Piranha Stories

#238993

I sat in the living room with the television on and the blinds open. There wasn’t anything interesting on, just the afternoon news. That wasn’t why I was there. Every five minutes I peeked out the widow, trying to make it seem like I wasn’t looking. The mailman passed our letter box. I jumped up like I had been electrocuted, and immediately regretted it.

‘Are you alright sweetie?’ asked my mum, looking at me with a hint of concern.

‘Yeah fine. I think I saw my friend Lilly outside. Mind if I go look?’

‘Sure,’ She said, turning back to the television.

I walked out the door in what I hoped was a casual manner. Once outside, I made straight for the letterbox. Opening it eagerly, I grabbed the contents and ducked out of view behind a nearby hedge. Today was the first Thursday of the month. On this day every month, I noticed my parents got a letter. A few months ago, when I had asked what it was, they looked strange. Almost guilty. I’ve tried to get my hands on this letter ever since, discretely of course. This is the first time I had managed it.

I found the letter. It was your ordinary envelope, with the transparent plastic sleeve, the kind that bills come in. I ripped open the letter excitedly. I wasn’t prepared for what it said.

In it was a check with the government stamp for $10,000. The memo line read: Custodians of #238993. I flipped it over. There was nothing else with it.

I stared at it for a moment. What could this mean? The front door to our house opened, and out came my dad.

‘Tori!’ He exclaimed, seeing me huddled near the bush. ‘What on earth do you think you are doing?’ I clutched the envelope in my hand. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I was a bit shell shocked.

‘Dad, what is this?’ I whispered. He grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. Slamming the door, he sat me down on the couch. My mum stood up, and he and dad looked at each other.

‘Does she know?’ my mum asked him.

‘No, but she saw the envelope. They keep a close eye on her, and will be here soon probably. Damn! I had hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. I thought you were going to get it!’ He said, tearing his hair in frustration.

‘What is going on!’ I demanded.

At that moment, the door was kicked in. A swarm of men and women in black gear holding rifles stormed in, yelling. All three of us threw our hands into the air. Behind them, walked in a huge Polynesian man, with tattoos covering his face. He wore a black tank, army cargo pants and boots. The muscles in his arms bulged.

‘Good evening #238993 and custodians.’ He said. ‘We need to talk.’

The Recorder

PART ONE: I yawned hugely. It was way too early to be awake. I stood on the platform waiting for my train. I had my headphones on, but they weren’t plugged in. I wasn’t in the mood for music, not this early. I did it because I didn’t really feel like interacting with anyone. I guess I’m just charming that way.

The train pulled in and I shuffled forward until I was inside. There weren’t many people taking the train this early on a Sunday morning, so I had my pick of the seats. I chose a set of four, two facing the others. I sat on one, placed my bag on the seat next to me, and put my feet up on the seat in front. In the window to my left I caught a ghost of my reflection: shoulder-length dark blue hair, pale skin, grey eyes. Satisfied my hair wasn’t sticking out at odd angles, I pulled out my sketchbook.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. The train is the best place to practice drawing. Seriously. I’m what I like to call an art-ninja. I take the subway all the time, so I always carry my sketchbook with me, and a fine tip black artists pen. When I’m in the train, I watch people. The people I find the most interesting, I try to recreate on paper. And trust me, there are a lot of interesting people that take the train. It’s a lot of fun, because you have to try not to stare. I had a quick look around. My eyes immediately fell upon a man standing near the entrance. He was leaning against the fake glass barrier, wearing a dark suit and sunglasses. He was holding a suitcase in front of him. Even with the sunglasses obscuring his face, I knew that he’d be handsome with his strong jaw and well-formed lips. He would be my target today.

I uncapped my pen and started to draw. With his sunglasses on, it was hard to tell if he noticed me looking at him. I tried my best to look as little as I could. I paused to consider how best to recreate the dim light around the man. The train suddenly jolted, and my pen struck me on my right ear. Worried I had been inked with the uncapped pen, I rubbed my ear vigorously with my left hand. The man wearing the suit turned his face towards me, and smiled. He lifted his left hand, slowly and purposefully, and tugged on his right wear.

I sank backwards into my seat, horrified. Had he noticed me sneaking looks at him this whole time? I relaxed when I realized that I was getting off at the next stop. I’d never see this man again, just like all the other people I had drawn. Everything was going to be ok.

I shoved my sketchbook and pen into my backpack, and got up. I decided I’d go through the entrance behind me, so I didn’t have to pass the man in the suit. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the guy had also gotten off through the other entrance. It’s no big deal, I told myself. It’s just a coincidence.

I turned a corner. I had to go down a dimly lit corridor, and up a flight of stairs before reaching ground level. As I walked, I could see two figures coming towards me. A man and a woman, both wearing suits, sunglasses and carrying briefcases identical to the man on the train. I stopped in my tracks. This was getting really weird. I whipped around to look behind me. There again was the man I had seen on the train. There was no one else here. ‘Just relax.’ Said a voice. I felt a sting near the base of my neck. The next thing I knew the world had turned black.

I woke up, my head feeling like it was stuffed with cotton. I was in a room, not unlike the investigation rooms you see in crime shows. I was sitting at a table, which is where I had been resting my head. Directly opposite sat the man from the train. He had removed his glasses displaying his chocolate brown eyes. I was right, he was handsome.

‘Thanks for joining us.’ He said, smirking at me.

‘Where am I?’

The man laughed in response.

‘You held your cover very well agent. I’m impressed. I wouldn’t have any idea it was you, except for the fact that you seemed to be observing me. And the signal of course.’ He said.

‘I don’t think I gave you any signal.’ I replied.

‘You can drop the act now. The Organization wants to know what info you’ve collected while on assignment.’

‘This must be a mistake, I don’t know anything about any kind of organization.’

‘Really? Then how do you explain this?’ The man pulled something out of his briefcase, and threw it down onto the table between us.

I gasped. It was my sketchpad.

He started flicking through, and I caught glimpses of my work. The elderly lady with the flowery skirt from last month. The little girl with beautiful curly blonde hair holding a balloon from last week. He stopped on the drawing I had done early today of himself.

‘You have a real eye for this kind of thing. A useful trait for someone in your position.’

‘It’s just art!’ I exclaimed, almost hysterically.

‘Sure, if that’s how you want to play it. I know cross jurisdiction co-operation is sometimes an issue within the Organization, but I didn’t know it would be this difficult. We’re on the same side you know. I’ll give you some time to think about it.’ With that, he stood an exited the room.

I was completely and utterly confused. Where was I? Why was I here? And what is the Organization?

PART TWO: I sat in that small room for what felt like hours. Thankfully that man, whoever he was, left me with my sketchbook, so I wasn’t completely without entertainment. I had a spare pen tucked away in my pocket, so I pulled it out and started doodling.

Before I knew it, I was drawing the nameless stranger again, but this time without the sunglasses. I tried to imagine what kind of guy he was, and pictured him in different clothing. I imagined him in more comfortable clothes, plain white tee and loose three-quarter khaki slacks. In my mind’s eye he was relaxed and leaning back in a way that accentuated the muscles in his arms and chest. I was just trying to recreate his sarcastic, lopsided smile when I heard the door open.

It was him. I quickly shut my book, my face burning. I was mortified that he had caught me drawing him for the second time. He didn’t seem to notice however. He walked to the opposite side of the desk and faced me. He stood there awkwardly for a moment. He even looked… embarrassed? He cleared his throat loudly.

‘You’re right. You aren’t supposed to be here.’ He finally said, as he rubbed the back of his neck with one arm. A nervous tick of his, I guessed.

‘Great. Am I free to go?’

‘Not exactly.’

I glared at him.

‘Are you serious? This is all your fault. I was just on the sub, trying to visit my sister like I do almost every Sunday! She’s a single mum you know. She needs all the help and support she can get!’ I took a deep breath.

‘I know all this now. And I’m sorry. We mistook you for someone else.’ He said placatingly.

‘Well why can’t I go then?’ I felt like screaming at him. My sister was probably out of her mind worrying about me. I didn’t even know how long I had been gone.

‘We think you might be able to help us.’

‘Help you do what, exactly?’

I must admit I was a little curious. Whatever I had fallen into, I wouldn’t mind knowing a bit more about it. It would make a good story and my life was pretty average. I worked at a café most days, visited my sister and nephew on the weekends, and drew pictures in my spare time. Pretty normal stuff.

‘Let’s start from the beginning. My name’s Damien.’ He said, reaching his hand out to me. I shook it wearily.

‘Kate.’ He took the seat in front of me.

‘So are you going to tell me what’s going on now?’ I asked.

‘I am an operative of the Organization.’ He said. ‘The name basically says it all. We organize the universe.’ I stifled a snicker. This was insane.

‘No really, it’s true. We make sure things go the way they are supposed to. There are groups of us all over the world. Wherever there are people, there we are as well. We mistook you for a Recorder.’

‘And what is that, exactly?’

‘Let me explain. Our civilization is made up of moments and events. Some of these seem insignificant, and others are crucial to the formation of our culture. The organization makes sure that these tiny moments run perfectly.’

‘I’m not sure that I’m following you.’

‘Well, imagine a father takes his son to a baseball game. If this boy is the future President, this baseball game, believe it or not, could be one of many events that shapes his character. Or going even further back. If his parents didn’t meet, this boy would never have been born. Do you get what I’m saying?’

‘I think so…’ I said slowly. ‘I just don’t get how this would work. How could you possibly know every moment to ever happen? And make them all go the way they’re supposed to, like it’s all planned.’

‘No, we don’t know everything. We are only given certain glimpses of the future, and those are the ones we focus on.’ I sat back and thought for a moment. I really didn’t think I believed any of what Damien was saying. I just didn’t think it was possible.

‘Ok, so how do you even make things happen? And what if they go wrong anyway?’

‘Events generally run smoothly. Most of the time we only observe. If something goes wrong, people like me try to fix it. I’m an Editor.’

‘Ok so what does a Recorder do?’

‘Recorders observe, record and report, and alert Editors if there is an event that didn’t go the way that we had planned.’

‘Ok, but what does this have to do with me?’ He looked me in the eyes, and smiled.

‘We have an opening. How would you like to become a Recorder?’

PART THREE: This time, I laughed right in his face.

‘That’s a good one. Ok, where is the hidden camera. Behind the glass there?’ I waved towards the reflective glass that covered the wall directly behind Damien.

‘This isn’t a joke Kate. Let me show you. Stand up.’ Damien said, getting to his feet. He reached across the table. ‘Take my hand.’

I took it, and in an instant the scene around me changed. We were no longer in the interrogation room. We were in a hallway, except there were no doors. It seemed to stretch on forever in front and behind. It was lined with windows of every shape and size imaginable. Some were tall, stately glass windows. Others were small, with rusty bars.

I peered out through a window close to me. It had a wooden frame, and a cactus with a single pink flower sitting on top. Through the window I could see a pretty woman with brown hair, and grey eyes. She sat across from a boy, about six years old who was finger-painting.

‘That’s my sister’s house!’ I gasped. Damien grinned smugly at my amazement.

‘This is the Hall of the Universe. Through every window is a crucial moment in time.’ He said.

‘Is this happening now?’ I said.

‘Yes and no. It’s all relative. Life isn’t a straight line, but an infinite circle. But in our timeline, I would say this was about two months ago.’

I pressed my face against the window. I could see now that the boy was painting a picture of himself, my sister and me holding hands. Damien was right, I had seen that a short while ago stuck to my sister’s fridge.

‘What could be so important about this moment? He’s just painting.’ I said. Damien shrugged. ‘Most of the time we don’t know. It could be that he’s meant to be a famous artist.’

‘So, if this moment didn’t go right, what would you do?’

‘This particular one went just fine. But I could show you something harmless.’ Damien hovered his hand over the cactus in the window sill. A second pink bud emerged and bloomed before my eyes.

‘We had better go.’ He said, taking hold of my hand again. The landscape changed again, and we were transported outside of my sister’s front door. My backpack was on my shoulder. Damien let my hand fall.

‘I’ll let you think about it. Let me know what you decide.’

I turned to face him, but he was gone.

Hunt for the Dragon Emperor

PART ONE: Everyone plays the Game. When I say that, I mean literally everyone – mums, grandpas, annoying little sisters. Heck, I’m sure my cat would play if it was implanted. It’s been going on for as long as I can remember. In fact, there was never a time when I wasn’t implanted. These days, they stick it into you when you’re a baby. When you’re all small and wet and wriggling, freshly come into the world, a nurse comes and injects you with it. The Implant. It’s a small thing. If I reach my hand behind my neck and press in the middle, just below my hairline, I can feel it. The lump is about the size of a mosquito bite. It’s hard and firm. Through the Implant, you are hooked into the system at all times, which also lets you into the Game. It helps with a lot of other things too. Humans are supposed to be smarter with the Implant. I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been without it.

Here I am going on and on and I haven’t even introduced myself. My names Mike. I’m sixteen years old and still at school. My favorite class would probably be computer science. Not to brag, but I’m a master of the most commonly used programming languages – Imperial, Z* and Scar. I also know a few of the good oldies too like Python and C++. That’s just for fun though. Those ones are seriously outdated now. I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t tell you that my mastery of programming didn’t have anything to do with the Game. I once heard that all the top players were also world class programmers. So of course I’ve spent hours and hours, every spare minute that I’m not in school or playing the Game learning how to program. For me and my best mate Julius, it’s a bit of an obsession. What is the Game you ask? Only the best thing to have ever happened. I’ve heard that once you closed your eyes for the night, you used to dream. Nowadays, with the help of the Implant, you can play the Game instead. In the Game you can be anyone you want to be. Most people don’t play the Game properly, and instead just do normal boring things that they would do outside of the game. Like go shopping, party, that kind of thing. Serious players like me know that that is a waste of time. The real point of the Game is to win. To win, you need to level up by going on quests. As you level up, more quests are available to you. Once you are the highest ranked player you become the Dragon Emperor. The Dragon Emperor is basically god within the game. He rules and controls. I also heard in real life he made the richest man alive. And the only way to become him is to kill him. Just in the game, of course. No real killing happens, though I think maybe some people would kill to become the Dragon Emperor.

Julius and I were talking about just how we’d kill him, if we were ever given the chance.

‘That won’t work.’ Julius said to me, as he lay stretched out on his back on my bedroom floor, staring at the ceiling. ‘I mean, it’s the Dragon Emperor. He’s got that title for a reason. There is no way you could just sneak up behind him and slit his throat with a dagger. He’s not that stupid.’

‘Well what would you suggest?’ I snapped.

‘I don’t know. Maybe I’d just follow him. Figure out where he hangs out. Once I know, then try to level up as fast as I can. I’d take him on later, once I have more XP.’

‘Yeah, right, like that would work. If I can’t sneak up on him, it’s unlikely you’d be able to follow him. Besides, if you wait too long, someone might kill him before you do and then knowing where the old Dragon Emperor used to be wouldn’t matter.’

‘Hmm I guess you’re right. What are you doing anyway?’ He asked, turning over onto his stomach to get a better look at me. I was sitting at my desk on my computer, typing code. Every now and then I stopped to think. I guess I had been a little short with Julius, because he kept wrecking my train of though.

‘Computer science homework? I thought it was easy, and that you would have done it in like ten seconds, but you’ve been at that for more than an hour.’

‘Nope, it’s something else I’ve been working on.’

‘What is it?’

‘I thought it would be interesting to know what everyone was in the game.’ I turned to Julius, grinning widely.

‘I don’t get it.’ He said, nonplussed.

‘I mean, at school besides your good friends, you don’t know what anyone is.’ I explained. ‘I thought it would be interesting if I could hack into the system, and set it up so that when I looked at someone, say at school, I would know their game title, and their experience level.’

‘Wow… do you really think you could do that?’

‘Yeah, I actually think I’m done. I’ve been working on it for months now, but I think I can do it. I just didn’t want to tell you because I thought it wouldn’t work. You want to give it a go? Just a few more minutes and I think I can set us both up.’

I continued typing. Julius sat up, fixing his gaze on the back of my head. After a few moments he gasped.

‘That’s so cool!’

I whipped around to face him. Above his head floated the words: Level 10, Novice. I grinned and let out a whoop of excitement.

‘What does mine say?’ I asked Julius.

‘Level 13, Novice.’

‘Sweet!’

We high fived each other.

‘I’m excited to see what everyone else at school has.’ Said Julius. ‘I bet you Zack was lying when he said he was level 50. Now we can know for sure!’

‘Yeah, I’m psyched for school too.’ I said, dreamily. Besides computer science class, I used to hate school. It was long and boring, and I was wasting time I could be spending in the Game. A week ago, that changed. A new girl had moved to our school, and I felt like my world had turned upside down. Jade Johnston was the cutest girl I had ever laid eyes on. She had long, straight brown hair, and big hazel eyes. She had the build of a runner, lean and fit. I’d never said a word to her, but I swore yesterday when I passed her in the hallway, she smiled at me. In short, she was perfect.

‘Did you hear me Mike? I said I’m going home now.’ Julius said, pulling me back to the present.

‘Oh yeah sorry man I was just thinking. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

‘Yeah I think I know what you were thinking about. Or who’ Julius smirked. He grabbed his backpack from off the floor, and headed out. As soon as he was gone, I threw myself onto my bed, and closed my eyes.

PART TWO: That night in the Game, nothing major happened. I spent most of my time on a dumb quest looking for a magic hen that laid golden eggs. I didn’t find it, which meant I didn’t end up adding any points to my experience. I reminded myself that at least tomorrow would be a good day.

PART THREE: The next morning, I sat at the kitchen bench eating toast for breakfast. My little sister Hayley flounced past behind me, ruffling my hair. I turned to glare at her. Above her were the words: Level 3, Novice. I was pleased that although my sister was only two years younger than me, I had ten levels on her in the Game.

‘What are you smiling at?’ Hayley glowered. She had clearly intended on irritating me.

‘Nothing.’

I turned back to finish my toast. It started wolfing it down as quickly as I could. I was keen on getting to school and using my newfound knowledge.

‘Hey, slow down tiger.’ My mum put her hand on my shoulder as she passed into the kitchen to fix herself a cup of coffee. ‘If you eat too fast you might choke.’ I nodded and swallowed a particularly large chunk of toast. It scraped down my throat, making me cough and splutter.

‘You’re such an idiot.’ Remarked Hayley.

‘Shut up.’

‘Guys! Come on, we only just started the day, let’s start on a good note.’ Said mum.

I looked up at her. The floating words let me know she was level eleven in the game. I found that odd. People that don’t do quests usually peak about level seven. I guessed she’d had plenty of time to do a quest or two when she was younger.

‘Well, I’m heading off. Wouldn’t want to be late to school.’ I said, swinging my backpack over my shoulder and heading to the door. Despite almost choking myself on my breakfast in my rush to school, I was running late. When I was almost there my phone buzzed. I a message from Julius:

I’m at school now in first period. Got something to show you. You won’t believe this! COME QUICK!!!!!

I broke out into a run. It must have been big news if Julius felt the need to use all caps and five exclamation marks. I raced through the school doors and into the hall. I arrived outside the classroom door, panting from the effort. I took a moment to straighten up, and brush my hand through my hair. I know it was urgent, but Jade was in this class. I needed to walk in looking cool, not puffing and out of breath.

I opened the door. Julius sat near the back, and when he heard the door open, he started pointing frantically to someone sitting in the front row, diagonally across from him in the classroom. Words swam around in my vision. It was a bit overwhelming. There were around thirty kids in this class, all of whom had text above their heads stating their level and the fact that they were all novices. From what I could tell most ranged from levels two to five. Some had sixes or sevens. Because everyone was so close together that the text bunched confusingly. I made a mental note to find a way to fix this issue when I got home.

Julius, knowing I hadn’t figured out what he was saying, continued his frantic pointing.

What? I mouthed back at him.

‘Mike, you can sit down now.’ Mr Evans said crossly from the front of the room.

Everyone in the class swivelled in their chairs to look at me. My jaw dropped. There, in the front row was Jade. She looked as beautiful as ever, her hair tied in a ponytail that fell halfway down her back. She was wearing a pink and orange Aztec patterned sleeveless dress that offset her tanned skin perfectly. The right corner of her pink lips curved up slightly in the cutest little smile. But I didn’t notice any of those things, not really. What made me goggle at her, wide eyed like a fish, were the words clearly printed above her head:

Level 2893, Dragon Empress.