‘I have got a boring grey suit, Ant,’ Lia grinned. ‘But I really fancy a zebra print one.’
‘Dream on,’ Lance said. ‘Know what they cost?’
Lia rolled her eyes at Lance, then elbowed her little brother. ‘Ant, you should give it more of a try. Lance was really kind, bringing you that suit.’
‘I know, I’m sorry,’ said Ant. ‘I just can’t see what all the fuss is about.’
‘What about the b-i-i-i-g event?’ Lance nodded as though he was in on some massive secret. He wasn’t, Ant knew exactly what he talking about. ‘You’ll feel so out of it if you don’t take part, mate. Ray-Chay in the Park. In every park, in hundreds of towns and cities up and down the land. It’s going to be stone cold amazeballs. Live bands, street-food vans and, at three o’clock, the biggest mass Ray-Chay gathering. What an atmosphere! Just imagine all those thousands of people, all playing together. We’ve sold out of suits at the shop.’
Ant was sick of hearing about Ray-Chay in the Park, which was on the last weekend of the month. All his mates at school were talking about it and you couldn’t switch on the telly or go online without someone hyping it up. Of course, Kody Crunch had done a new advert for it, screaming over the side of a hot-air-balloon basket as it flew over Niagara Falls. As the camera panned out, you could see that RAY-CHAY IN THE PARK was written in enormous letters across the balloon.
‘Okay, I’m going to tell you something now,’ said Ant. ‘Have you ever heard of Kismet Cosmos?’
‘It’s a really old game, isn’t it?’ said Lance. ‘No one plays it anymore. No one’s played it in years.’
‘Wrong,’ said Ant. ‘I do. I’m probably the last player in the whole world. And it was actually the very first VR game Kody Crunch ever made. It’s what began Crunch Hut.’
‘Wow, I didn’t know that.’
Lia decided to chip in. ‘When Dad worked at the recycling centre years ago, someone brought in a headset with an old charger, gloves and everything. He sneaked it home for Ant. Not that anyone else would have wanted it, it was ancient even then. He’s been playing it ever since.’
‘The point is,’ Ant said, trying to ignore the face Lia was pulling, ‘Ray-Chay is just a version of Kismet Cosmos and not even a very good one. It’s a rip-off and no one’s spotted it except me. For some reason, Kody Crunch has recycled his first ever game. Maybe he ran out of fresh ideas. I know we’re all supposed to recycle more, but…’
A smile was slowly spreading across Lance’s face. It stopped Ant in his tracks.
‘OK, so you tried on the suit, you activated the headset and Kyto took you through some calibration movements. Then the game started and you felt you were in Kismet Cosmos?’ said Lance.
‘Yeah,’ Ant nodded. Where was this going?
‘You wandered about for a bit but there was nobody there except Kyto and it all seemed a bit boring?’ Lance carried on.
‘Yeah,’ said Ant. ‘Exactly.’
‘Let me tell you something.’ Lance leaned towards him, confidentially. ‘When I put mine on, know where I am? Playing in the F.A. Cup Final at Wembley! It was boring at the start because there weren’t any other players, but then the enteos showed up and it started getting good. When Lia activates her suit, she’s somewhere different from both of us.’
‘The Amazon rainforest,’ said Lia. ‘Parkouring right up in the canopy layer. It’s always been my dream to go there and see the incredible wildlife. I’ve read so many books about it and seen so many documentaries.’
Ant was thoroughly confused. Lance laughed, but not in a nasty way.
‘The game works with you,’ he explained. ‘With your mind, with your memories. Most of the tech is in the front panel of the suit, beneath the Crunch Hut logo. But – and it’s a big but – you know all those funny suckers inside the headset? They connect with the memory parts of your brain. Those little suckers get you to remember a place you really love and the memory becomes the setting for your game, see? Ray-Chay calibrates to your personal memories, just as it does to your movements. How cool is that? If you’re on multiplayer, you and your friends see exactly the same enteos but you’re all in different places. Everyone’s virtual environment is unique. That’s why it’s so groundbreaking. That’s exactly why people love it so much. You love Kismet Cosmos, so that’s where the game’s taken you.’
Ant’s mouth dropped open. When Kody Crunch had promised his new game would change gaming forever, he hadn’t been exaggerating. This was incredible, light years ahead of what any other games company was doing. But hang on: the headset was making real contact with Ant’s brain? For a moment, he wasn’t sure he liked the idea.
‘Couldn’t it be dangerous?’ he asked.
‘Nah!’ said Lance. ‘Crunch Hut spends millions on health and safety, they wouldn’t market anything dangerous. The effect is temporary. When you take off the headset, it breaks the link. They’ve spent years testing this game on real people.’
‘I didn’t realise we’re all playing in our own worlds,’ Ant said. ‘I feel like such an idiot.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said Lance. ‘Loads of people haven’t worked it out yet. Kody Crunch doesn’t go on about the science bit because a lot of players find it boring. They just want to be entertained. There’s plenty about it on the Crunch Hut website, but people don’t bother to look. Why not try it again? Once you get used to it, you’ll love it, I promise. When you get to level 21 it’s supposed to be amazing. No one I know has got that far, but I’m nearly there.’
That evening, Ant decided to have another go. He peered nervously at the
