Olympus: It's Not Just a Game

Chapter 2

Karl waited a moment to build suspense. Then he said, slowly and significantly, "I just killed a dragon in Olympus."

She stared at him. "What's Olympus?"

Karl was shocked. "What's Olympus?" he laughed. "That's a joke, right?" She peered anxiously at him. "You know, Olympus, like on MTV? Olympus, like at the video arcade? Olympus, like, everybody at school is talking about Olympus?"

"I'm home schooled," she said, cautiously.

Now he was really shocked. He figured that Jacob had brought this girl from school to show off the cybersuit. But one of those home schoolers? That would explain the church stuff. He eyed her critically. She didn't look too strange—she wasn't wearing a funny hat or anything. But where had she come from? "What are you doing in my basement?" he demanded. "Who are you?"

"I'm Nancy Avery," she replied. "My dad is upstairs in your father's office, installing some computer equipment." He just goggled at her. "I'm here, helping him." He still stared. She retreated one step. "I came downstairs when your brother Jacob started telling me about you."

"What did he say?" Karl snorted.

Nancy got one foot onto the bottom step. From there, she had a clear path up the stairs. "He said he had a twin brother they kept locked in the basement."

"He said that?" Karl roared.

Nancy skipped part way up the stairs. She considered escaping altogether, but he hadn't moved since they started talking. She guessed it was still safe enough. "I didn't believe him, at first, but then he brought me down here, and ... there you were." There was an awkward silence. "Well, what was I to think?" she asked, a little defensively. "What is that thing, anyway?"

"This is my cybersuit," Karl answered proudly.

"Cybersuit," she said slowly, trying the word on her tongue. "Jacob said it was an automatic straitjacket."

Karl scowled. "That insect! I'll get him for that."

Nancy was getting more curious. "What does it do?"

"Here, let me strap you in. I'll show you how it works."

"No way!" said Nancy, taking another step backwards. It was bad enough to face the lunatic brother in the basement. Now he wanted to strap her into this—this thing. He didn't move, though, so she stopped on the stairs. He didn't look immediately dangerous. "Just tell me how it works."

"Well," said Karl, "You strap your legs in here, and slide your hands into the gauntlets. Buckle up the arm straps and slip on the helmet, with this visor over your eyes. Then every movement you make in the suit goes through that computer over there." He pointed into the red gloom of the darkened basement. "Wait a second," he muttered. "Let me switch the overheads on." He moved slowly, being careful not to frighten her, and flipped a switch on a post at the foot of the stairs. A long row of fluorescent lights hummed and flickered, and the room was flooded with bright, cold light.

Karl pointed to a gray box, like a fat plastic suitcase, in the corner. "Here's the main computer unit. This baby is wired into the Internet with a three-megabit modem. It can download an entire alternate universe in a minute and a half!"

"Oh," said Nancy. Light finally dawned. Maybe he wasn't crazy after all. "And is that alternate universe this Olympus you keep talking about? Olympus is a video game?"