Code: R |ONC 2024|

04

Emily

There's another brilliant blue tunnel fused with codes and lines before I'm spat out on the other side. However, this time there's daylight and. . . colour. Only it's blocky and pixelated. Scrutinising the scenery, there's shards of grass, thick pavements, and a few brick-like plants on the sides. There's something blue at the end, but I can't see it.

If I can just. . .

My heart is in my throat when I'm jerked back and a force whoosh past my face, causing my hair to billow around me. Swivelling in his arms, I look up to see his green eyes clouded with worry and then relief after they give me a quick scan.

"Blondie, you must be careful. . ." He scrutinises the surroundings before he flicks through his Reader, a huff coming from him. "Has your Reader Synced your device yet?"

Copying his action, there's a small dial still. Shaking my head with a sigh of my own, I let him know it's still Syncing. Watching closely, Pixel's gaze is everywhere all at once, and when I try to imagine what he's seeing, it doesn't click straight away. He must be searching for all sorts of routes and patterns, but how his brain can process all the information boggles me.

I'm about to ask what he's thinking when he carefully manoeuvres around me to the cute tree on our left. There's a bunch of forest green triangles overlapping and circling each other, and I swear it lets out a small hum upon our approach. Sensing my gaze on the back of his head, Pixel angles his body for me to look at him and the strange shape.

"This is a Hint, you get them in certain games, but in here. . . you will have plenty on the"—he air-quotes— "fun things. Just to make sure you play by the rules and don't use up one of your lives." Scrolling through, his eyes light up and then his brows crease as a grunt comes from him. "It's Crossy Road, ever played before?"

I shake my head.

"Alright," he starts. "Basically, cross the roads until you reach the end, and don't get hit by cars or fall into the water, and you should be fine." Catching my nervous fretting, his hand carefully rubs my upper arm like last time as he sports one of his reassuring smiles. "I'll be there with you the entire way; I won't leave you alone."

Hesitating for a moment, I finally nod my head and smile up at him to show I'm ready, and that I trust him. Beaming back at me, he scans the road each way, and bolts across with me. We keep going until a car whizzes past, leaving us to find the pattern they move in. One section pulls the vehicles to the left whilst the other brings them to the right. There are short bursts, a few pauses between, and then we find ourselves weaving in and out of them, one narrowly missing my foot if it weren't for Pixel tugging me into his side.

It's strange to think it's made of blocks because the grass has definition of shape and angles, but they're just as flat as the concrete with a bit of a prick if you catch it wrong. Hissing after grazing my palm on the shrub, Pixel shifts his attention to me, and my eyes widen. My fingers latch onto his jacket and haul him closer to me as a train zooms close behind him. Panting, I struggle to smile up at him as the onslaught of traffic picks up.

"Is this ever going to end?" I mutter, still barely seeing the blue horizon.

Patting my shoulder in that comforting way, I sigh, knowing what he will say, but he simply smiles and nudges me in the direction we need to go.

Nerves wriggle in my stomach, but every time Pixel makes a dash for it, I'm close on his heels, feeling the brush of exhilarated air with each passing of the cars. The concrete is starting to numb my feet, and each jab of the grass has a whimper coming from me, but I push on. I'm not letting this game stop me, not when the thought of my mum losing me is stronger.