Chapter 8
Two days after the announcement, Alex reported in to the school base. Days would go by between checking in; they didn’t care where you were, as long as the work they assigned got done. Alex spent as little time as she could in the school. It was the most dangerous place for her to be since the gangs hung around there and got you coming out. She learned this the hard way, when early on she’d been beaten badly and hospitalized. After that, she kept visits to a minimum and tried to get in and out quickly.
Alex shuffled through the front entrance, her eyes on the floor with her focus centred on getting into her class to collect her new job order and then getting out before anyone could cause her harm. She hadn’t gone more than ten feet when Principal Williams, a short, greasy haired, angry looking man in a dirty mismatched suit called to her in his strained nasal voice.
“Alexandra Montoyas! Get into my office now!”
Alex froze, then quickly turned and walked towards the principal’s office. The Toad, as he was disdainfully called by the students and teachers alike, didn’t like to be kept waiting. Alex knew he was silently counting as she approached, and would deliver at least one blow to the back of a student’s head if they weren’t running to get into his office. She was counting too, and she knew she would get at least two swats, but she couldn’t bring herself to run. This little freak wasn’t going to scare her.
Alex walked past the Toad, bracing for the hits to the back of her head as she did so, but when they didn’t come, she looked up with concern. The only thing worse than getting hit by the Toad was not getting hit by the Toad. That meant she was walking into a room with important people already present. Alex quickly noticed three individuals inside the Toad’s office. Two of them were elite security officers, the large, muscular dark suited men who provided security to the wealthy. Bodies standing still and erect like stone statues, their eyes lazily swept over Alex, quickly dismissed her as a non-threat, and continued to scan their surroundings, ever vigilant for an opportunity to spring into action. Alex dismissed them as quickly as they did her, and her lips pressed into a thin line of disgust as she noticed the third person sitting behind the principal’s desk.
A beautiful woman sat smiling confidently from the Toad’s desk, everything about her exuding confidence, power, and beauty. It was clear from the energy in the room that this woman was in charge, and very comfortable to have it that way. Dark green eyes beamed above a perfect white smile. She stood with arms outstretched and walked around the desk to envelop Alex into a fierce, warm embrace. Alex’s arms remained stiffly at her sides as she endured the hug. Her eyes were full of hatred and her teeth were clenched as she bore the woman’s apparent affection. The woman was oblivious to Alex’s lack of response, or more likely she simply didn’t care. After she had hugged Alex close for a few seconds, she affectionately broke away to gently hold Alex at arms’ length by her shoulders, inspecting her from head to toe critically.
“Alex, my dear, it’s so good to see you again,” the woman said happily. “I must say that all things considered, you are in great shape.”
Alex felt her face flush in rage. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the absurdity of the statement. She decided to squeeze back the tears and laugh. “You can’t be serious, Lilith. I look like garbage! I smell worse than garbage. I haven’t eaten properly for months, and I’ll likely be dead soon. This is a horrible existence, and any gratitude I had for you as a Patron before is quickly fading away. Have you come here to gloat, or just bask in my pain and suffering? I thought we had more than just a business arrangement, Lilith. I thought we were friends.”
Lilith’s face went from joy to hurt instantly. She removed her hands from Alex’s shoulders, slowly ran her hands down her blouse to straighten it, then calmly walked back around to the Toad’s chair and sat down. When she looked at Alex, her eyes were calm and professional, but the hurt was still present. Alex remained standing until Lilith waved for her to take a seat.
Minutes passed in silence and Alex slowly calmed herself. There was air conditioning in here, she thought. At least she could sit and enjoy a break from the sweltering heat and backbreaking work that her life had become. Lilith couldn’t hurt her anymore. Or could she?
Her eyes must have betrayed her thinking. “Relax, Alex.” She said. “I’m not here to hurt you, or to take pleasure from your misery.” Lilith sighed and leaned backwards in her chair. “Listen, kiddo, I know it sucks to be here. Honestly I do. But before I tell you why I'm here, I want to set the record straight on a couple of things, if you’ll hear me out?”
Alex was angry. This woman had helped her so much, treated her lovingly while she was a high ranked player. Then, once she was no longer on top, Lilith had simply abandoned her. But Alex controlled her emotions, pressed her lips together tightly, and with hot tears gathering at the corners of her eyes, she nodded sharply for Lilith to continue talking.
“I’ve been a Game patron for over 12 years. I’ve sponsored over a hundred players, and most of them have gone on to make both me and themselves a good amount of money when they turned 18. I’ve also lost some, like I lost you, and it always breaks my heart when it happens.”
Alex said nothing.
“You know the rules are clear, Alex, even outside of the Game. When a student can no longer afford to enter the game, and they possess less than a certain amount of credits, they must immediately report to a government run public school where they are to remain until they are 18 and graduate.”
“Government run public school.” Alex spit the words out with a bitter laugh.
“I know,” Lilith smiled wryly. “It’s a joke. Slave pens is more accurate, and let me tell you, when I found out about the way the government schools are now being run I did the best I could to change it. You’re a little young to remember, but I tried to run for government office and my entire platform was to change the government-run schools. Thankfully, before I could ruin my life, and most likely lose it, a very powerful friend caught wind of my intentions and talked me out of what I was planning. If I had tried to change this system I know they would have killed me.”
Alex looked up, searching Lilith’s eyes to see if she was lying. She saw only the truth, and sadness in Lilith’s face.
“So I fought the only way I knew how. I began to sponsor Gamers, to try and help as many as I could to keep them out of here.”
“But not all of us,” Alex said with pain in her voice.
Lilith closed her eyes. “No. Not all of you,” she agreed. “Some of the Gamers I sponsor climb high; they gain the attention of the world. They become superstars.” She opened her eyes and rested them sadly on Alex. “Sometimes they spend all of their credits on plays. Sometimes, they fail out of the Game.”
“And then you just cut your losses and abandon them?” Alex asked with sharp scorn in her voice. After her last play Lilith hadn’t even agreed to see her. She had simply had a servant hand Alex a ticket that arranged for transportation to this school. All of the pain, suffering, and torment she had experienced this past year was because Lilith had put her here, and she couldn’t help but be angry at her old Patron for that.
Lilith’s eyes grew glassy. “My dear girl, I did the best I could for you. If we are going to have any chance moving forward it’s important for you to believe that.”
Lilith held out her hand and one of her security guards produced a pair of video glasses. She held the glasses in her hands and stared sadly at Alex, looking as if she wanted to say something, but no words came out. Finally she held out the video glasses to Alex, who took them.
“When your avatar died in childbirth, I pulled in every favour that I’ve ever banked during the past twenty years to get you into the very best institution available to you. I had almost no time to get the deal done, since you went from hero to zero in just a few minutes, so unfortunately I couldn’t see you when you called on me. I did it, by the way. Got you into the very best institution available.”
/> Alex laughed out loud, the tears coming freely now. “Oh, my god, you must be kidding me! This place is horrible, Lilith! I wouldn’t send anyone to be here. There’s no way this can be the best school!”
Lilith nodded. “I’m going out of this office. Watch the video. It’s video from what goes on at most of the average and below average government-run schools.” She stood sadly and her guards walked to the door, one opening it, the other behind her. “It’s a ten minute video. I’ll be back in fifteen. If you still believe that I abandoned you after you watch it, I’ll leave you alone — forever.”
The door closed. Alex calmly put on the glasses and began to play the video. Two minutes in she began to cry. Five minutes in she paused the video, went to the Toad’s garbage can, and vomited. Eight minutes into the video she screamed in rage and threw the glasses against the wall, tears streaming down her face at what she had just seen, at the atrocity that government schools had become. The door opened and Lilith walked in with worry on her face. Alex ran to her and gripped her in a fierce hug, sobbing and thanking her for saving her life. Lilith sobbed as she apologized for not being able to do more.
When the tears had slowed down, they broke the hug. Lilith wiped her eyes. “Well, someone out there must like you, kiddo. I have some remarkable news. You’ve been invited to go back into the Game!”
Alex stood there, speechless.