Two weeks passed between Round 26 played on the launch pad of the Airbus 2070. Days ago, everyone but the players slipped in the digital world to play the Presidential Challenge. In little under two months, so much had changed.
There was a lot of commotion on earth. Emilio was working hard to dismantle or uncover plots to harm mankind. Since their arrival on mars, the remaining players practiced, were interviewed and appeared on the news frequently. Each had a large cult following as most began by watching the Emilio and Laurent joust followed by hours of watching the few remaining contestants.
The excitement of the game continued away from Sophie. She refused to participate and stayed in her room, in the cafeteria and with Liam and her father discussing the end of the world and this stupid game. Hours ago began the catapulting of the 62 contestants. The losers were invited to wait an hour before undertaking the magical journey.
But the internal design of the catapult was now changed, inspired by Round 26’s romantic science fiction of Mars Base Alpha. Each landed at the Electoral Center in the intelligent sea of black sand. Each group felt privileged and was under great media scrutiny. This was a big deal. Each group was walked into the main auditorium, past Sophie’s room. Each time, a little concierge robot pointed at the closed door and whispered ‘this is where Sophie now rests.” Each time the reaction was identical. The players stopped breathing, making noise and out of pure respect in case the young girl slept, they moved on tiptoes past the door. It was obvious, there was pure admiration and respect for the young guardian now called by the computer the Attractor.
Milly Wong created excitement and along with the other ten journalists from the hotel interviewed every player like they were athletes ready to sprint a marathon. Music began to play, but most asked Marilyn not to bother the girl with the game. Humanity was ready and looked in to Round 27.
Laurent was there in the large game room. His deformed body was in a transparent cradle. It rested in the center of 56 defined square floor markings. There was a stage in front and rows of seats for the observers. The stage was empty.
The screens counted down. Only four minutes remained. Milly was speaking to billions in the corner.
Then the door slid open and the room felt silent. Sophie stood there, wearing jeans, a simple red t-shirt reading simply ‘power’ in white letters. Under her armpit rested her folded tutor computer and in her right fist she had her white plush toy.
Time felt like it stopped for everyone including the billions on earth watching the arrival of the young girl. There was something odd about her. She glanced at the people in the room and walked decisively to the side of her father.
All this strange situation felt rather unreal. Laurent was present, Susie Shin at his side. There was some important and strange energy in the room. The white dog was important to her, as if the symbol of infancy helped her hide from the adult world surrounding her.
As if to let the world resume, she waived and smiled. It sent positive vibes. This was needed. Energy slowly built as every chip in the digital world powered up. The clock drew down to zero under the watchful eye of the young girl. It was clear Sophie was not engaged in the mass hysteria. Billions signed up and connected including Ronaldo Corvas and the group from the UFO Hotline.
Takeda deep in his lab was working with Marilyn on his God Virus.
Electoral 2072 - Round 27
October 29, 2072
Text began to scroll on billions of screens. These were the famous white letters moving from the bottom of the screen getting distant and smaller as they reached the top inspired from the Star Wars franchise. The franchise’s theme classic music played loudly. Behind the text stars filled the darkness. Many now had the answer why Marilyn acquired these rights in 2068.
Round XXVII
Unbeknownst to mankind, galactic forces assemble in other worlds to extinguish life in the Cold, the world home to Earth. A handful of rebels in the border dimension of the Multiverse are the last hope of the Galaxy to save itself from the destruction called the Sixth Attraction.
In the Purple, a belligerent ruling body has begun to stir energy in a singularity and plan to destroy earth. Energy is being gathered in a town called Ruui to force earth's Sun to release a destructive planetoid: the Death Star and destroy all life. It should impact earth on November 21, 2072, in three weeks.
Nothing on earth or from the Cold can stop this assured destruction except perhaps for one little girl: the leader of the rebels, Sophie Lapierre. Teaming up with her close friends, she can use strange powers granted by the Multiverse to save her world. Today she travels to the Purple to save her world and more importantly, her loving father Laurent.
Twice the girl has entered the Purple, but each time she failed to stop the coming destruction. The first time she entered as part of a dream. The second time, she jumped in with the Oldest in tow on her way back to earth.
Today, Sophie returns to the Purple to save earth and the Cold....
Marilyn timed the end of the music so it faded at a different time for each viewer, only once the words were read. The star-filled backdrop was replaced by cheerful music of a Cantina. Quacks and beeps floated in the air created by strange instruments played by even stranger creatures. The bar was under a rounded sand hut and was the favorite spot of alien bounty hunters from every corner of the Galaxy. In a corner, a black toad jumped up and down on a drum to a beat as the other band players made music. Colorful and bubbling drinks slid down the bar and were grabbed by cheap looking tentacles.
Marilyn, the only human in the establishment, was already served. This was her show, her game, and she was smashingly beautiful. After a panoramic view of the guests, the music faded as the camera turned to the female bounty hunter sitting alone.
Marilyn Monroe was wearing cowboy boots crossed on the cluttered table. She was sitting in a corner, pistols drawn on the table. She had long purple locks tucked into her leather headgear.
On the screen flashed today's episode title:
Round 27 -- Enter the Purple
The choice of hair color by Marilyn was no coincidence.
"Welcome to Round 27," said Marilyn Monroe with a strange accent. The artificial intelligence was playing with a laser blaster in one hand and a lock of her hair in the other. "Sixty-four remain and play, and after tonight the list will be cut to thirty-two. For most, it has been a long week. Lots going on down on earth and here on mars. Sadly, things must get worse before they finally get better. Let's continue our journey to the Sixth Attraction one step at a time. We could talk and talk until we all turn," she jested, "purple in the face and nothing would come of it. As the President endeavors to stop plots and Sophie relaxes, we simply need to enjoy ourselves. No point in doing otherwise. With a little luck and a lot of hard work, we'll find more blue skies ahead."
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
A screen appeared over her shoulder in which news clippings began to flash. They were CNN footage illustrating the what she would say next. "These last weeks, a cascade of unexplained events have taken place all over the world. They are driving President Emilio Sanchez and his illustrious friends mad. The Glass Slipper almost crashed and the sabotage of the two orbiting lasers designed to let our interplanetary Airbus decelerate safely. Only Captain Judy and her valiant crew's actions back in the Airbus saved our contestants. We then have some strange form of alien life on mars which killed a mission of scientists as they were trying to discover secrets beyond a secret door." The screen showed the fatal images of the plume of smoke said to be a natural gas release. "The list goes on and on." Next to her foot spiraled a small cloud of sand in a snow globe.
Electoral closed the window above her shoulder and continued to talk. "Electoral 2072 is much more than a simple televised game. It was designed with today’s series of events in mind. It has elected a unique human with a power of foresight who can now tackle some of the problems we are now facing. At times, Emilio and I had our differences, but there was a good reason to be demanding on him all these years. He is only a first line of defense. Sophie is another, and I am a third. The game will allow Emilio to guide Sophie thanks to his gift.Mankind will not go down without a fight.”
Sophie wasn’t listening and was sitting on the floor under her father’s bed catching up on her lessons.
"We will use rounds 28, 29, and 30 to unravel mysteries and make sense of the puzzle before us. I had not expected today's story to be pushed into the competition so early, nor could I anticipate the actions of the Purple; but we must adapt. Let us begin."
In weeks, the nature of the artificial intelligence and the Electoral 2072 simulation had evolved. What was once a reality television simulation now appeared to be a tool against powerful things. Somehow, the computer had anticipated the Sixth Attraction and was playing a convoluted game with the future. It was difficult for Emilio or Ronaldo not to trust the AI; she appeared so helpful. Away from the cameras and invisible to anyone except Georges, the Electoral Center went into full battle mode. Marilyn had broken her truce with the Martian creatures, spoken of them and the price to pay was now war.
On each screen, the character played by Marilyn slammed a large laser pistol on the table as she hunched over. "The Purple is a strange and wonderful dimension. Everything appears like shiny rocks. Big news to human physicists: there are in fact millions of types of sub-atomic particles, each smaller than the next. Only man's stupidity could conceive that while their world is almost infinite in size on the large side, nothing smaller than a Zex could exist. That’s just stupid.”
"Each player today, with a single exception, will assume Sophie's identity and will travel to the Purple. The real Sophie will watch,” she waved at her. The girl in the real world seemed unamused, “and may decide to go alone in the Purple after this game, or flanked with some of her unique group of companions, the players of Round 27 are given the same choice. Each will pick in my interface whoever will be there alongside them. I wish I could travel to the Purple and help Sophie save our world, but I can't.”
“I have been preparing this battle for a long time now. I gathered enough information about the Purple to run some pretty realistic simulations. So these games, these sixty four simulations will show us the best. Players will help us look what is the Purple, play and learn about it. Once in Mall-ik's world, they must save earth from destruction, nothing less. Stop this planetoids or change its trajectory. If anyone succeeds, we will play that solution and others to guide Sophie. She can watch, learn and implement.”
"Every player, including Emilio and Sophie's father will be free to travel to the Purple impersonating Sophie herself. There seems to be a problem with Emilio’s simulation, I may yet have time to fix it before we begin. Because the Attractor has the power to summon, each player will be able to bring along anyone of their desire. Laurent is the only player who will be given the option to bring himself; that should be fun to watch. If Laurent brings himself as he travels while impersonating his daughter, I will take over playing him. If you think this is complex, wait until it begins.”
“Emilio's simulation is beyond strange. It appears he will be playing himself and the real Liam: the character in Sophie's head stands there with him. Strange, strange, strange. While the rules of the game do not allow me to favor a player over anyone else, I am sure everyone watching will understand the liberties I must take from this point on and moving forward.”
She shot a little space rat.
"At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, Laurent, a disabled father may today chart the path which will save his own daughter's life." She grabbed a laser pistol and shot dead a second little creature sniffing in the garbage behind the bar. "One more detail. I stole, thanks to Sophie's powers, the portal of communication between these strange worlds. It is called The Nexus. Liam and his race were very upset when I took it. Today, it will help us. Using the Nexus, I will be able to communicate with Sophie after this game when she enters the Purple. Therefore, as each of the sixty-four players moves through their respective simulations, you will all be able to hear me as she will. That's if you want me to help. Sounds much more complicated than it really is."
There it was. Using a virtual reality tool, the players would run a simulation pretending to be the girl. The complexity of the situation wasn't lost on anyone. Sixty-two players were getting ready in the room on a chair. Laurent was connected to the game in the finale room under the watchful eyes of Sophie, Georges, and Susie, his doctor.
***
In the Electoral Center, Milly was broadcasting live. She was standing next to Georges. In her back, the viewers could see Sophie studying. Between questions, the girl was smiling and looking at the screens in the room. Laurent was in a different digital place and the Attractor was there to watch him play. The girl’s energy, while invisible, warped mildly the space around her. Her skin seemed shiny. Turning his attention to his screens, Georges said, "Something wrong is going on outside."
"What is going on?" asked the journalist.
"I don't know. Some new systems are coming online. Protections I have never seen before.” He spoke to Milly. “She never ceases to amaze me. I did not even know this place had any of these defense protections. It’s molecular somehow." Code was scrolling on every screen. Sophie looked at her father's body in his cradle. There was no visible sign of a problem. "I don't like this," said the programmer. "Things are moving too fast, even for Marilyn.” Milly wanted more information.
“Marilou, what's going on?" asked the journalist.
"Don't worry; a sore loser just broke a treaty. Our northwestern neighbors are coming, at least they think. With my current level of power, these creatures are inconsequential. Let them, I will glassify them if they try their stunt again."
Marilyn was clear, this was no concern. The broadcast in the game continued. Sophie touched her father's head and kissed him luck. As she did, there was a surge of energy and the screens blinked static. She placed Oscar the white stuffed dog by his side.
In the distance, millions of tons of martian sand were stirring. The planet was awakening. Marilyn smiled. The game could continue.
***
On every screen Marilyn Monroe, the space opera bounty hunter said, "Mall-ik and Sophie have been very cooperative. They gave me information as to their first encounter and the world as they perceived it. One final caution to my players and the viewers: I am not scripting anything. This is a discover the world as it should be when Sophie gets there later today. I created a world as realistically as I could. There are multiple unknown variables. I know little about Sophie's powers. So don't fault me if things get off script. Sophie must save earth. You play her, try to save the world and if you succeed, she might watch, learn and be inspired by your game.”
The game began. Sixty-four simulations phased to purple.
The most relevant two hours of television ever broadcasted began.
“Liam,” asked Sophie internally.
“Beautiful one, how may I you help?” She asked her mental companion.
Sophie gave her companion an order in the silence of her mind. She smile and finally was interested in the game. She stood up to watch the President’s game.
Marilyn wondered what the girl had in mind. She would soon find out.