A Tough Terrain

We walked up the pleasant hill. I wondered how Mozart could ever call these hills treacherous. It was a simple early morning run compared to the journey to Techno Town. "This was going to be a very easy journey", I thought. That was, until, I finally reached the top (after about 30 minutes) and surveyed the land ahead. It was like standing at the corner of the grid and looking around. A vast number of hills covered the entire plain. As I looked closer, these hills were different. They were filled at the bottom with all kinds of trash and hardware items. I could see computer chips, wires, fans, buttons, cables, glass, touchscreens, and much more. "How many hills are there", I asked. 

"404 hills in total, so if we decided to cross the square grid of hills diagonally we would have to pass around 270 hills", Charlie said. "And that would take an entire year most probably. The length of the grid is small but going up and down all these hills would take very long", Doc said. "So, we'll go around the bottom of the hills", I said. "That will probably only take a few days…So, what are we waiting for? Let's go", Mozart said.

We walked on and on for around 5 hours before stopping for a quick break. We ate some of the food from the banquet. It was mainly some stale bread and a few fruits. We also ate some protein pudding to give us some strength for the journey ahead. "Now, before we go. We have to warn you about something", Mozart said. "The area ahead is under siege by a huge serpent called the Python. Very dangerous it is. It creeps along the hardware, snacking on some of them and capturing trespassers. People usually rather go up and down the mountains and face the delay, rather than risk their lives with the Python. But, since we don't really have a choice we need to risk it", Doc said. 

"I thought Python was a coding tool used by many developers", I said. "It is. This used to be the main home of the previous Python, the one that helped many apps from across the realm find their true purpose. But here in the digital world, due to that virus that affected this entire realm, it has a different form. It is also the same thing that took my sister", Charlie said, with a serious and sad face.

We started our journey. Every few minutes, someone would step on a spiky piece of hardware and let out a scream of pain. This would delay us for 5 minutes as we waited for them. "Aaahh", I screamed as I stepped on the sharp end of a computer chip lying on the ground. "I'm shocked we're even alive after all those screams. I'm surprised the Python hasn't come out yet", Charlie said.

We walked on and on. It seemed like 10 hours had passed. We kept on walking. Until we saw it. The final line was a gate that separated Hardware Hills and the land beyond. It looked like only 15 hills stood between us and the exit. "Why don't we start running a bit now? I know we've been lucky so far, but we surely can't risk the Python coming up last minute", Doc suggested.

We all agreed and started making a run for it. We passed the hills in just a few minutes. 10 more to go…7…5…3. At this moment, Charlie spotted something a few mountains away. It looked like someone standing on the hillside. He stopped in his path and stood, staring at the object as if he had just seen a ghost. We all turned back to look at what was going on. "Help! I'm here! Help", a voice screamed. "It's Charlotte! She's Alive", Charlie said in excitement. "You guys go ahead for the exit and I'll go and save her." Before we could say anything, a huge rumble shook the ground and made us fall to our feet. "The Python! It's coming. Everyone run! Charlie come on fast", Mozart shouted at us. We all ran as fast as we could not even turning to look behind. As we reached the gate, I took a glimpse of the creature behind us. The Python looked deadly. It was a black color with green digits embedded in its scaly body. I looked closer.

"Charlie's still there", I screamed out. We all looked behind and saw Charlie run for the hill where Charlotte was standing. I saw Charlotte now for the first time, she looked pale and the paint in her palette had mysteriously become colorless. But, Python was heading for them. It jumped up in the air and headed straight for Charlie, just as he reached his sister. A crash. Both Charlie and Charlotte and the Python was nowhere to be seen. We all stood there for a moment in silence, waiting for something to happen. But, nothing happened and the ground stood still. "It's too risky to check the hill. The Python could come out anytime. We'll have to continue our journey and hope for the best", Doc said. Both Mozart and I agreed. We pulled open the gates and walked out. It was a sandy terrain again. I could see a signboard pointing front, with the words 'Wired Valleys' marked on it. We walked on our next journey to the wired valleys in silence, brushing our feet along the sandy terrain.

The hills were treacherous and just the beginning of our journeys. I sadly thought of Charlie and the dangers that lay ahead. Due to these dangers, my problem of being stuck inside the computer felt like it was not a worry at all. I looked up and reminded myself of my mission to save this realm from the virus and to return home.