“When I was fourteen years old,” Jade said loudly, turning back to face the crowd. “I began to suspect that my father had gotten himself into trouble after doing business with the wrong people. Worried sick for his safety, I turned to the man who had always told me he would be there for me if I ever needed guidance; Mr McKinnon. He told me that my father was a good man, and that God would protect him. I believed this. The very next day seven gangsters stormed my family restaurant and murdered my father in front of my eyes.”

Saffie’s mind had been reeling ever since Jade had announced that Keith was her former teacher. Jade was the girl Keith had told her about in his office.

“For a long time afterwards,” Jade continued, “I searched for answers as to why God didn’t protect my father. Why God didn’t do as Mr McKinnon had promised. Was my father so terrible for making one mistake that he deserved to die? It wasn’t until years later that I realised the answer to all of my questions was far simpler than I’d thought. God doesn’t exist. There was no divine being looking out for my father. No deity there to intervene. It was a fascinating realisation. This all-seeing, all-knowing power that almost every religion in our world believes exists is just a figment of a collective, desperate imagination. An imagination fuelled by the basic human desire to be controlled, and to be judged. Yes, human beings crave divine judgement so badly that we’ve been convincing ourselves it exists since prehistoric times.”

Jade paced around the platform, her eyes wild, and her hair whipping in the wind.

“Players of London, the time has come for our imagination to become reality. With the invention of Overworld, we have finally reached a point where technology allows a human being to have the kind of control and power of a deity. I am willing to be that someone. I can give you what you desire. Ladies and gentlemen, I… am… your… new… God.”

All of a sudden, the crowd erupted into applause and cheers. Saffie was confused for a split second, until she felt her own arms swing up and begin slapping her hands together against her will. Nobody in the crowd was actually cheering for Jade. Jade was controlling everyone with her mind. This was just one huge display of vanity. Before long, the crowd was chanting:

“Jade! Jade! Jade!”

As the chanting continued, Liam stepped up to the platform, holding the Onyx in his outstretched arms. He dutifully placed it on the plinth and stepped back down, rejoining the line of followers behind Jade.

“Of course, I don’t plan on controlling you all like this forever,” Jade clarified. “That wouldn’t be fair. I only did this to bring you all here for this introduction. You will be given your freedom back as soon as tonight is over, but when that happens, there will most likely be those of you who refuse to accept me as your God.”

She surveyed the crowd, and for a moment her eyes met Saffie’s.

“I will need to strike down those who resist. Those who defy me. And those who betray me. So who better to test this new power on than this man right here - the one who betrayed me most.”

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

Saffie could see Keith twitching, trying to break free of Jade’s control, but even with all of his knowledge and experience, he couldn’t seem to overpower the re-written source code.

Saffie wished she could tell the others about her conversation with Keith, but there was no time.

SAFFIE: We HAVE to stop this! She’s going to kill Keith if we don’t!

NATE: Everyone concentrate as hard as you can. Try to break through Jade’s control with your mind.

RUBEN: I really don’t think…

NATE: It’s all we can do! We have to try!

Saffie knew Nate was right. With nothing but their minds under their own control, it was all they could possibly attempt. She fought against every horrible doubt in her mind that there was no hope, and that this was where Keith was going to die.

You can do this. Your mind is strong enough to break free.

As Saffie was concentrating with all her might, Jade lifted her arm and plunged it into the Onyx once more. A few moments later, a few lines of text flashed across Saffie’s vision:

onDefeat.action by Player (All) = (ChipDissolve)

And then the words in brackets changed a few times until the line read:

onDefeat.action by Player (JadeSakata) = (ChipExplode)

Saffie’s gut wrenched.

“Overworld is no longer ‘just a game.’” Jade announced proudly. “It is now another reality. A better reality. A reality in which I judge who is worthy or not. When a player is defeated by ME only, the chip will now self destruct, destroying that player’s brain, and killing them outright. No more Morrowsleep. Real, raw, permanent death.”

Saffie wanted to scream that this was monstrous, that Jade would never get away with it. She couldn’t believe it was being allowed to continue. Why weren’t the developers doing anything? Did they know it was happening? At this point, turning off the game temporarily would have released everyone from Jade’s control, and nullified her new powers. But whoever was behind Overworld wasn’t doing anything.

Though nobody in the crowd could properly react to what was happening, Saffie could see in the corners of her eyes the turmoil beneath everyone’s motionless faces.

“Now, Mr McKinnon…” said Jade, pacing around Keith.

SAFFIE: This can’t be happening. It can’t.

Saffie felt as though she were concentrating so hard, her ears were going to start bleeding, but even so, not an inch of her was reacting to her desperate thoughts.

SAFFIE: It’s going to happen isn’t it? Jade’s going to kill Keith.

NATE: GUYS.

CORA: What is it?

NATE: My index finger just twitched.

CORA: WHAT????

RUBEN: Are you serious?

NATE: I swear it just moved. I did it again.

Saffie didn’t dare to hope that Nate might be able to break free and stop what was about to happen.

“Kneel,” Jade commanded, and thrust her arm out. With a horrible, crunching sound, Keith slammed to his knees. His eyes screwed up in pain, but he couldn’t make a sound.

SAFFIE: Please Nate, please.

Jade reached over her shoulder, and with the sound of sharp metal slicing against fabric, she unsheathed her katana.

Saffie felt a tear trickle down her cheek from her unmoving eyes as she was forced to watch, and she could see the glimmer of wet cheeks on the players around her.

With slow, deliberate movements, Jade raised the blade above Keith, and Saffie could see pure hatred boiling in her eyes.

This was it. She was going to plunge the sword into him.

Then…

Saffie almost toppled over as someone barged through the crowd, roaring with rage.

It was Nate.

And with his dagger held firm in his grip, he was heading straight for Jade.