• PLAY THE G@ME

    "Amy," Craig Thompson -a tall, lean man in his twenties- said, "Come. Look at this." His black hair inches past his shoulders and his eyes are a murky gray magnified by thick rimmed glasses. He wore a black, buisness suit and was very well conditioned and groomed.

    Amy, a young, petite, Chinese woman with straight, long hair, walked to the large, office window and gazed at the crowded streets of New York City 76 floors below. "How many (people) do you suppose there are?"

    "Thousands upon thousands...waiting for New Year's to come," Thompson answered, "and this is only the beginning of a revelution- my revolution. The world will be mine once 2057 comes." Snow began to fall on the city that never sleeps.

    "Do you honestly believe that your plan will work?" she questioned, crossing her arms.

    "It won't fail," Thompson said, "I've programmed everything perfectly. Come midnight, everyone will be entrapped in my very own mind game. I based it off of something called 'The Game'. The rules are basic yet tricky. When you think of 'The Game', you lose, and when you lose, you announce it. Then everyone around you loses. All it takes is a thought to lose, but I invented a game that takes more than just thinking."

    "And you named it The Game?" Amy asked and added sarcastically, "Creative."

    "Yes," Thompson said, "I designed it so difficult that I'll bet my life that superman couldn't beat it."

    "So it's impossible?" Amy questioned, her eyes peering at him through the corner of her narrowed eyes.

    "No, impossible would be unfair, don't you think?," Thompson asked.

    "Then how can it be so hard that not even a superhero could win?" she replied.

    "The Game consists of 15 levels concentrated on different strategies from trivia to fighting to practically anything you can think of. The Game begins each player at the age of 5 and if they can manage to beat it, they'll be age 75," he answered, "So each player will grow 5 years each level."

    "How do you plan for everyone to become enhanced in The Game?" Amy qestioned.

    "TV signals, cell phone signals, and radio waves will hypnotize everyone within range into The Game, and for those who aren't in better than average range of any of those waves, when the sun rises, the radiation waves will trap them into it," he explained.

    "How can you be so sure?" Amy pressed.

    "The ones trapped in The Game know who is and isn't playing, and from there, they can entrap those not playing in it," Thompson replied and added, "as a Plan B if something goes wrong."

    "Won't the real world be destroyed when they fight against one another?" she questioned.

    "No, because everything they see is in their head," Thompson said, "Fiction and reality will become one, and everything'll be masked into a game field. Every event will take place inside their minds rather than in actual reailty. For example, someone may shoot another player in The Game, but the shooter imagines the gun, the victim imagines the bullet. From outside the game, you'd see the shooter holding an invisible gun, and the victim falling to the ground. Nothing'll be 'wrong', but their brains will be so entranced in The Game that they won't know the difference between what's real and what's not. The great thing is that, that gunman uses his energy by acting like he's shooting someone. So The Game takes mind power and strength. The world will be under my control, and by having everyone's mind in the palm of my hand, they'll be no rebellions," he answered with a small, crazy laugh.

    "Won't the world just die off if no one can't win?" Amy asked.

    "No, when someone dies, they start off in the first level, and they won't remember their previous life," he said, pivoting to his desk, "and there's no number on lives."

    Amy turned away from the window, replying, "Are there any glitches or hacks?"

    "I designed The Game perfectly. There's no way to hack or break any rules," he said, opening his laptop. On the screen was an electric clock counting down the minutes to midnight like a time bomb.

    "Is it possible for people do die for real by their actions? Like jumping off a building?" Amy asked.

    "Mhm," he answered, nodding, "Old age, heart attacks, and natural causes can still come into effect. Only a select few people will be Game Programmers, and they'll dispose of the bodies."

    "How will we be safe from getting locked into The Game? We're in perfect, 5 bar range of cell service," Amy said, flipping open her black razr.

    Thompson knelt down and tapped a nearly invisible floor tile on its corners in a specific code and twisted it out of place. He removed a box from the small opening and handed her a small, hourglass charm hanging on a silver chain.

    Amy took the necklace and gazed at Thompson confused, "How will a simple charm protect me?"

    "Well," he said, taking another chain from the box and wrapping it around his neck, "The charm has frozen nitrogen and oxygen and a few other gases in it, and that is the only substance that repels The Game."

    "But you said there's no glitches or-" Amy said, examining the necklace.

    "This isn't a glitch. It's protection," he interjected, "This is what the Ozone layer is made of but in solid form. It'll block the rays from anyone wearing it and anyone touching the wearer."

    Amy nodded and snapped the chain around her neck, "Clever."

    "Now," Thompson said, smiling like a crazed maniac, "All we must do now is wait. Five minutes til' Midnight."

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    In the midst of the New Year's crowd, 16 year old Evan waited impatiently for twelve o' clock to strike. He had silky, shoulder length, blonde hair and hazel eyes, and his face was pale with childish features. He slouched lazily wishing he were at home playing video games. Every two seconds, Evan was pushed and jabbed in the arm by excited people attempting to find friends in the parade of thousands. Time was running too slowly, and people were acting too crazy.

    His girlfriend Lily talked at 50 miles per minute about meaningless topics, and he nodded and murmered, "Mhm" at the right times. Lily had dirty brown eyes, thick lips, and a small scar above her left eyebrow. Her short, wavy, dark hair framed her tan, heart shaped face.

    Linda and Jesse, two of Evan's other friends, had an awkward conversation. Jesse was a very, tall, Japanese with highlighted, dark brown hair, and his glasses always set low on his nose. Pixie-like Linda appeared sweet, but behind her angelic, curly, honey brown hair and deep sea blue eyes, she was a tyrant with nothing to say besides insults.

    "It's so cool! My newest invention-" Jesse mused.

    "I don't care," Linda interjected, rolling her eyes, "Why don't you try to exercise instead of lock yourself in that lab of yours? You know what they say, 'Thou shall not weigh more than thy refrigerator.'"

    "Hmph!" Jesse snorted, glaring and crossing his arms as the first snow flake hit the ground.

    "...and like he said to me, "I'm totally in love with you.", but then, I was all like, "Um, excuse me?-" Lily ranted.

    "Shh," Evan hushed her, "And just wait."

    "What's your problem, Evan?" Lily asked, offended.

    "Seriously, man. You've been so 'I don't care' lately," Linda chimed in.

    "I'm just irritated," Evan replied, "Just be quiet until midnight comes...please. Save your voice for the New Year cheers."

    Lily's forehead creased, and she glanced around boredly, "Party pooper."

    "Who pissed in your cheerios today?," Linda murmered as Jesse sighed.

    Evan stomped and groaned.

    "You don't have to act like a stick in the mud," Jesse said.

    "This isn't fun..." Lily complained, frowning, "Not with you being a loser."

    "You date The Loser," Linda muttered, closing her eyes and crossing her arms.

    "I can go home," Evan said.

    "Good idea," Linda said sharply.

    "Okay, then," he said, turning away, "I excuse myself."

    "Eh?" Lily whined as Evan forced his way through the New Year's crowd and to the closest building. She chased after him.

    "LIly!" Jesse yelled.

    "Evan, come back! Jeez!" she begged, reaching for his shirt sleeve.

    Jesse and Linda quickly followed, and they caught Evan's arms.

    "What?!" he retaliated, pushing them away. He swung around and glared to his friends, "You told me to leave, so I did."

    "We have three and a half minutes, come on, and stay," Lily begged, giving her best puppy dog face. "Please?" she added.

    Evan sighed.

    "Don't be a butt to your girlfriend," Linda said, "It's the last day of the year and she wants this to be a night to remember."

    "And?" he asked.

    "Are you always this stupid, or are you making a special effort today?" she asked harshly.

    "It's not everyday that there's a huge parade," Jesse added.

    Evan sighed again and muttered, "I don't want to be here..."

    "I'm sorry for being selfish and forcing you to come here..." Lily apologized, "but please stay..."

    Again, Evan sighed, but he finally gave in, "Fine..."

    "Woot!" Lily cheered excitedly, jumping and clapping her hands.

    "If I die, you'll be forgiven, but if I live, I will kill you," he murmered. "Just for three minutes, right?" Evan asked, checking the huge billboard clock.

    His friends nodded.

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    "Three minutes," Amy whispered.

    "I can already feel it- the power," Thompson said crazily. He turned to the window and watched the crowd cheering.

    Amy walked up beside him, and smiled mischieviously, "Who knew the world could be so fragile."

    Thompson wrapped his arm around her waist and replied, "And it's ours to shatter or glue together." He kissed her on the lips and held her close to his body in a tight embrace.

    Amy inched away from his lips and whispered, "Can't wait."

    Thompson kissed her neck and stopped at her collar bone. Then he stared into her dark brown eyes, and brushed his fingers through her long, bitter dark hair.

    Amy glanced to the laptop screen that read two minutes and whispered, "Who knew...that evil was so beautiful." She pulled Thompson into a long kiss and snapped the hourglass chain off his neck..

    He gasped and pushed her away, but she still clutched the chain as she rolled on the floor.

    "You-!" Thompson gasped.

    Amy dangled the charm as if tempting a stray cat, and smiled conqueringly, "The. World. Is. Mine."

    "How could you!? Amy!" he shouted, charging towards her. He landed on top of her body and restled, knocking over a bookshelf, but Amy sprung up like a cat and said, "I'm no sidekick!"

    "You can be my equal! Just give it back!" Thompson demanded, chasing after her.

    "Come and get it then," she tempted, leaping on the desk.

    Thompson raced to the desk and jumped for the chain, but Amy hid it behind her back.

    "20 seconds," Amy teased, laughing bitterly.

    "Give it-!" he yelled, springing onto the desk. He attempted to punch her, but he missed by longshots. "I'll kill you!"

    "I'd like to see you try." Amy backflipped, but Thompson kicked the computer chair, and it knocked her in midair. She rolled off the chair, and she was sent backwards. She slammed into the window, shattering the glass.

    'Five' the computer blinked.

    "You b*****d!" Amy screamed, the hourglass charm slipping out of her hand.

    'Four'

    "Hand if over!" Thompson demanded, jumping off the desk and reaching out for her empty hands. "Eh?!-"

    'Three'

    Amy growled and kicked his hand sharply.

    'Two'

    Thompson cursed.

    'One'

    Flipping over the parade, she yelled, "You lost The Game!"

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    Craig Thompson

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    Lily

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    Amy

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    Evan (but with blue eyes)

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    Lily (but with a scar)

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    Jesse (but very very very fat!)


    UPCOMING CHARACTERS:

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    OMG!! It's gonna be a cat guy!!!!!!!!! XD

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    Meet Jesse's newest invention!!! Karin

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    Evan's older brother!!!! Jayden!



    Here's the cover!

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