Flag Race

  Chapter 01

  Pedro was an average boy. He had light brown skin, short, dark, curly hair, intense hazel eyes, and an earnest, handsome smile. His physique wasn’t impressive by any means, but it wasn’t lacking either. His hours were usually spent reading good books on his tablet, having fun playing online computer games with friends, and roller-skating (which was pretty much his only physical exercise).

  He lived in a small two-story house, befitting his social status, in a lower middle-class area on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, with his mother and father and twin brothers, Marcelo and Rodrigo, who were six years old. It was Pedro’s sixteenth birthday, and the house was crowded with all of his friends and family on that Sunday afternoon.

  The year was 2047, but despite technological advances, very little had changed, especially in Brazil. Pollution hadn’t ceased to be an issue, everybody still used their cars to move around, global warming was as threatening as ever, and politics was still a thieves’ game.

  Pedro’s party was just your average birthday party: plastic cups with a little soda left in the bottom lying all over the place, the younger brothers making a huge mess as they played soccer in the small crowded living room with their cousins, his mother yelling for them to stop, his father going out to pick up some more beer after his uncle had already drunk over half the stock...

  On the table sat a wonderful chocolate cake, the one his grandmother always baked, attracting the eyes of the grown-ups and the fingers of the little ones.

  Many of his friends would rather the party had taken place at night, with more of an adult atmosphere, and all of his classmates invited (and all the girls, most importantly), but Pedro was content as it was. It was more comfortable for him to have his closest friends and family around in an environment like this than flopping around in the dark with people he barely knew. Besides, he was aware his parents didn’t have the money to rent a place for a party that big.

  Pedro was lending a hand in bringing the pastries from the kitchen to the living room when he saw that she had finally arrived. Letícia. The girl had been his best friend ever since they met at the beginning of high school. Now a junior, Pedro often caught himself wondering what it would be like if they became more than just friends.

  She was gorgeous as always. Her wavy brown hair fell perfectly halfway down her back and moved as if in a shampoo commercial. With shy steps, she entered his house, her beautiful green eyes seeking a familiar face for emotional support. Slightly tightened lips revealed her apprehension.

  Letícia, unlike Pedro, was an upper-class girl. His parents strained to make ends meet so he and his brothers could go to the most expensive school in Rio, even though they had earned a scholarship, while her parents complained there wasn’t another one better. She lived in one of those luxurious condos in Ipanema, facing the beach. Meanwhile, he had that small house facing the slums. That explained Letícia’s lack of confidence as she arrived at the party. Pedro was shocked by the mere fact that she had actually come all the way here.

  As he dodged his brothers, who were still making a mess in the room, much to their mother’s chagrin, Pedro left the pastry tray on a table and hurried toward Letícia. As their eyes finally met, Letícia’s shoulders relaxed. She smiled.

  “Hi! So glad you came!” Pedro met her with a kiss on her cheeks.

  “Happy birthday! I hope you like it!” She handed him something a little smaller than a shoe box.

  “Gee, thanks! You didn’t really have to, Le!”

  She smiled and rolled her eyes, as if to say, “Of course I had to!”

  He went on, “Come with me, everyone from school is in the back.”

  With the whole gang together, they talked about classes, bad-mouthed their teachers, told jokes... Pedro was still trying not to smile too much at the fact Letícia had come from across the city just to be at his birthday. It was great to see (or imagine?) that she cared so much about him. They didn’t really get to spend much time together in school, but the moments they spent were always fun. Was that enough for her to like him also as something more than a friend?

  In the blink of an eye, it was now time to sing “Happy Birthday.” Pedro went to the table, where he positioned himself surrounded by his family. He and his brothers had inherited many physical features from both parents. From their mother, with her long, straight, black hair and paler complexion, they got their beautiful hazel eyes. From their father, they got their African-Brazilian well-chiseled muscles and his captivating smile.

  The most excited of his uncles couldn’t refrain from taking picture after picture. Pedro made the same face all sixteen-year-olds make when they’re sung to, with a phony smile. He made a wish, blew on the candles, and...

  Who will it be, who will it be?

  Who will it be the one Pedro will marry?[1]

  Pedro looked over with indignation at his brothers, who had obviously started the sing-along. Their light brown cheeks contorted from under their small black curls while they sang.

  Silly, he thought. Bet they don’t even know who it is that I like. Either way, it’s been a hundred years this song hasn’t been funny anymore... That’s when his eyes suddenly met Letícia’s. The girl was blushing. She averted her gaze and fixed her hair as one of her brown locks fell over her eyes.

  She likes me! Or she knows that I like her! A warm feeling spread over his face. There’s no other reason she should blush like that! He didn’t know whether to be happy or abashed. He always thought she liked another boy, but now he had doubts.

  The singing paused awhile before her name came up, yelled by one of his friends. Pedro gave a half-smile and shook his head, denying everything.

  His feelings for Letícia were still a jumbled mess in his head. He’d known since the year had started that he’d like her to be his girlfriend. On the other hand, he didn’t want to jeopardize their friendship should she not reciprocate his feelings. When it came down to it, he always figured anything between them would be impossible.

  First of all, there were some differences. She was rich, while his family struggled to make a living. They lived across town from each other. He considered himself unattractive, his hair way too kinky for his liking, while her looks were always nothing less than astonishing (at least to his eyes).

  Also, she’d never shown any sign of wanting to be more than friends. Pedro tried to read between the lines in her behavior, but he never felt confident enough to say to himself that she really liked him.

  And finally: he believed her parents saw him as a bad influence. They probably thought he lived surrounded by gangsters, thugs, and junkies, likely even believing he was one of them.

  This last suspicion intensified when, just a little while after arriving, Letícia picked up her phone and announced that her father was coming to pick her up, because there was no way he could do it later.

  Pedro knew all too well that the man could afford to send a chauffeur, a cab, or anything. That way she could enjoy the party a little longer, but it was likely they didn’t feel comfortable having their daughter so near the slums.

  Well, that didn’t really matter now. He was still happy simply by the fact that she had come.

  Pedro spent a great deal of the party talking to his two best friends, Daniel and Luiz. They had been his classmates from the very first year of school, and it was in their company that he had the most fun. The three were often called nerds by other classmates, not because they were too keen on studying, but mostly due to the amount of time they spent talking about the books they read, scheduling online matches, and watching fantasy, sci-fi, and superhero movies.

  Their looks also didn’t help them avoid that label. Daniel was tall and thin and had those disproportionate limbs that puberty had given him. His face, despit
e all treatments he’d tried, was almost always covered in acne. His light brown eyes were always hidden behind glasses, and his straight blonde hair seemed to constantly find a way to dishevel itself.

  He was never not excited about something. If it wasn’t about a new game that had been launched, it was because of a movie about to be released or maybe some new idea for a superhero he’d been cooking up.

  Luiz, though, was calmer and more of the shy type, even leaning toward depression at times, but had plenty of imagination as well. His belief was that he should have been born in the past. He loved the medieval world and its fantasy variations. Elves, druids, wizards, dwarves, giants, and dragons peopled the boy’s head under his red hair. He wasn’t ugly, but he was overweight, and that didn’t help his case. Endless freckles stained his face under his blue eyes. Sometimes he’d spend hours in silence, lost in his thoughts, only to surprise his friends later with new ideas.

  The three friends were part of a new generation that was beginning to return to more romantic times. After the great hook-up boom from the early decades of the century, which valued making out with several people in a single night and remaining uncommitted for as long as possible, long-term relationships were coming back in vogue as a value for some of the youth. Most still didn’t think like them, but for these boys the prospect of soon finding a partner to be with them for life was an exciting one.

  After talking with his friends for a while, Pedro turned his attention to his other classmates and family, and soon after the party was inevitably coming to an end. Pedro helped his family clean up the war-zone mess left by the celebration, at the same time keeping an eye on his brothers to make sure they did their share.

  At last, he climbed the narrow staircase that led to his room. On the second floor he shared a bathroom and a bedroom with his brothers, while the remaining area was taken by their parents’ suite. Despite the number of rooms in the house, each one was quite small.

  On his bed, all of his gifts were piled up. A new shirt from Grandma. Some reais in an envelope from his uncles. A new set of wheels for his skates from one of his older cousins. The release code for a new book, Star Effect, Volume 3, for his tablet. Wow, I really need to thank Mom and Dad for this! Pedro knew it couldn’t have been easy for his folks to afford to buy him the newest release to one of his favorite collections.

  He spent some time wondering what Ace Parson, the series’ protagonist, would do in this new book, and what adventures the author had dreamed up. He wondered how Ace would find a way to defend himself from the ancient alien kind that threatened to destroy the whole galaxy. It was in the middle of that thought that he realized he was holding the gift Letícia had given him in his hands.

  He unwrapped it. The extremely high-quality plastic box was almost fully covered in a blue dye, undisturbed except at the top by the word Neurolink engraved in gold letters. Pedro soon realized that the dye, used both for the wording and the box, was a new kind of dye that made it look like the box was constantly moving. He felt himself shiver when he noticed that the box seemed to be alive, with its wavy colors.

  He opened it.

  Inside the box was something that looked like a wristwatch, with a large display. Pedro observed it for a while, trying in vain to understand what it was. Below the device there was a thick instruction manual. He leafed through it quickly, trying to absorb some info from its contents. That’s when he noticed there was a loose sheet tucked inside, with instructions for quick initialization.

  All he had to do was to wear the device on his wrist, hold the red button on the side for five seconds, and then follow the instructions that would appear.

  Seems easy... But what kind of gift is this?

  He decided he wouldn’t wait anymore. He sat on his bed, his back facing the wall, and followed the steps described. Just as he finished counting the five seconds while pushing the red button, he felt the gadget tightening on his wrist. He felt his pulse against the object, and before he could ask himself what would happen next, there was a pang where he believed to be one of his arteries. Seconds later, he was shocked to feel two more pangs on two different places.

  Fear started to overwhelm Pedro. The hell is this thing? It’s like it’s sucking my blood! He arrived at the obvious conclusion the so-called Neurolink should be taken off as soon as possible. Before he could remove it, though, he had that strange feeling of falling backwards, the same thing he often felt just before falling asleep.

  When he opened his eyes, he was in a vast white nothingness. The only thing that could be distinguished there was his own body, but it wasn’t dressed as before; in fact, he seemed to be wearing a black neoprene suit.

  Checking out his hands, which were also gloved by that same dark layer of cloth, he noticed the only thing that hadn’t changed was the device, whose display now emitted an intense brightness.

  In that moment, something popped out of nowhere into existence only a few feet away from where he was standing. Scared, he took a step back to examine the strange creature.

  It was something that looked like a gnome, but with a metallic and very thin body. Somewhere in his mind, Pedro took notice that the creature seemed like a cross between a paper clip and a human being.

  “You seem new around here. Would you like some help getting started?” said the creature in a robotic, though friendly, voice.

  “Who are you?” Pedro frowned. “Or rather... What are you? Where am I? What’s going on?”

  “That’s not a valid answer. I repeat: Would you like some help getting started?”

  “Uhm...”—Pedro shrugged—“yes, I’d like some help, I guess...”

  “Welcome to Neuralnet!” As the strange being spoke, images of all sorts appeared from its hands, disappearing right after. “Neuralnet is nothing but one of the most ingenious ways for you to make your dreams come true! Anything may be experienced here! You can do whatever you want, go wherever you want, and, most importantly: be whatever you want. Brought to you by Neural Lab Industries.”

  Intrigued, Pedro scratched the back of his neck as the creature continued.

  “The best reference point to start our explanation would be the Internet. As sites, games, and activities in the old Web evolved, a new Net began to unfold. You’re now in a virtual world. Nothing here ‘exists’ as it does in the exterior world, but that doesn’t make the experiences in it any less real than what you could experience out there. The “sites” on the Neuralnet are whole worlds, called loci. Singular, locus. Endless beaches, eternal parties, quiet fields with watercolor sunsets... Each one of these worlds has its own rules. Gravity, for instance, doesn’t need to exist here on the Neuralnet, if the locus’s creator so desires.”

  Pedro cut him short. “Anyone can have the world he wants?”

  “Yes, sir! Neural Labs offers several toolkits for you to build your own world. I may contact them right now, if you wish, for the low monthly fee of—”

  “No, thank you... But where is everybody?”

  “All new users are brought to their own neutral and temporary IP until they’re clear to be transferred to a HUB of their choice.” He paused. “Would you like to migrate to a HUB now, or would you rather continue your tutorial?”

  “What? I...” Pedro looked around. He didn’t like the idea of standing in all that whiteness much longer. It was... morbid. Besides, he figured that if he could contact other people, maybe then he would understand better what was happening, and, if that was the case, then log off. “Yes, I want to go to a HUB right now.”

  “Based on your area of connection, age, and net availability, I’ve already identified an ideal HUB. Confirm migration?”

  Pedro shrugged. “OK!”

  Immediately he felt all that empty space distancing itself from him, like a zoom effect all around. Though he didn’t feel the fall, he noticed he was descending from the nothingness until suddenly he was standing on a well-tended lawn. He blinked a few times to try to take in what was all around him.


  The place was teeming with men, women, dinosaurs, gorillas, aliens, warriors, wizards, and all types of creatures he wouldn’t even know how to describe. All were busy going from place to place or chatting in small groups composed of the most varied of members.

  He was on the lawn of an enormous square surrounded by several commercial kiosks, and, behind them, buildings of an immense variety of shapes and sizes. He couldn’t keep himself from standing, mouth agape, while taking in the myriad of stimuli. Under a nearby tree, a bear talked to a fairy. In one of the commercial kiosks, nasty pointy-eared little creatures argued with the four-armed vendor. Ninjas leaped from building to building, pursued by angels.

  His contemplation was broken only because a group of boys, dressed as astronauts or something, were pointing at him and laughing. Looking again at his black suit, he wondered what could possibly be that funny about him.

  “Ah, kids nowadays...” said a female voice next to him.

  Pedro turned around.

  A tall, curvy redhead, dressed in a tight gray uniform, stood next to him. Her hair was tied into a ponytail that fell a little below the back of her neck. Something that resembled a pair of night-vision goggles rested on her forehead, and a huge high-precision rifle was in her hands—a sniper, thought Pedro.

  Pedro pointed at the children with his thumb and asked, a bit self-consciously, “What are they laughing at?”

  Before the redhead could answer, the kids screamed as they ran away, “Noob!”

  “The thing is, well... Let’s say... It’s as if you’re naked,” the woman said.

  Pedro grimaced and held back the urge to cover his privates with his hands. The lady went on explaining, “All newcomers arrive here with a uniform like yours. They were laughing because they knew you had just arrived here. You probably skipped the tutorial, right? But don’t fret! Everybody thinks that critter is a pain in the ass...”

  “But how—” Pedro was silenced by a gesture of hers.

  “Focus on a set of clothes you wear a lot.” He closed his eyes. “That’s it. Now simply wish to be wearing them!”