animation, waiting for the tube to rise so I could escape.” Lan actually started to cry, angry over the thought of his prison.
“ Lan, it’s over now. You are free, my son. It’s over.” Tom’s unsteady voice, as if fighting back his own tears, brought Lan back to the present.
“ You’re right, it’s over. But my whole life has been altered by the knowledge of who I am. Nobody could ever understand me, except maybe Jules. She must be devastated. I’d like to believe that she’ll be all right. I should have stayed, to wait for her to come back.”
“ Out of the question, Lan. You need to go back now. We’ll see each other soon enough. And I’ll let you know about Jules’ situation. She’s very strong, an admirable girl. And you two appear to have more in common than any of us thought.”
“ You may be right. If she can make it, so can I.”
On that note, they got close to the edge of the forest, behind the Server compound, and Lan said goodbye to his father. With his mind still in turmoil, he decided to call him Tom from then on, not yet comfortable calling him father.
15
Sunday morning was bright and cloudless. Allan woke up feeling rested and at peace for the first time in days. He went downstairs to find David and Daniel eating in the kitchen, while Mel’s voic e could be heard outside feeding the chickens their breakfast.
“Scrambled eggs again?” he asked.
“There ’s a good supply of those from our feathery friends outside,” David mumbled, with his mouth full. “Help yourself.” He pointed towards the stovetop, where a pan was still half full.
“Where are Lan and my father?”
“Tom went to help Lan through the forest,” Daniel replied. “He’ll be back soon.”
Sure enough, a short while after that, Tom came in and joined them at the table. “So, Allan, can I ask you more about the Imaginarium?”
“ We should probably wait for Mel to join us,” Daniel intervened. “She’d be upset if we started without her.” He went outside to help Mel finish her work.
They moved to the living room to have more space, and Allan started to recollect his actions from a few days before. He told them about the sequence of events in the War of Sovereign Nations game. He talked about Brad and his traditional warfare approach. Then he moved onto Brent’s cyber-attacks and nuclear war scenario.
Allan explained his own strategy and how the food had been laced with addictive chemicals, dulling people’s minds, and he mentioned the great entertainment that would distract the people whose country he was planning to conquer.
“Thus, when my troops landed, nobody cared about what was happening to their country. They had lost any desire t o fight, freedom becoming an empty word. I won without a shot being fired. In a way, it was less satisfying because there was no real war, as if I had been cheated of a fair victory,” Allan concluded his story.
The others had been listening carefully, absorbing e very word. After the story ended, everybody was quiet for a while, as if they were still under the influence of the emotions they felt as the story unfolded.
“Very interesting,” Tom started. “The scenario you played brought about the similar results I’ve seen in the city. You remember me talking about our citizens, especially the Servers, losing interest in life, their whole existence centered on entertainment and food? I think you’ve just opened up the possibility that what’s happening to our city is real, not just a figment of our imagination. I see no other reason for the attempt on your life.”
But Tom was no closer to finding out the masterminds of the plot than before learning about the game. Even with his security contacts, he couldn’t come up with any logical culprits.
“ You may not have an answer, but think about it,” Daniel intervened. “Allan performed an experiment, with the hypothesis being that a whole population can be manipulated into doing
“ Lan, it’s over now. You are free, my son. It’s over.” Tom’s unsteady voice, as if fighting back his own tears, brought Lan back to the present.
“ You’re right, it’s over. But my whole life has been altered by the knowledge of who I am. Nobody could ever understand me, except maybe Jules. She must be devastated. I’d like to believe that she’ll be all right. I should have stayed, to wait for her to come back.”
“ Out of the question, Lan. You need to go back now. We’ll see each other soon enough. And I’ll let you know about Jules’ situation. She’s very strong, an admirable girl. And you two appear to have more in common than any of us thought.”
“ You may be right. If she can make it, so can I.”
On that note, they got close to the edge of the forest, behind the Server compound, and Lan said goodbye to his father. With his mind still in turmoil, he decided to call him Tom from then on, not yet comfortable calling him father.
15
Sunday morning was bright and cloudless. Allan woke up feeling rested and at peace for the first time in days. He went downstairs to find David and Daniel eating in the kitchen, while Mel’s voic e could be heard outside feeding the chickens their breakfast.
“Scrambled eggs again?” he asked.
“There ’s a good supply of those from our feathery friends outside,” David mumbled, with his mouth full. “Help yourself.” He pointed towards the stovetop, where a pan was still half full.
“Where are Lan and my father?”
“Tom went to help Lan through the forest,” Daniel replied. “He’ll be back soon.”
Sure enough, a short while after that, Tom came in and joined them at the table. “So, Allan, can I ask you more about the Imaginarium?”
“ We should probably wait for Mel to join us,” Daniel intervened. “She’d be upset if we started without her.” He went outside to help Mel finish her work.
They moved to the living room to have more space, and Allan started to recollect his actions from a few days before. He told them about the sequence of events in the War of Sovereign Nations game. He talked about Brad and his traditional warfare approach. Then he moved onto Brent’s cyber-attacks and nuclear war scenario.
Allan explained his own strategy and how the food had been laced with addictive chemicals, dulling people’s minds, and he mentioned the great entertainment that would distract the people whose country he was planning to conquer.
“Thus, when my troops landed, nobody cared about what was happening to their country. They had lost any desire t o fight, freedom becoming an empty word. I won without a shot being fired. In a way, it was less satisfying because there was no real war, as if I had been cheated of a fair victory,” Allan concluded his story.
The others had been listening carefully, absorbing e very word. After the story ended, everybody was quiet for a while, as if they were still under the influence of the emotions they felt as the story unfolded.
“Very interesting,” Tom started. “The scenario you played brought about the similar results I’ve seen in the city. You remember me talking about our citizens, especially the Servers, losing interest in life, their whole existence centered on entertainment and food? I think you’ve just opened up the possibility that what’s happening to our city is real, not just a figment of our imagination. I see no other reason for the attempt on your life.”
But Tom was no closer to finding out the masterminds of the plot than before learning about the game. Even with his security contacts, he couldn’t come up with any logical culprits.
“ You may not have an answer, but think about it,” Daniel intervened. “Allan performed an experiment, with the hypothesis being that a whole population can be manipulated into doing
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