Time Maze

A Game or Something Else?

"I guess this puts a dent in your theory. Well, let's be honest, I think it crushes it to pieces," Marcus said as they tried to find out how many days of fighting had already passed.

"What are you talking about?" Tyson asked, too focused on the task at hand to contemplate Marcus's vague words.

"The thing about the maze not trying to kill us. You were dead wrong," Marcus said, smirking because of the play on words that he managed to pull off.

Tyson stopped in his tracks, looking at his friend with surprise. He was rather proud of his theory and how it came to be, so the fact that Marcus doubted it didn't sit well with him.

"What makes you say that?" Tyson asked in what he hoped was a calm tone.

"We are in the middle of a bloody war, Tyson! If that's not proof that something is out to get us, I don't know what is," Marcus said, letting some frustration slip into his voice.

It was odd for Tyson to see Marcus perturbed, but it was clear that even his happy-go-lucky friend didn't have endless reserves of cluelessness. It made sense that their precarious position would at some point become clear even in Marcus's carefree mind.

"Still, this place looks so cool," Marcus said, looking around at the old building and strangely dressed people, including Tyson. "It's like we stepped into a movie."

Tyson was on the verge of correcting his friend, explaining that reality had to be more realistic than mere movies, but he thought better of it. What would be the point in correcting such irrelevant notions?

"You know what this reminds me of?" Marcus asked as they continued looking for clues as to what the date was.

"What?" Tyson asked tiredly, unprepared for yet another of Marcus's strange and utterly useless comparison.

In most cases, Tyson loved how creative his friends' mind was, how differently he perceived everything. Yet, this one time, Tyson just wished that Marcus could see the world as Tyson saw it. That he could note all the dangers and evils that were part of life and that had been around them more than ever.

"Of virtual reality games!" Marcus said, his eyes glimmering with excitement. "You remember that one time when we played that game in a fantasy village tracking down an evil sorcerer!"

Tyson did remember that particular game, but he didn't share Marcus's sense of unreality. To him, everything felt a bit too real, especially the bullets that flew around their heads just moments before. Still, he didn't want to say what he thought, that Marcus was being ridiculous once again.

Tyson opened his mouth to produce some random sign of agreement. Then he shut his mouth again without saying anything.

It hit him so suddenly and powerfully that it took his brain a moment to process the realization, the vague connection that he had managed to establish.

"Marcus, that's it!" Tyson said excitedly to the utter confusion of Marcus. "You sure can be a genius at exactly the right moment!"

"Of course I can. And what are we talking about exactly? Which particular genius idea have you finally picked up on?" Marcus asked obliviously.

"The virtual reality thing," Tyson said vaguely as his brain worked hard to figure out all the possibilities and what they would entail.

"Tyson, man, I know I was the one talking about virtual realities and stuff, but this can't be it. Everything feels too real for this to be one of those game things," Marcus said as if he was explaining things to a small child. "Besides, we would have known if it was a game. There would be like some signs or something."