"He woke up in a white room.
The walls, ceiling, floor, lights... everything was white.
He couldn't remember how he got here. He recalled pain, followed by a sense of leaving his body, floating above it and watching people surround him. Then he was enveloped in darkness and moving slowly towards a tunnel of bright light. The closer he got to it, the faster he moved, until he was streaking towards it at an incredible speed. Suddenly he slammed to a stop and lost consciousness. Now he was in this room, lying on a table with a white cloth draped over his body. He remembered stories like this that involved people dying, or almost dying, and being drawn towards a bright, white light. People sharing these stories had all been revived by doctors, moving away from the light and returning from death's door. He'd never heard of anyone going into the light and living to tell about it. Near death experiences? That was it! The white light was associated with dying, or almost dying. No story had ever mentioned a room like this.
"Am I dead?" He asked out loud. His voice was different than the one he had[...]""visitor. "And where am I? I think I've been here before... but I'm not certain."
The kid laughed. "Oh yes, you've been here before, many times. Don't worry, Zack, your disorientation won't last long. You remember reality quickly once you come out. We'll have you out of here and home in no time at all."
"Come out?" Zack asked. "Come out of where?"
The visitor grinned. "I always enjoy the look on your face when you realize you're not dead. You just came out of the Game, Zack, and on this last play, you got your best score.
CHAPTER 2
"Memories began to return. The young man sitting in front of Zack... he did know him!
"You're Kyle, right? We've been friends for..."
"For forever, man." Kyle nodded. "Yeah, there you go. You're going to slowly remember real life over the next few hours. Your brain has to fit a lot of information back into your head that it left behind when you entered the Game - you can't remember life out here when you're playing. Are you hungry yet?"
Zack nodded. At the mention of food, he realized that he was starving. Kyle laughed. "I bet you are! It's been a while since you've had real food. While you're in the Game, the nutrients they pipe into you keep you alive, but that goop is nothing like the real thing. Let's go to the dining room and get something to eat."
Zack stood up, bending down to put on shoes that were sitting beside the bed. He was dressed in white, comfortable clothing, and he had a bracelet on his right wrist. It pulsed with colour, gold flecks inside a green light. Zack asked Kyle what the colours in the bracelet meant.
"Those colours mean you're a celebrity!" Kyle said[...]"
"cafeteria style eating line. Kyle guided them to the line and gave Zack a tray to carry. Kyle ordered some items and handed one of the two plates of steaming food to Zack to put on his tray.
The two friends found an empty table and sat down to eat. A few minutes into their meal, Zack couldn't help but notice that many people were staring in their direction. When he asked Kyle about it, he chuckled. "Everyone in here knows who you are, Zack. Like I said earlier, you're famous. Many of them want to come over and talk to you, get your autograph, talk about parts of the game they liked, stuff like that. The rules don't allow that, though. No one is permitted to talk to other players in here. It could mess up their minds. So they are all excited to see you, but considerate enough to leave you alone." Kyle smiled. "For now, at least."
The boys ate in silence. Zack was famished and shoveled the delicious food into his mouth as fast as he could. Kyle seemed content to eat in silence, standing up to get more food for Zack when he ran[...]"
"OK, man, lay back on the bed and put these on." Kyle handed Zack what looked like a fancy pair of sunglasses. When he put them on, he realized they had a video screen built into them. The screen was filled with static and he could hear a hissing noise coming from small speakers on the earpieces of the glasses. "I'm going to press play now. Just sit back and enjoy the show."
The static disappeared. The screen turned into a beautiful blue sky; the chirp of birds and other pleasant sounds replaced the hissing noise in the speakers. Zack watched the video that began to play, teaching him all about the Game he had just been playing..."
