Truly Mysterious People Are

Day 4

In Synch

We had to eat. Apparently being dead didn’t mean we were free from mortal hunger. Jim and Rachel hadn’t been with us when we had woken up, and we should have been helping them, but the mission mail had yet to come. So we went into Applebee’s and ate our fill. The other customers were probably disgusted with our eating habits, but it had been three full days since we had last eaten. We needed fuel if we were going to survive.

Sara seemed much happier now that we were working together with Jim and Rachel. She talked the entire time, telling me stories about her and her friends and all of their adventures. She even opened up about all of the troubles she had endured in her life. Depression, weight issues (though they had all just been in her head, how could a toothpick sized girl ever think she was too heavy?) and many other problems that she usually faced. I would have never suspected a thing. She held it all in so well, if she hadn’t found people and told them I doubt anyone would have been the wiser. I enjoyed seeing her like this, and I hoped I would get to see this side of her when we came back to life. Assuming we won, that is.

“Mmm,” Sara sighed as she sipped her drink. “Food has never tasted so good. I’m pretty sure I can take all of the Noise floating around the Gateway right now,” she looked out the window. “Does it ever freak you out to see them all up there, knowing how dangerous they are?”

“They don’t scare me as much as the Reapers,” I replied.

Sara nodded. “Totally agree. I still remember Jim getting tossed aside by that Reaper, Jessica. I’m glad we don’t have to face them.”

“At least not yet,” I muttered.

“Would they really make us fight them?”

“They might,” I said. “This game is messed up. I don’t think they want any winners.”

Sara shrugged. “I don’t like them, but that Jessica at least seems to want to help us, unlike her other Reaper friend. I think there is a reason they challenge us.”

I didn’t reply. A chance to come back to life, there had to be something expected of us. The entry fee was one, but if they gave it back to us then what did it matter? It was mysterious. They demanded us to fight for our existence after taking away the item that would make us want to fight, but they promised to return it if we won. Sara was right, there was method to their madness. I just needed to figure out what it was before it was too late.

“I hate it when you do that.”

I glanced up, Sara’s voice drawing me from my thoughts. “Umm, what?”
Sara lowered her gaze, looking embarrassed at her comment. “During the middle of conversations, you just… go silent. If we’re going to be partners and survive this week, don’t you think that we need to trust each other with our thoughts?”

“I… um…” I sighed. “You’re right. During the missions, when fighting Noise, it’s easier when I feel more in synch with you. Expressing my feelings though… it’s just personal. How I feel, how I think, all these things make up who I am. When you talk to people, you give them a part of yourself, and you have no idea what to expect. They might screw it all up, break you apart… I know who I am, and I like who I am. I value my individuality, and that’s why I keep to myself.”

“It must not be your most valuable item, or else the Reapers would have taken it from you,” Sara smiled.

It was a joke, but I found it hard to think it funny. As though I wasn’t already being driven mad by what my entry fee had possibly been. How could I have no inkling as to what I valued the most? I felt the same as I always had, like nothing was missing at all. Maybe I didn’t care enough about anything for them to take it. As such, did I deserve to play? People like Sara, she had a life, and where I had one too, my life just felt meaningless. She deserved the second chance, even if I didn’t, and I wouldn’t let her down.

“You’re doing it again,” she sighed.

“Sorry,” I muttered, somewhat frustrated by her probing. “I just wish I knew what my entry fee was. I feel as though I’ve lost nothing, but maybe I had nothing to lose.”

“They took something,” she assured me. “Maybe it won’t make sense at first, but we’ll find out what it was in the end. It does help though, knowing what you’re fighting for.”

I could tell she immediately regretted saying those words. We now knew that her entry fee had been memories of me. Knowing that actually inspired her to fight? Yes, definitely an awkward moment for the two of us. It was ironic though. Suddenly she was the one shutting away and keeping her thoughts to herself.

I just laughed.

“What’s so funny?” she said, a little annoyed.

“Now who’s the one keeping to herself?” I winked.

Sara smiled. “Ha, ha, real funny. I guess you’re right though, it’s a little hypocritical of me. It’s just blown my mind to meet someone that I know, that I run on a team with, and have no memories about them. No good times, no thoughts, no feelings, all I have of you are the past three days. I want to know why you were so important to me… but I’m also afraid to find out. Like… it’s just… argh!”

She put her head on the table, and then looked up at me ever so slightly. “Do you think we can be in synch without talking about this?”

I smiled. “Sure. Besides,” I flipped open my phone. “Mission. ‘Free Rice Eccles from the Noise that inhabit it. You have 120 minutes. Fail and face erasure—The Reapers.”

We both flinched as the timers appeared on our hands. Then we stood up from the table.

“I guess you’ll get to take those Noise on after all,” I said to her.

“Let’s go.”

We took off, but not before finding a few more walls and support Reapers. I was getting sick of the phrase “want past this wall?” but we didn’t have a choice. They had gotten a bit more creative though. We had to do some shopping for one, some guy told Sara she had to be decked in a certain brand of clothing before he’d let us through. Much to his dismay she changed a good distance away so he never saw anything. Still, he let us past the wall.

The next guy gave us a few words on our phones that we had to imprint upon people. I couldn’t lie, I found imprinting to be incredibly fun. The fact that we were able to influence the thoughts of others was just mindboggling to me. It also freaked me out a little. To think of all of the times some random thought had burst into my mind, had that been the work of the Reaper’s Game? I decided it was best not to think about it too much and we went on with our mission, taking the trax up to Rice Eccles Stadium, the football field belonging to the University of Utah. I’d been there a few times, and I was excited to see the place again. The memories of it were rich… which caused a sudden welling of guilt to well up in me for Sara’s sake. How many memories was I depriving her of simply because I was nearby at the time? She was missing a part of her identity, her soul, how did she manage to keep fighting? If they had taken my memories, I probably would have rolled over and died to those frogs. If it weren’t for the fact that death terrified me, I still might have. To be honest, if I didn’t have such a gung ho partner, I would have had little reason to even try at the game. This only made me regret my thoughts about Sara in life even more. I had been so wrong, totally misjudged her. Would she remember me as aloof and cold when her memories returned? I didn’t want her to think that of me. Perhaps, I could change her mind during this game.

We finally arrived at the stadium, and were weren’t the least bit surprised to see Jim and Rachel were already there. They were doubled over on the side of the field, panting, and I almost wondered if they had finished the mission already. The timer was still on my hand though. There must have been a lot of Noise in the area.

“What took ya so long?” Jim huffed as we approached. “We been fightin’ these Noise til we’re blue, and we ain’t even denting them.”

“We could really use a hand,” Rachel smiled weakly.

Sara put a hand on Rachel’s shoulder, offering her a warm smile. “You look beat. Let us handle this.”

“Yeah, we’ve got it,” I said as I walked onto the field.

“Pssh, like you any better at bustin’ Noise than me!” Jim shouted at me.

I turned and winked. “Much better.”

He cracked a grin as he leaned back. “Aight, give us a show bro.”

I nodded as I scanned the area. They had been right. There was a lot of Noise. A LOT of Noise. They had flooded the entire stadium. Still, we were undaunted. Hell, we were more than undaunted, we weren’t afraid of these buggers at all. Immediately we drew a few towards us and began to take them down. The opening up must have worked, I’d never felt so in synch with Sara. Our strength was one, making it even easier to beat the Noise into a pulp. One after they another they continued to fall, and I almost got too caught up in erasing them to realize that we too were getting nowhere.

“Sara, stop,” I said. “Stop scanning.”

Sara appeared beside me. “There’re still a lot of Noise here, and we don’t have much time. We have to keep fighting.”

“They’re being drawn here,” I said as I scouted the area. “There has to be something that’s making them congregate like this.”

I continued to search the area, but all I could see were two people standing a short distance away from us, other than Jim and Rachel. A boy and a girl, They were probably boyfriend/girlfriend by the way they were arguing. There was nothing else though, I had to investigate.

“Come on,” I said, and Sara followed.

We came closer to them, and then I scanned again, reading their thoughts. They were definitely in a relationship, and both were very angry about certain issues. Nothing out of the usual, but it seemed to have an unusual effect on the Noise. Their negativity was drawing the Noise to them. It was like a swarm of bees, all of them trying to get close to drink up the negative energy. Then, there were even a few Noise symbols directly on the people, marking them.

“It’s like they’re possessed,” I said.

“Jared!” Sara said excitedly. “Do you remember those words that Reaper gave us for imprinting at that wall? I think we can use them to settle their problems, and if they’re happy then maybe the Noise will leave.”

I stared at our phones and the list of words in it. “These are just random words, they won’t solve anyone’s problems.”

Sara winked at me. “Just watch and learn.”

She went at it, playing with her phone while time began to get dangerously low. Several times I was tempted to stop her and try a different approach, but I didn’t. She was my partner, I had to give her my trust, our success depended on it. Sure enough, the conversation of the two began to take a different flow. One moment they were arguing, the next moment their lips were locked together as they made out. Sara and I both turned away as they began to get carried away.

“Looks like you did it, nice job,” I said.

She shrugged. “Yeah…”

“You don’t seem too thrilled.”

Sara shivered. “Guys have very dirty minds.”

“We do not!” I snapped, but she laughed.

“Okay, just that guy,” she said, but whatever she saw in his mind had an effect on her. I would’ve asked, but our time was low.

“The Noise are thinning,” I said. “Come on, let’s finish this.”

And so we did, but not quite as well as we had earlier. I really began to wonder what thoughts were flowing through that man’s mind to have upset my partner in such a way. Still, we managed to erase the last Noise before Jim and Rachel had made it back onto the field. Rachel looked relieved, but Jim was a little irritated. I would have been too I guess. If completing the missions put us in higher standing, we had just completed this one almost by ourselves. As happy as we were to all be together and safe, reality stole a bit of that moment from us.

“Mission complete,” I said holding up my hand, the timer was gone.

“Good,” Sara said as she began to walk away. “I’m already hungry. What do you say we try to get some food before the day finishes out?”

As she walked I noticed something on the ground. My eyes widened in fear as I noticed the shark Noise symbol. Without thought, I just ran. I ran straight at Sara, pushing her away as the shark emerged from its symbol. Those jaws were right on top of me, I had no way of escaping. Saving Sara had meant nothing, she would only have seven minutes once those jaws clamped shut. I… I’d failed!

Just as the jaws were about to snap shut, the jaws vanished. The shark was erased.

I looked to Jim and Rachel, but they were still a ways away. They couldn’t have defeated it that easily, could they?

“Oh, that was touching.”

The new female voice answered my question.

I turned to see a peculiar young woman. She had long wavy crimson read hair and dark red lips, and her skin was almost translucent. She wore a black dress which was tight but not overly revealing. No wings, was she a Player? No, I knew she wasn’t. There was something too eerie about her. She was all alone, but she just emanated with a twisted power, not to mention her pale glow made her look like a bloody vampire.

“That was so sweet,” she said to me. “You were willing to risk your right to live just to save your partner. I do love a good, bad romance.”

I scowled. “I don’t like her!” I snapped.

She didn’t seem to hear me. “I’m a sucker for romance, you know. That’s why I arranged today’s mission to be what it was. Aren’t they just a disgusting sight?” she turned to the pair on the opposite side of the field. “They think they’re so in love, if only they had the insight we had into their reality.”

Sara walked over to me and helped me up. Then she glared at the woman. “You’re a Reaper!”

“Duh,” the woman rolled her eyes. “Not just any Reaper, an executive… well, not just any executive either. The GM, or Game Master for those of you that don’t know our Reaper lingo. I’m Clarissa Reeves, lover of love and tragedy.”

“I’m guessing that’s why you love this game, right?” Sara scowled at her.

Clarissa laughed. “Oh silly little girl. We’re not so different, you and I. I saw the way you stalked away from that pair, thoroughly disgusted with them. I sent my little Noise friend to offer you an easy way out.”

“I don’t want to be erased!” she snapped, but I could see that Sara’s soul wasn’t in those words.

“Right, right,” Clarissa said. “You do realize what you’ll have to face when you come back to life, won’t you? All of the questions that will follow you, all of the people that will try to use you. Life is probably the most tragic novel of all, do you really want to keep pretending like you cling to it?”

“I do,” Sara said, almost in a whisper.

“Then why did you…”

“Stop!” Sara screamed as she turned and ran. “Just leave me alone!”

“Sara!” I yelled, and immediately I stood up to chase her. If she got away, if one Noise got to her, we were both finished.

As we ran, I could hear our Game Master laughing behind us.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she promised. “I’ll have a special mission just for you.”