“I should be so lucky,” Josh muttered.
Admiral Appleby’s mouth twitched, and I could tell he was trying not to laugh. Which I grudgingly had to admit was pretty funny. Josh getting trolled by his grandfather—nice!
“It was indeed a rough battle,” Starr declared, picking up on the role-play. “But working as a team, we were able to finish victoriously.”
The admiral turned to her, giving her a sharp look. “I applaud your victory,” he replied in a solemn voice. “But I do wonder at your methods. Was it indeed teamwork? Or was it… something else that gave you your winning edge?”
I stared at him, confused for a moment. What was he talking about? The power-up, maybe?
Then it hit me. The weapons cache. It’d been so long at this point since we’d found it, I’d almost forgotten.
But Admiral Appleby clearly hadn’t.
“The Mech Ops Academy operates under a strict code of honor,” the admiral went on, a frown etching into his already well-lined face. “Virtue. Honesty. Fairness.” His eyes narrowed. “We don’t abide cheaters here.”
My heart sank. I stole a glance at Lilli. I should have known a move like that wouldn’t go unnoticed. And now? What if it cost us the beta? Because they thought we cheated? And if we didn’t get the beta…
No. I wasn’t going to accept that. I couldn’t accept that.
“You dare call us cheaters, sir?” I cried, going into full role-play mode. Couldn’t hurt, right? “Forsworn, an accusation like this should not be made lightly. We are honorable space knights, toiling in your endless war. Should we not fully embrace all that has been given us? Should we not fully discover every advantage at our disposal to take down thine enemy? Call it not cheating. Call it resourcefulness. Ingenuity. Something I did not see from Team Blue.”
“And… Ian’s gone full-nerd,” Josh muttered. “It was only a matter of time, I guess.”
Admiral Appleby’s blue eyes locked on me. For a moment he looked so fierce, I thought he was going to kick me out of the building altogether. Do not pass go. Do not collect a VR rig.
Then, to my surprise, he burst out laughing.
Josh groaned. “Seriously?”
Admiral Appleby kept laughing. Peals of laughter so hard he had to lean against a nearby wall to hold himself upright. We looked at one another, not sure what to do. What to say. What was so funny?
“Um, is everything all right?” I tried to ask. “Look, I’m really sorry if—”
Appleby cleared his throat, the laughter fading from his face. “I have to admit, I had my doubts,” he declared, no longer in role-playing mode. “You’re the youngest players here today. I didn’t think you’d be able to compete against the more accomplished of our ranks. Especially not with Mr. Grumpy Pants on the team,” he added, throwing a look at Josh. “But in the end? You were smart. You were creative. You worked as a team. And it paid off.”
I let out a breath. Phew.
“So… you’re not mad about the weapons cache thing?” Lilli asked.
“On the contrary, my dear, I’m extremely impressed! How did you know it was there?”
“We have our sources,” Starr said, a little smugly.
“Well, whatever you did, I admire it. I’ve always been a firm believer that the best games go beyond the screen and bleed into real life. So even when you’re not actively playing, the game is still part of your reality. That’s the way a true gamer sets him- or herself apart from the rest.” He smiled broadly. “You, my friends, are true gamers.”
Wow. A wave of pride rolled over me at his words. True gamers! That was high praise coming from someone so legendary in the industry…
Who might also be super evil, I scolded myself. Let’s not get drawn in to his game. He might act nice now, but what would he do if he knew what we’re truly after?
“We did our best,” I assured him, trying to play it cool. Evil or not, I needed him to think we were on his side if we were to have any chance of winning the demo. “It’s an amazing game.”
“And you have only touched the tip of the iceberg,” the game maker declared. “A mere microcosm of a vast universe. The capture the orb game was just a gateway to something so much bigger. A massively multiplayer role-playing game the likes of which no one has ever seen before. An entire universe, just waiting to be explored. I daresay you could spend years wandering my game and never see the same place twice.”
I gulped. Normally a virtual world that vast would be the ultimate in coolness. But we had to find Ikumi. The bigger the world, the harder that was going to be.
“How much of the game will the beta have open?” Starr asked. “Will we get to see everything if we get chosen?”
“Unfortunately not. Thanks to legal. You know how they can be!” He shook his head, as if gravely disappointed by whoever this “legal” was. “I can only open up one planet for the beta. But don’t worry—there are plenty of story lines, quests, in-games to play. Even a whole player-versus-player realm. Trust me, you won’t be bored.”
I looked up. “Does this mean we’re in?” I asked, holding my breath.
Admiral Appleby smiled warmly at me. “You’re in, kid. You too,” he added to Starr and Lilli. “Just go to the main desk to sign out your new VR rigs.” He gave us a firm salute. “Gear up, Mech Heads! And welcome to tomorrow.”
Josh groaned. Admiral Appleby looked at his grandson and sighed deeply.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he said. “I’ve got other potentials to observe. I will see you soon.” And with that, he and the mission commander exited the room, leaving us alone.
“I can’t believe we’re in!” Starr cried, her eyes bright with excitement.
“I know, right?” I agreed. “We did it! We really did it!”
“Congrats, team,” Josh said, rising from his seat. “Now, if you’ll
