Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality

by Brian Cleary

           

            Bright green rays shot out from the power button on the video game console as the flashing HD graphics on the television lit up the dark bedroom. Donny sat upright in his bed and glared at the screen as his fingers rapidly pressed button combinations on the controller. His only concern was to beat the current level of SynWars. SynWars was the newest and hottest video game on the market. Donny repeatedly tapped the "A" and "B" buttons in hopes of making the ultimate move to defeat his opponent, but taking down the creatures of the AK Tribe was no simple task. These monsters were some of the most dangerous and lethal characters that the Syn Galaxy had to offer. His hands began to sweat on the controller as he watched his attempted moves begin to fail.

            "Could this really be happening?", Donny thought to himself. For the third night in a row he had faced defeat from level seventeen of SynWars. His bedroom went black with the change of the television screen as the words, "Game Over" appeared. In frustration, Donny threw his head back on to his pillow and let out a heavy sigh. He couldn’t help, but to feel upset over this game that he had grew so fond of over the past few weeks. Donny was basically to the point of addiction. He'd fallen in love with the way that he was able to use his mind and skill in order to control the main character, Space Cadet Tommy Trix. The whole main idea of SynWars revolved around Trix and his abilities to  use strength and courage to defeat the numerous villains and controversies that surrounded the Syn Galaxy.         

            With the console and television turned off, Donny began to relax and started to think to himself. He dreamt of his adventures as Trix. He dreamed of having the same attributes as Trix and being able to fight endless monsters of the Syn Galaxy. However Trix was also a symbol of justice and a symbol of standing up for what is right. For Donny, Trix was a virtual figure that defined what every man should be. As his mind continued to race, Donny's eyelids grew heavier until he eventually fell asleep.

            The beaming rays of the morning sun crept threw the blinds of the bedroom window as Donny slowly removed himself from bed. A swift swing of his hand and the slap of a button put a silence to the annoying ringing of his 7:30 am alarm. As he stood up to stretch, he began to look in the mirror. For a reason that only his imagination could explain, he felt different today. He felt like he was ready to take on the day as a better man, a man of a much higher caliber. In fact, on this day, he came to the realization that he was indeed, Tommy Trix. It was as if his dreams and relentless thoughts had finally twisted his mind enough to know that this was right. This is how he was meant to be.

            He quickly went to his closet. The first thing he grabbed was his SynWars collector's edition t-shirt. Then right after he put on a brand new pair of dark jeans, his black leather Tommy Trix replica boots, and topped it off with his black leather jacket. On his left wrist he sported a flashy watch, almost as if it were the same gadget that Trix used to project holograms and teleport back and forth from the SynWars headquarters. Last, but not least, Donny put on his black sunglasses. He looked back into the full length mirror on the wall next to him and firmly stated, "I'm ready". He continued to talk to his own reflection with his best impression of Trix, "I'm ready to take on any challenges that this world and this galaxy may bestow upon me!". Donny's mother couldn't help but, to hear Donny's voice from the hallway. She knocked on the door and yelled, "Donny you're going to miss the bus!" He quickly snapped out of the moment he was having, grabbed his book bag and headed downstairs and out the front door.

            With his sunglasses blocking the powerful lights coming from the sky above him, he headed down the street to the corner. Approaching the stop sign was a spaceship that stretched over 50 feet long. Its shining chrome exterior was strong enough to deflect any space debris that may disrupt it's flight. Donny boarded the ship, gave a nod to the pilot, walked down the aisle to the last seat on his left and buckled himself in. Donny noticed the other SynWars fighters were staring at him. Surely they were just impressed by his intimidating stature and his sharp looks. It's not every day you share a space shuttle ride with the strongest fighter in the Syn Galaxy.       

            The students began to stare at Donny. They struggled to understand his odd appearance and the fact that he had buckled himself in so securely to the bus seat. Donny was always a quiet kid and none of the other sixth graders ever felt any incentive to try and talk to him. A girl sitting diagonal from Donny turned around to get a glance at his humorous outfit. She giggled to herself and turned back to talk to the girl next to her.

            From under his mysterious shades, Donny was able to notice the girls talking about him. He recognized the girl that had turned around to look at him, her name was Abby. Donny had seen her on the spaceship numerous times before. She was one of the most beautiful girls throughout the Syn Galaxy and definitely worthy of galactic royalty. Not to be distracted from his previous mindset, Donny returned to his view out of the spaceship window and regained his thoughts. The spaceship should be arriving at headquarters any minute.

            As soon as Donny entered the front doors of headquarters and walked down the hallways, he received a similar look of curiosity from the other space cadets.            Oblivious of the other kids at Mid-Valley Middle School, Donny just continued down the hallway to be sure that he wasn’t late for his first space training of the day.

            The teacher waited outside the door of the classroom to watch for her students to enter before the bell rang. She noticed Donny walking down the hallway in his black leather outfit and black sunglasses. Donny approached the classroom while Mrs. Toliver, his math teacher, politely asked, "Donny could you please remove your sunglasses while you're in the classroom?" Donny gave a confused looked as if he didn’t know what issue she was addressing. He simply smiled and walked in to the classroom and sat at his desk with his sunglasses still intact. Today was a test day for Mrs. Toliver's first period class. Once all the students sat down she briefly read over the directions and handed out the tests.

            Donny immediately knew that this was a set up. He'd seen this before. The headmaster was trying to see if his galactic combat knowledge was up to date. Donny flew through the test and answered every question correctly. Before he handed his paper in he signed at the top, "Tommy Trix". Mrs. Toliver looked at his paper as he turned it in and she was awfully puzzled by Donny's name choice. Donny exited the classroom and went on with his day attending his other space training sessions. Eventually, it was time for lunch and he walked over to the cafeteria.

            Donny looked around the busy dining hall and scanned for any trouble that he knew the Syn Galaxy was notorious for. After he deemed the place to be safe he moved on to find somewhere to sit. He noticed one table where one space cadet was sitting alone. Donny walked over and sat down next to him. It wasn’t the ideal place to spend his time, but he knew that no one deserves to be alone, not in this galaxy. The boys name was Sam. Donny introduced himself and began to tell Sam all about his thoughts of SynWars. He explained how he has set out to spend his day fighting for what is right, just like Trix would. Sam didn't necessarily understand Donny's mindset, but it was simple enough to understand he was a friend.

            Donny and Sam headed out for a little recess time instead of hanging out in the cafeteria. Donny quickly found out that something wasn't right, but Sam wasn't as quick to pick up on the situation. Donny sprinted over towards a small group of trees. Sam asked, "Donny what are you doing over here?" Donny replied frantically, "Can't you see that we are under attack? These are the creatures of the AK Tribe, some of the most powerful monsters in the Syn Galaxy!"

            Donny began to run around kicking and hitting the trees as if he was going to take them down. Sam sat back and was amused by Donny's poor combat skills. Donny was doing cart wheels in order to dodge any plasma rays that the monsters could fire at him. Another kick, another dodge. Donny stepped back and was breathing heavily. "I don't think I can finish them off, let's get back to headquarters before this gets ugly." Donny told Sam. Sam told Donny once they got back inside the school building, "You know you were kicking a bunch of trees right?" Donny glared at Sam in disgust and replied, "I know I wasn’t able to do much, but I had to try my best." Sam shrugged his shoulders and they continued down the hallway.

            The school day was nearing to an end and Sam and Donny had met up after their last period class. They began to walk down the hallway and Donny asked Sam how his space training had gone. Sam was still slightly confused by the whole thing, but he replied that it was going well. They walked and talked about the day as the left to the school to head for the busses, when all of sudden they noticed a group of kids congregating on grass over by the trees. Donny asked, "What's going on with all those space cadets gathered over there?" Sam started to run, "I think it's a fight!"

            Donny zoned in on the group as he got closer. He saw a creature that he was not able to recognize. It was a monster of rather large size and surely more strength than he's ever seen. The monster had a firm grasp of one of Donny's respective space cadets. In a moment of confusion Donny said to Sam, "I've never seen a creature of his sorts." Sam replied, "I think he is a kid from the High School. He's trying to steal that kids money or something."

            Donny was sure that this was a villain from somewhere outside the Syn Galaxy. His next step was to figure out how to take him out. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something on the ground. He ran over and picked it up. It seemed to be some sort of galactic space sword. With both hands he firmly grasped the sword and sprinted at the crowd. The space cadets got out of the way once they saw Donny running straight at them. He sprinted towards the back of the monster and raised the sword high above his head. In a glimpse of a thought, Donny thought of Trix and all the enemies of the Syn Galaxy that he had defeated. Now was Donny's chance to stand for all that is good. With all his might he swung the sword at the back of the monster and hit him with a powerful strike. The monster let out a cry and tumbled to the ground, releasing the innocent cadet from the grip of his giant hands.

            The kid had no idea what had hit him. The high school bully got back to his feet and scurried away with his other high school friend. The students that had gathered cheered for Donny, but quickly dispersed and ran toward the busses as they saw teachers running over from the school. The kid that Donny saved said thanks and followed with the others toward the busses.    

            Mrs. Toliver ran over to where the scene had previously taken place. She saw Donny standing there with a rather large stick in his hand and Sam was right behind him a few feet back. She frantically asked the boys what had happened. Donny paused and thought to himself before answering, "We just did what was right for the good of the galaxy." Mrs. Toliver was mind boggled by the response and sent the boys to their busses after making sure they were unharmed.

            Donny boarded the space shuttle again, but this time it was headed for home. His work in the galaxy was done for today. He returned to his same seat and buckled himself in for lift off. As he looked up, he saw Abby walking down the aisle, but this time she wasn’t headed for her usual seat. Abby stood in the aisle in front of Donny and told him, "What you did out there was really brave. I've never seen anything like that." Donny bashfully replied, "Oh it wasn't really anything. That's what is expected when you're fighting in the Syn Galaxy." Abby did her familiar giggle and smiled at Donny. "Well can you tell me more about this galaxy?" Donny was shocked by her intrigue. Fighting all his nerves, Donny replied "Uhh…yea. I mean yea! sure!" Abby sat down in the seat next to Donny as he began to explain. Abby was fascinated by Donny but, it wasn't because of his stories of SynWars and Tommy Trix, it was the way that he thought and how it was so different from the other kids.

            The bus came to a stop. Donny got up, said good bye to his new friend Abby and headed for home. Usually Donny sprints home to get back and start playing his video games again, but today was different. He removed his sunglasses and thought about the day. His craving to play SynWars wasn't as high because in his mind, after what he had done today, he had already beaten a new level.