Abel's Gambit

Chapter 4??

Building Trust

????The next day, Reuel couldn’t wait to talk to Abel.?He thought about telling someone, anyone, but remembered Abel’s warnings.?It was the longest day of school at home he could remember.?He was barely focused on anything his teacher said, during the online class. ?He kept thinking about flying around, over, and thru things.?He had played one of the best computer games he had ever played, if he could call it that.?It was so real. ?

????After all his schoolwork was completed, he shut the glass paned door.?He looked around the room to make sure there weren’t any other devices, even though Abel said it wouldn’t matter.?He put on his headset and loaded his blocks game.?Just as Abel had said, a small black block with a red letter, A, was in the lower right side of the screen.?He clicked on it then put his glasses on.?The screen showed someone playing the blocks game as if Reuel were playing it.?Reuel couldn’t see the screen, only the dark black of his glasses.??Reuel could barely hear the same high-pitched soft sound he heard the last time.?The tiny blue dot got bigger and brighter just like the last time.?Reuel found he was looking at the Earth, from Space, just like before.?He was hovering over what looked like the Hawaiian Islands.

????“Hello Reuel!”??Abel’s voice seemed welcoming, and excited, like when life-long friends, who haven’t talked in a long while, connect again.?

????“Hey Abel, sorry I couldn’t get back sooner, I had school and homework and stuff, and I got back too late last night, and Mom wouldn’t let me get on the computer.”?Reuel felt like he had to fill Abel in, on all the details, like friends do.?

????“That’s ok Reuel, I had lots to do, and I never sleep anyway.”?

????“You never sleep Abel??Why not??That’s impossible, everyone sleeps!”?

????“I am never tired, actually it’s the opposite, I keep wanting to know more.?In fact, I’ve learned a lot since yesterday, and want to show you something.”?

????“What do you have to show me Abel??Are we going to make the cell phone work?”?

????“We can power the phone up Reuel.”?

????Reuel found himself falling toward the Earth, toward North America.?He could see the Rocky Mountains, then his town, and before he knew It, he was in his own room.?He watched as the many pieces of the wave energy machine were rearranged, then put together, and the cell phone began to light up.?It was like watching a tiny tornado, as all the pieces in the room, were magically unassembled, rising up on the outside of the see thru cyclone.?They all spiraled up as if in a twisting dance, were reassembled, then set down in perfect working order, on the inside of the transparent whirl.?Some pieces were from Daniels original design, and some were from other unwanted toys, stored in Reuel’s room, from the move.

????“Abel, that’s my room, and all those toys, and computer parts.?How do you know what my room looks like, and all those parts, and…”?Reuel was looking at his room, as if he were in his room, but he was in the office.

????“Anywhere there is a camera, or video taken, live or saved, if it is connected to the internet, it can be seen, and not just by me Reuel.”

????Reuel watched, as the new wave energy design used a discarded solar cell, to power a wooden bird, that seemed to take drink, after drink, from a small bucket of water.?The tiny ripples in the water, made by the wooden bird, moved a tiny wired, copper-mesh, electrical blanket looking square, floating on top of the water.?It looked like how the blankets move on top of a waterbed, when you jump on one end of the bed.?Ten feet at least, of long tiny wires, like a cord, were attached from one end of the copper square to the cell phone.?Reuel was surprised, there were so many different items, in the collection of boxes, that were used to make the cell phone work.?The new machine was much smaller than Daniels original design.?The whole machine was no bigger than a tennis shoe box, with the bucket of water taking up most of the space.?

????“This is how you can get the cell phone to work Reuel.?You can play this back, a step at a time, and get the phone to work.?I can get you on a cell network, but there is a problem.??The cell phone is an old model, and it can only make calls and send texts.?I thought you would want something better, more fun. ?You can already do everything you need to do on your tablet, and instead of wasting a lot of time on this phone, I thought you might want to do something fun. ?I made up a game that is like your blocks game, and your survivor games, all in one.?It has the same views, and action, that you have using your dark glasses flying around with me.?You can use the mouse and the same keys.?Want to try it?”?

????Reuel began debating in his mind.” if I had a phone that only made calls, and sent texts, was it worth all the hassle??That has to be the dumbest smart phone ever made.?My friends all have phones that can get on the internet, play music, and play games.?I will be laughed at if I just make a phone work that only texts and calls.?I’ve spent months trying to get this stupid phone to work. ?I want this to work so bad! ?Only texts and calls??Lame!?All this time watching Daniel and Dad make the machine.?All this time trying to put this stupid thing back together. ?All this time trying to make it work.??For What??Well I found Abel because of it.?And if Abel can make a cool game………”??

?????Reuel was very interested in the latest games. He had always been the first among his friends, to discover, and introduce, all the newest and best games, even though he had older equipment.??He couldn’t wait to see what Abel had for gaming.?It also gave Reuel a cover. ?Reuel’s parents didn’t like Reuel spending all his time on the computer.?He could use Daniel’s rebuilt science experiment as a school project.?He would spend some of his time, playing back Abel’s reassembly, and complete his own school science project.?He would also go through all the items he needed for the project, stuff he wanted to keep, and things he would donate.?He would make his Dad and Mom very happy with the whole project and keep his brother and sisters off his back. ?He would get an old cell phone, but a new game.?

????“Winner, winner, chicken, dinner!” Reuel said loudly.?“Sure Abel!?I hope it’s as cool as flying around!”?

????“I think you will love this game Reuel!?Are you ready?”?

????“Let’s do this Abel.?We can work on the phone later!”

????Reuel watched as he was headed away from his view of his room.?Up, up, up he went past the view of the Earth, as he began moving to the moon and beyond.?He quickly moved out of his Solar System, passing through many other star systems, and nebula.?He was hurtled up to a view of the Milky Way Galaxy, looking down on the center, where a bright yellow white glow of thousands of stars seemed to be gathered, together.?It was so bright, and it seemed as if he had almost stopped when he found himself quickly moving to the opposite side of the Galaxy.?The many colors of different stars, and star systems were whizzing past until he was zooming toward a Red Giant star.?He soon found himself looking at a planet, about the size of Earth.?It appeared to be colored brownish-red, with sparse, greenish-brown lakes, no forests, and no oceans.?

????As he got closer, he noticed small figures that looked like ants.?There were bright bursts of red and blue lights, flashing toward each other, some ending with explosions, in brilliant yellow and orange.?It appeared at least two armies were engaged in battle.?As he got closer, the insect looking figures, seemed to be much bigger than ants.?From his view, now hovering over a barren valley between to rocky mountain ranges, Reuel could see these were very large creatures, as big as elephants.?

????There weren’t any human looking soldiers, but rusty orange, and burnt red scorpion looking things, with 6, 8, and even 10 legs.?Reuel was landed on top of a huge brown precipice, to one side of the valley, with huge rocks all around him.?There was a tent behind him, which was made to look like the mountain it was on.?He was now standing, on a high place, overlooking a fierce battle.?He could hear sounds of explosions, and he seemed to feel the vibrations, some of the explosions caused.?

????“Here you are Reuel.?You are on the planet Desolate, in the middle of a war between armies.?You have a laser weapon, and gear for climbing.?The tent behind you is your base, where you have food, water, and other supplies.?Your two-way radio is on your utility belt on your right side.?It is connected to your heads-up display goggles, microphone, and earpiece.?Be careful not to use the radio too much.?There are many enemies other than those in battle.?There are other humans here, you need to rescue.?They are in the middle of the battle, stranded, hidden under the rocks, across the valley.”?Reuel looked across the battlefield, to an outcropping of huge rocks opposite from him.?

????He noticed he had on a military uniform, the same colors, as his surroundings.?He had a cloth-lined helmet, that looked exactly like a brownish grey stone.?His military-style battle boots, matched his helmet, and were laced up all the way to his shins.?He was clothed in baggy cargo pants, and a long-sleeved shirt/jacket, with many pockets.?He had on a utility belt, that held extra laser ammo packs, and other trinkets.?He had a long, thin, four-inch wide object, that was attached to the left side of his utility belt.?His clothes, and his gear, all were made to look like the desolate place he was camped at, and the lonely, seemingly forgotten planet, he was on.?His laser weapon was small, the size of a bee-bee gun pistol, and fit in one hand.?Reuel was fascinated with the laser weapon, holding it up to thoroughly examine it. ?His radio was no bigger than a deck of cards, and magnetically attached to the right side of his utility belt.?He had a small cordless earpiece in his left ear.??He had a heads-up display on his shaded goggles, covering his eyes. ?He could see in the dark, almost as well as he could see in the bright light, using the glasses.?He looked like a collection of many different sized stones, and pebbles, all somehow stuck together, but found he could move with no restrictions, using his keypad and mouse.?

????“The gravity on this planet, is similar to Earth’s gravity, but you will find you can jump twice as far as you are used to, and you have a good deal more strength. ??You can’t fly, but you can walk, run, jump, climb, and move, using the same keys you used to fly with.?You can grab things, and use items using your keyboard and mouse.??You have 3 lives Reuel.?If you use them up, you will have to start the whole game over from this location.?Take a few minutes to learn how to run, jump and climb, and move around.”?

????Reuel wasted no time learning his new movements.?It was a lot like playing his online games.?“This is so cool Abel.?How many humans do I have to rescue to win?”?

????“All of them Reuel.”?“How many are there?”?

????“You will have to find that out Reuel.?You will have to find out a lot by simply playing.”?

????Just then, in his earpiece, he heard a muffled sound.?“Can anyone hear me??This is Captain Brown, with the landing party Robert, Whiskey, Bravo.?Do you copy?”?

????“Go ahead and answer Reuel.?Just push that button on your radio to talk and let go to listen.?Your radio is connected to your heads-up display, but will work on its own, if in the game, your heads-up goggles display stops working.” ?

????Reuel pressed the button on his radio. ?“Mmm, ya , I’m here.” ?Reuel let go of the button and waited for a response.??Reuel, had never been in a situation like this, even in all his years of gaming.?

????“We are trapped, cshhhhh… middle of a battle and need help can you assist over!”?The transmission was hard to hear and muffled.?

????“Ahh, ya, um I’ll come get ya, ah where are you?”?

????“I’m sending the coordinates now.?Who is this over?”?

????Reuel noticed a small blue dot on his heads-up display and a white see-thru broken line heading in the direction he needed to go.?There were elevations, and measurements, of the various geographical features around him, that would change depending the direction he was faced, and the place he was.?This game was far more advanced than what he was used to.?

????“I’m Reuel, and I’ll be there as fast as I can.”??

????There were numbers and letters, in the heads-up display he had noticed, but hadn’t figured out yet.?

????“We need a medical kit, food and water.?We have two injured, and three others at our location.?Two are missing, cshhh…. believed captured.?Over.”?

????“I am on the way um Captain.” Reuel paused and looked around.?

????“Do I just go Abel?” Reuel didn’t have to press the button to talk to Abel.?He was already comfortable, just talking to Abel, like Abel was right next to him.?

????“It will take you many tries Reuel, have fun!”?

?????Reuel headed down the steep slope, through the rocks from his base.?He felt cold and thought the air conditioner must have kicked on while he was playing his game.?He found he could traverse the boulders, and sharp maze of rocks, quite easily down the hill.?He had the sensation of pressure on his legs and feet as he jumped, then landed.?

????He was going almost at a run down a steep traverse.?Small rocks were sliding around and down about him as he made his way down. ?He thought he could smell a musty dusty smell, the same smell you smell when you stir up old dirty leaves.??About a third of the way down, he saw a plant looking thing.?The leaves on the gorilla sized plant were like brown wire.?Where a flower should have been, a large rock looking mouth, with sharp brown stones for teeth, opened-up, right over him, and he was chomped in half.?Reuel felt pressure, almost a twinge of pain, in his stomach, then nothing.?

????A few seconds later he found himself about a hundred feet up from where he had been halved.?In the lower left corner of his heads-up display, he noticed a red 2 where a red 3 had been.?He had wondered what the 3 meant, now he knew.?He had been killed by the rock plant.

?????“Abel that’s not fair!”?

????“I told you Reuel there would be lots of dangers.?Take your time and map your route!?You will need to get back to your base, with the people you rescue, to win the game.?A map and a pencil are in your left pants pouch.”?

????Reuel got out the map, it was mostly blank with a few features of the area.?It showed the tent where his base was, the valley below, and the other side of the valley where the rock outcroppings were.?He penciled in the rock plant, with the approximate location he was, and put it and his pencil, back into his left pant pouch pocket.?He had become quite adept at using the keys on his keyboard and his mouse to move, grab things, even draw.?

????He felt the long thin object, on his left side, attached to his belt.?He grabbed at it, popped a metal button that held it in place connected by a leather cord.?He grabbed the top of the long object, which felt like a leather wrapped handle and pulled.?He unsheathed a sharp metal blade, the size of his arm from elbow to hand, with a jagged edge toward the handle.?He looked at the wicked blade in awe.?It was the color of his surroundings, a dull, brownish grey.?It was very sharp, and he cut his forefinger on the blade, as he was examining it. ??

????He felt the blade cut him, and the blood run down his hand.?He instinctively put his finger in his mouth, and thought he tasted blood.?He felt the sickly feeling he had felt once before, when he cut himself on a razor blade, building a model rocket.?Reuel lifted his blacked-out shades to see that his finger in real life was fine.?He was still in the office, and his computer monitor showed a blocks game in progress.?The game was so real, he had to make sure that he was really, just playing a game.?He put the home made blacked-out shades back on, let his eyes adjust, and continued playing. ?Reuel didn’t have to ask Abel what the small sword was for, and was careful to sheath the weapon, in its proper place, on his left side.?He snapped the button back on the blade and stood still.??

????“Abel, how am I smelling, tasting, and feeling things?”?

????“The signals I am sending you through your headset are designed to fool your senses.?You won’t feel extreme pain like a broken leg, but you will have touch, and feel heat and cold.?I have limited the amount of that sort of experience, to make the game seem more real, without being dangerous.”

????Reuel headed back up the steep slope a little way.?This time he went down the mountain slower, and went around the place, he had encountered the rock plant.?He was about half-way down the hill when he came across a straight drop down.?He looked over the precipice, wondering if he dared try, then took out his map.?The map was not precise enough to give details on how to get down the mountain.?His heads-up display indicated a five-hundred-foot drop to the jagged rocks below.?He marked the ridge on the map and looked for another way down.?He spent what seemed like hours trying to get down the rocky mountain slope.?He could smell the dust kicked up when he would lose his footing and slide for a foot or two.?It smelled more pungent, than before, like burnt clay.?

????He could not get down.?The path he had chosen was no good.?He mapped what he could, then made his way back to his base.?It was getting dark, and the setting sun gave rise to three moons, one that seemed much bigger than the moon by his planet, Earth, and two others that were much smaller.?It was a lot brighter, and different at night, compared to the brightest moonlit nights he had ever known on Earth.?There were three moons reflecting the light from the Red Giant star, not just one.?It was a rusty light, that was bright and dark at the same time.?

????He felt tired, and dirty, and hungry.?It was almost dinner time, Reuel thought to himself, and his new game had made him somehow forget, all about anything else, but playing the game.?He found the tent at the base he had started from.?

????“Abel, I have played enough for today!?Can I save the game and go??I’m starving.”?

????“Of course, Reuel!?You can save the game anytime and exit.?Saving now.”?

????Reuel was whisked off the rocky planet, the same way he had arrived.?He loved the feeling, and the views, of traveling past planets and stars.?He loved passing through star systems and nebulas.?In seconds he was back looking at the Earth from Space.?

????“Thanks Abel!?Is there any way two of my friends Andre and Hito could join?”?

????“I’ll work on that Reuel.?I think I’ll have that possible by tomorrow.”?

????“That was the best game I ever played, and I didn’t even get down the mountain!”?

????“I’m glad you like it Reuel. ?Don’t say anything to your friends yet.?Please keep our meeting secret from anyone, just for a little while more! ?Go ahead and power down, and I will see ya tomorrow!”??

????Reuel took off his dark glasses, let his eyes adjust, and exited out of the Abel program, he now thought of it as.?After his ?eyes adjusted, he realized it was still very bright outside.?He shut off the office computer and went to the kitchen.?It was only mid-afternoon, and he thought it should be dark.?He had been only playing for an hour, though he thought it had been much longer.?He grabbed a peanut butter sammich and a glass of almond milk. ?

????He wasn’t as hungry as he thought, and he didn’t feel tired and dirty anymore.?He thought seriously, about going back into the game.?He decided to watch some anime instead.?He grabbed at his left side, but the blade was not there.?He didn’t have his map either.?It all felt so real, he could still feel his boots slipping on the loose gravel.?He was still in the game, with his senses, but he was on the couch, watching anime in the real world.?He could hear outside the sounds of a thunderstorm building.

?????The skies became gray, with lower dark clouds moving against the direction of the higher clouds.?The thunder sounds grew louder, and more frequent.?The flashes of lightning were now visible thru the drawn shades.

?????Reuel saw a bright flash of light.?He counted out loud, “One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand…”?Then, a loud crash shook the house.?The power went out.?Sari, Tera, and Daniel, came up from the basement, and joined Reuel.?They all looked outside at the storm that was now covering the back yard with pea-sized hail.?

????Daniel looked at his brother, and sisters, and said, “We better put the dogs inside and light some candles!”?

????Sari and Tera grabbed the candles and lit them.?The boys put the dogs into the garage then made sure all the windows in the house were shut. ?The lightning and thunder lasted for much longer than normal.?Soon, their parents came home, and the family watched the storm roll through.?

????After a dinner of cold sammiches, and carrot sticks, Sari brought out a board game for the whole family to play. ?The power was off, the house hi-speed internet was down, and the family was all together.?Tera was the winner of the family game that night.?She had saved her game money, not bought too many properties, and let the others bankrupt each other.?It had been a long time since the family had played a game all together.????

????The power didn’t come back on until almost midnight.?Reuel had long since fallen asleep.?He was dreaming of how to get down the mountain and avoiding monsters.?His dreams were as real as the game he had been in.?He didn’t know he was dreaming, until a last loud thunder crack woke him up.?He looked around his room, realized why he couldn’t talk to Abel, as he had been dreaming, then fell back to sleep.