Left Field (New Hope #4)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Blake

Thirty employees are gathered in the conference room attached to my office. The blackout curtains have been drawn across the picture window, blocking views of the city and the late morning sun. It's Friday, and I've told the creative team they can take the remainder of the afternoon off. It'll be the last break they have for a while. I can sense it in my bones.

I sit at the head of the long table, tapping my finger against the proposal before me. I've memorized the lengthy document authored by Lilian, which breaks this video game down into its key components. A partition on the back wall slides open, revealing a large flatscreen, currently powered off. Lilian rises from her seat, remote in hand, and the screen comes to life.

A little girl limps through a dead forest, something white and furry in her hands. The girl's pale face is covered in scratches, and welts wrap around her legs. Her seaweed-like hair is wet, sticking to her throat and cheeks. The dress she wears is tattered and soiled, revealing the emaciated figure beneath. Her feet are bare, leaving streaks of blood on the jagged rocks she stumbles over.

There is no sound, but I can already imagine what my sister, Grace, will do with this project—screeching violins to convey terror, a melancholy piano to showcase the loss of humanity, a looping melody for character travel.

The little girl breaks free of the forest, crossing a rotted meadow to reach a large weeping willow, its bark blackened, the earth surrounding it covered in ash. Instead of leaves on its limbs, barbaric dolls and small animals are attached to it by nooses.

The girl kneels at the base of the horrific tree, using her ragged nails to dig. She places the bundle inside the hole, revealing the creature to be a bunny, its fur glowing silver in the moonlight. The girl looks at her dead pet, squeezing her eyes shut against the pain of loss. Tears spill down her dirty cheeks, falling onto the ground. Where they land, small flowers erupt, their green stems and white petals vibrant against the ashen soil. And at the center of each flower is a yellow pop of color.

They're daisies.

The girl uses her tiny hands to shovel dirt onto the bunny, burying him in the land. She rises on shaky legs, wipes the wetness from her face, and continues onward.

The screen goes black. Lilian gets up from her seat once more, turning on a soft overhead light. The room remains silent. A few creators are awestruck, their lips parted.

"This concept wasn't created by me, but the artist has asked me to present her work for her," Lilian begins, clearing her throat. Her gaze darts to mine, then she refocuses on her task. "The project title hasn't been decided yet, so I've opted to call it Nyx for now."

Lilian's coworkers nod, readying their pens to take notes. We've all been supplied with the same document, which will accompany Lilian's proposal. Not everyone has a photographic memory, so members of the creative team are flipping through it, eager to learn what happens next in the story.

"Nyx tells the tale of a six-year-old girl who awakens one morning to discover her world is no more," Lilian continues, pacing the front of the room. "Our main character journeys outside her cabin in search of her father, with only her pet bunny to keep her company. On her quest, she finds the dead risen from their graves. Humanity, as well as animal life, have succumbed to the plagued land. Creatures aim to either corrupt the girl, or wish to feed on the blood still pumping in her veins. She is hunted by demons, attacked by wild dogs, and led astray by conniving witches. The only things left untouched by madness are the girl and her bunny.

"The girl has been given a gift and a curse. She has the power to restore life, but cannot use her magic on intelligent beings. In the cut scene you just watched, she loses her bunny—her only friend—and cannot bring it back from the other side. Shortly after, she does manage to find her father, but he's not the man she thought he was. He is responsible for the death of her world. At the end of the final battle, the girl must decide whether to take her father's life—and with it, the power to restore humanity—or spare him, and accept the destruction he wreaked on earth."