Game Alive: A Science Fiction Adventure Novel by Trip Ellington

frowning, and he turned from Jake to gaze out the window with a thoughtful expression. He glanced down at the digital notebook and flicked a fingertip across the screen a couple times.
    “Tell me Jake, is this game of yours connected to the open Net?”
    “No,” Jake answered at once. “It’s totally private. Nobody’s got access besides me, Des, and Kari.”
    “You’re certain of that?”
    “Absolutely,” said Jake firmly. “Just me, Des, and Kari.”
    The detective nodded and closed his notebook down, clearing his throat as he did. “Thank you for your help, boys,” he said. “If you think of anything else, please let Principal Edward know so he can make sure I hear about it. Tom, can you have someone make my personal number available on their digital classrooms?”
    “Of course,” said Mr. Edward.
    There were no more questions after that, so Detective Tromble and the other police man left. Mr. Myers guided his weeping wife out of the office as well, and that left Jake and Des alone with Mr. Edward. The principal ran his hand back through his graying hair again, looking more worried than either boy had ever seen him.
    “Okay, boys,” he said after a long, uncomfortable silence. Edward got up and came around his desk to lead Jake and Des out to the administration lobby. Jake’s mom sat beside Des’s mother, talking quietly. They both wore puzzled expressions. Jake’s mom stood as he, Des, and the principal approached. She pulled Jake in for a tight hug.
    “Is everything alright?” she whispered.
    “No,” he answered her just as quietly. “I don’t know what to do.”
    Principal Edward quickly filled the two mothers in about Kari and the detective’s interview in his office. Then he turned to Jake’s mother.
    “Mrs. Lowell, the detective asked if there was anyone else with access to your VR network. Jake said no, but I wanted to make sure. Sometimes parents know about things their kids might not.”
    “No,” she replied quickly, surprised. “As far as I know, Jake’s the only one who uses it at all. Isn’t that right?” She looked at Jake.
    “That’s right,” he said. “Me, Des, and Kari.”
    “Thank you,” said the principal. He looked sympathetically down at Jake and Des before he went on. “Well, you may want to take the boys home. I’m not sure they’ll be feeling up to going back to class today.”
    “Yes, of course.”
    Jake followed his mother outside to the waiting transport. Des gave a small wave before he got into his mom’s vehicle, and Jake waved back. Jake stared out the window as his mother told the car to take them home. He watched the bland scenery pass in silence for several minutes before his mother turned to him.
    “Why did the detective ask if anyone else had access to our VR feed?” Her eyes searched Jake’s, trying to understand. “You know more than I do about how all that works. Explain it to me.”
    Jake’s brow furrowed as he tried to find the words to describe the virtual system so his mother could understand. It wasn’t easy, distracted as he was over Kari. How could she have been in the game if she was in a coma? Had the program copied her, created an NPC version of her when the real Kari failed to come back to the game with him and Des? But that didn’t make sense, and it still would mean he wasn’t in control of Xaloria.
    “When you log in to the VR feed from a different physical location,” he said slowly, choosing his words with care, “the system records what each person is doing and displays it as part of the program. Sort of like a TV vid, but rather than recording what the actors did weeks ago and then showing it on your wall, this records what you’re doing right now and shows it in real-time on your friend’s vid. It’s still just a recording though. Those people aren’t actually in the VR room with you.”
    His mother nodded in understanding, but she already had that faraway look in her eyes that she got when Jake tried to