here visiting her!”  
“That may have got you past security, but I know better.  This Chinese guy’s not 
your sister.” he replied.  
“Look, we’ll level with you.” started Beverly, “We think we’ve come up with a 
way of curing these people, and we figured that no one would mind seeing as 
they’re as good as dead anyway...”  
“HEY!” cried James and the doctor in unison, voicing their disagreement.  
“Well I don’t care.  These people are my patients and you’re not going to-”  
“Don’t worry Doctor.” interrupted Eric.  
All four turned and looked at Eric, who was sitting up and taking the helmet 
off.  
“These young people have cured me, just as they promised.  What is your name 
doctor? I wish to know who to tell the world had the bravery to allow these 
students to try the revolutionary treatment that you devised...”  
“I’m Doctor Morrison.  And I get the feeling that I’ll not understand what just 
went on here...”  
Eric turned and addressed the trio, “Get going guys, come visit me tomorrow 
morning or tomorrow afternoon, I’ll convince the doctor of something.”  
The three students left the hospital and went home, shattered.  
As they left, the doctor and the programmer had just started an animated 
discussion, which, had the others not been comatose, would have woke each and 
every one.  

James met Eric on Sunday morning in the ward’s deserted television room.  
James told him that the girls were resting, and Eric had explained to James how 
he had convinced Dr Morrison that everything was fine and that, if they all 
worked together, they could revive the patients.  
“He may be a good doctor.” said Eric, “But he’s young and gullible.  You guys 
did me proud.”  
“We’re just glad that you’re Okay Eric.  Can you help the others now?”  
“I can’t James.  Not like that, Myers has created a new program that prevents my 
codes from reaching the other captives, but if they were free, I could return 
them to their bodies, no problem.”  
“You keep speaking of Karsten Myers, the president of PerTec? If so, why can’t 
we just go after him and get him arrested?”  
“Karsten’s smarter than that.  He’s probably paid the whole country off, or at 
least the important parts to protect himself.  We can’t even let him know that 
I’m awake, else he’ll come to finish what he started.  It’s our problem Kiddo.  
The only choice we have is to battle him in the game, where he’s got no path to 
retreat down.  If you can free those people in the game, I’ll free them out 
here.”  
“So we’ll have to go back and beat everything Karsten has to throw at us?”  
“I can’t ask you and your friends, I’ve got no right, but I get the feeling that 
you’ll help out anyway...”  
“You’re right.  If it’ll help my sister get better, I’ll do it.  I know the 
girls’ll want to help as well.”  
“Okay then.  I’ll help you out as much as I can, but it’s your fight.  I can’t 
go back into the game, or else Myers will know we’re onto him...”  
“Don’t worry Eric.  We’ll bring him down.  I’ll let the girls know as soon as I 
next see them.  I’ll get them to come and see you so you can explain it to them 
in person.”  
“For today James, relax.  You did good.  You wanna stay for lunch?  They serve a 
good tomato soup, so Dr Morrison said.”  
“Serve lunch?” asked James nervously, making a dash for the exit, “I forgot 
about the cafe! I was meant to start work today.  Phil’ll kill me!”  
“Huh...” snorted Eric, “Kids!”  

End of Chapter 4  

Chapter 3
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