How I Learn The Game

"Stop that! You'll attract attackers." It was a girl's voice but who was she?

"I'm sorry but will you please get off me?" I asked, feeling it hard to breathe with all that weight and pressure on me.

"Okay, I will but promise me you won't shoot."

I was really confused now. "How can I shoot, I don't even have a gun, and besides, why would I wanna shoot?" I hoped she'd answer this without puzzling me further.

"You don't have a gun?" She sounded shocked. "Well, it's no surprise since you're not even wearing the protective vest."

Okay, this was seriously not helping. I wanted to ask more questions just to get it all clear in my head but first, I needed her to get off me. "Will you please just get off my back so I can stand?" This time, I put a little force in my voice.

"Yeah sure." She got up and I felt a sudden rush of blood in my whole body. Whoosh! She was heavy.

"Thanks. Now, what were you saying? Guns, protection vest, and *attackers*?" I got up and faced her.

"You're new here, aren't you?" She cocked her head to the side and I finally looked at her properly. She had wild pixie hair colored shocking red. Her pale face and plump lips did justice to her hairstyle. But her eyes were different, dark and serious, they almost gave a sad vibe.

"That's right. I'm new." I answered her question and gave a small smile in hope of getting one in return so I could be sure that she wouldn't suddenly start attacking again.

"Not surprised, since you don't know anything about this game."

"Game? What game?" Why wasn't she just answering me directly?

"Laser attack! Didn't you read the manual on the door?" Now she was surprised.

"What manual? There wasn't any manual on the door." Or maybe I just hadn't noticed but I was not going to tell her that.

"Really." She made a face. "What kinda person are you? You didn't see the manual but you didn't even see the gun and protection vest right next to it?" She was mad at me when she didn't even know me. Who was she?

"Hey! There's no need to yell at me." I pointed out. She needed to cool down because I could feel my temper rising.

"I'm not yelling. I'm just surprised at your ignorance." She was irritating me now.

"Look, there wasn't any vest or gun next to the door," I said, calming down. I didn't wanna ruin my mood just because of some lunatic.

She frowned. "Are we even talking about the same door?"

"I don't know. Are you talking about the big metal door?"

"Yeah." She nodded slowly. "Are you?"

"Yeah. But I'm sure there wasn't anything of this sort there." I thought so.

She sighed. "It's a good thing I took two of each." She handed over her backpack. I hadn't even noticed it was there which was weird since it was stuffed to the limit of overflowing and could be seen from a mile away. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged. "I like to be prepared."

I opened the bag and took out the contents that I needed. A green leather vest and a large laser gun. Both things were way too big for me and I wondered if I needed them so I decided to voice my thought and received an unexpected reaction.

The funky girl (I realized I hadn't even asked her name yet) gasped. "What did you say?" She asked, disbelief clear on her face. "Do you wanna die?"

Now it was my turn to gasp. "Why are you taking this game so seriously?"

"Because it is a serious game!" She yelled. "If you so much as get near a laser, it'll sing all the hair on your skin so just imagine what will happen if it hits you."

I frowned. "That's not possible. Such things are illegal, they can't be used in a game. And I'm sure such lasers don't even exist."

She shook her head. "Don't believe me? Look." She showed me her hand. There was a circular burn mark at the back of it.

I gaped in shock. "What is this? How did this happen?"

"Well, I didn't believe in all this either when I got this burn. So, if I were you, I'd quickly put this jacket on and get the gun ready in my hands for the attackers can come from anywhere, at any moment."

I couldn't speak. This was not true, this couldn't be. Lasers, attackers, dying, all of this couldn't be real... Exactly, it couldn't be real! It had to be a holographic simulation or something. Yes, it had to be. After all, there couldn't be people here, the manager said I was the only one staying in this hotel and the staff wasn't allowed. So, this girl had to be a hologram. I sighed in relief and smiled. God, this was scary but now everything was sorted.

"Why are you smiling?" The girl frowned.

"I'm just happy that mankind is developing technology so fast."

"Where did that come from?" She looked at me like I was crazy. Gosh! She looked so real.

"You probably don't know but you're a hologram, a piece of technology. I just found out and that's where that came from." I told her. She would not understand but maybe she would. It all depended on her programming.

She groaned. "I just had the same chat with one of the other players. He thought all the people here were holograms. Well, I thought the same too until I met him. When we discussed the matter, we concluded that no one here is a hologram." She told me, calmly.

"But the manager told me that I'm the only one staying in this hotel," I argued. What was she trying to say, that the manager was lying? Well, he could be lying but...

"Yes, but didn't he tell you that you'll find other people staying—"

"— in their hotel chain situated in different cities." I completed her sentence. "Yes, but how do you know he told me this?" Honestly, my brain was turning to mush now.

"Because he told me and the other player the same thing." She shrugged.

"Oh, but it's not possible, is it?" I asked her, hoping to get some clue as to what was happening.

"Well, it kind of is. Tell me which city you're staying in."

"San Fransisco."

"I'm staying in Manhattan." She said. "And yet we're here, together. That only means that the manager was telling the truth."

"Yes, but—" I just couldn't wrap my head around this.

"Look, you just gotta believe that everything here's a reality. The manager told me so himself."

"If we're from different hotels of this chain then the managers must be different too." I look at her to see if she's paying attention. She nodded. "Then how come they say the same things?"

She groans. "Can you please bury your curiosity in the sand for some time? I'm tired of answering all these questions. Even I don't know anything."

"But it's the last question," I said in a pleading voice. I just wanted to know what kind of mess I'd gotten myself into. She looked at me carefully. "Really." She narrowed her eyes. "Promise."

She sighed, exasperated. "Fine." She took a deep breath. "I have my theory about it...that You're Crazy! Stop annoying me, I've had enough."

That was mean, so I told her that. I was quite honest about such matters. "Well, there's no need to be mean. It's not a crime to be curious, is it?" I raised my chin to show her that I was not someone she could dominate like that.

"If it gets us killed then yes, it is."

I frowned. Wasn't she exaggerating a bit too much? This was supposed to be a game, I was sure no one was going to kill us just to win.

As if reading my thoughts she said, "believe me, this is not just a game." Judging from her expression, I thought she was speaking the truth and that too something experienced firsthand.