If he could just get to see the rareio, that would be enough. Then he could boast about it to Lyle and Boom. As rareios only appeared to the greatest players, it would prove how much better he was at playing Ray-Chay than they were. He could almost taste the glory!
A small, irritating voice reminded Griff that it was his mum who was actually the better player. He chose to ignore it.
How could he get to see it? Obviously, each suit would only respond to its owner, but what if he wore his own suit and tried his mum’s pink headset on with it? That couldn’t be dangerous, could it? The worst that could happen was that it simply wouldn’t work.
Griff crept into his parents’ bedroom. Why are you creeping? he asked himself. You’re not going to steal anything. No, but the feeling in the pit of his stomach told him he was doing wrong.
Griff swallowed as he faced the wall of mirrored wardrobes. Searching through them really would make him feel like a thief. Then he spotted a pink reflection in the mirror. Paula’s Ray-Chay suit was hanging behind the bedroom door, with her headset. Griff was already wearing his own suit and he put his headset on the bed. He wouldn’t be needing that.
Griff unhooked the ridiculous bunny-eared headset and placed it on his head. It fitted just as tightly as his own. He was glad Lyle and Boom weren’t around. He must look so weird: superhero below, Easter bunny above. Nervously, he gave the order: ‘Griff. Activate!’
It took longer to load than usual and the strange fizzing in his head became horribly uncomfortable. At last, to Griff’s delight, the game began. After the calibration movements, he was back in Ray-Chay but it wasn’t the game he knew. He was outside in the dark with a starry sky above him and he was hanging on to someone riding a horse! This was all wrong. Where was the adventure play centre? He tried to let go of the rider, but nearly fell off and had to grab on to him again, sharpish.
A fork of lightning flashed across the sky and the man spoke over his shoulder in a deep voice, ‘Where tonight, my lady?’
So, this was what his mum got up to when he was at school and his dad was at work!
The strange lightning flashed again as the rider turned. The bloke’s masked face squashed together for a moment. Griff realised it wasn’t lightning but a glitch. Was it caused by the mismatch between the headset and the suit? Maybe his mum’s level 21 headset didn’t appreciate being worn by a level 17 player. Griff knew he shouldn’t hang around.
‘I want to see my cache!’ he said, trying to sound as ladylike as possible.
‘Very well,’ the bloke answered. The horse galloped faster.
By the time they arrived at the mansion, the glitches were worse, coming every minute or so. It was a struggle to get down from the horse, as he was wearing a massively long dress, but Griff had the strangest feeling that he knew where his mum’s cache was.
Leaving the man on the horse, he waddled up the steps and pushed open the door. The hallway was splendid, with ornate mirrors reflecting warm candlelight, but he didn’t have time to stop and admire it. He headed up the stairs and pulled a large, iron key from his pocket.
Did he want to do this? Did he really want to do this?
Fear gripped Griff as he turned the key in the glitching lock and rested his hand on the knob of the door.
No, he had to. He had to see what the rareio looked like. He’d take one look, that would be enough. One quick look, then he’d leave.
The enteos were sitting on thrones around the sides of the long room, like guests at the most boring party in the world. They turned when Griff walked in. To his left sat one twice as big as the others, glowing a pale, ghastly, bog-gas green. As soon as it spotted Griff, it began to pulse with a misty inner light, quite different from a normal collector. As if to hammer the point home, the one picture hanging on the gallery wall was a painting of this strange creature.
So there it was: a rareio! Not many players in the whole Ray-Chay universe had seen one. Weren’t Lyle and Boom going to be amazed when he described it? Of course, he wouldn’t be able to say where he’d seen it but…
The rareio and the other enteos were growing restless. They groaned as they rocked to and fro. The rareio was rocking most of all, and snarling too. Griff knew he should go but he couldn’t just take off the headset. He would have to lock the room properly, or his mum might guess he’d been in there.
Then something happened. There was another glitch, a really long one this time, and when the room reappeared, it was just as before – except for one thing.
The rareio had gone. Vanished. All that was left was the shield-shaped mask, staring up at Griff from the seat of the throne. From the corner of Griff’s eye, he also noticed the empty picture frame on the wall.
What Griff did next was instinctive. If he’d stopped to think, he wouldn’t have dared. He darted towards the throne, picked up the mask, then ran back to the door. His hands were trembling as he locked the rest of the enteos in the room. Their howling was terrifying. His heart was hammering as, in real life, he swapped his mum’s headset for his own. Within moments, feeling very dizzy,
