AJ Hooper made a second, more diligent search of the neighborhood. He thoroughly checked the Possum family’s backyard and Little Tikes park where a family of otters played in the public pool. He did not see his prey anywhere. He knew the squirrel had to be somewhere within the block. But where?
Just as AJ was about to return to the far end of the cul-de-sac, he caught a sliver of bright red out of the corner of his eye. Turning quickly, he was certain that he had seen his adversary duck behind a row of trash bins in front of the Happy Meadow Apartment building. AJ slowly raised his weapon. It would be a tough shot, but he could make it. He feared that the squirrel would make a run for it, but his prey did not move.
AJ aimed his launcher high above the target. This was a shot that needed to be lofted. Smiling, he took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. The guns weapon flashed and a small black and white ball emerged. As the ball sailed towards its target, it began to grow. Soon it sprouted four legs, a tail, a large head, and an udder. By the time the ball fell from the sky, it had transformed into a fully-grown cow. The squirrel did not see the bovine projectile until the last possible moment. It could only manage a small whimper before being crushed beneath the weight of AJ’s cow.
“Got you,” shouted AJ as he removed his Video Visor and pulled the neural transmitter from his temple.
“Yeah, that was a heck of a shot,” replied Bucky White as he did the same. “This game is so much fun. We get to play a video game out in the real world.”
“I know. It is awesome. I can’t believe we were selected to do the testing. They only sent one hundred copies out and we got one.”
“Well, they are going to get a positive review from me.”
AJ agreed. “My only complaint is that the neural transmitter is pretty tight. It gives me a bit of a headache.”
“Yeah, I feel it too,” said Bucky. “But the game is so much fun. Let’s play again. This time I get to hunt you.”
“Okay, but you have to use a different weapon. It won’t be fun if we use the Cow Catapult all of the time.”
#
Art Cordo smiled as he addressed his superior. “Yes, the Warrior Rabbit game is doing very well. We have distributed in the midwestern United States and everything seems to be going according to schedule.”
“Good,” replied his tall, stone-faced boss. “We want to make sure everything works according to plan before we move on to the next level of production. I want a full analysis of this game by the end of next week.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, Sir,” announced Cordo. “The next version is already in pre-production. So, if everything keeps going well, we should be able to distribute the new one almost immediately.”
“Very good, Art. This could be our most profitable venture yet. Keep up the good work.”
#
AJ sheepishly walked into his house at fifteen minutes after six in the evening.
“Where have you been?” asked his mother immediately.
“I’m sorry, Mom. Bucky and I were playing the game and we lost track of time.”
“I don’t know if I should let you use that game. It looks dangerous. You’re going to be hit by a car running around with that stupid visor on your head.”
“It’s called integrated virtual reality, Mom. The visor has two viewing areas. One shows the real world and the other the game world. Now that I am used to it, I can easily keep track of everything around me. Here, you put it on. I want you to see that it is safe.”
Surprisingly his mother agreed. First, he helped her place the headband with the neural transmitter around her head, then he slipped the visor into place.
“Okay. I’ve set it to demo mode, so you won’t have to play anything. You can simply see what it looks like.” With that, AJ activated the game.
“This is weird,” reported his mother. “If I look through the top screen, I see you and the house exactly as is. But when I look through the bottom one, the house looks like some sort of cartoon and you look like a blue bunny. Wave your arm.”
AJ obliged, smiling as he did so. He was winning his mother over.
“That’s enough. Get this crazy thing off me.” After the contraption was removed, she continued to address her son. “You still have to be very careful with that thing. Always check out your surroundings with the top screen. Also, don’t go too far from the house with that on.”
“Don’t worry, Mom. The main hub of the game is set up in my room. The range is limited. Bucky and I have to stay in the neighborhood.”
Mrs. Hooper sighed. “I guess you can keep playing it. But not so much. School starts again in a couple of weeks and I don’t want you wasting the last few days of summer playing a stupid video game. And next time you are late for dinner, I am not going to feed you. Now eat your carrots.”
#
“Bucky, you are such a cheat,” yelled AJ as he removed his visor. “I don’t know why I even play with you. You’re nothing but a stupid squirrel. I’m going home to play solo mode.”
As AJ walked along the sidewalk, he barely noticed the beauty of the day; he was too upset with his former friend. He didn’t notice the cloudless blue sky or the immaculate green lawns in front of every cottage. He walked right by the Gophman’s home without observing their wonderful flower garden. A garden that featured row upon row of neatly aligned yellow daisies.
School started the next day and AJ had hoped to play Warrior Rabbit for a vast majority of his final day of summer. The solo mode of the game was not as fun as head-to-head combat, but he could spend the next few hours developing new weapons. He had been considering creating a hammer thrower. He nearly had enough game points built up to purchase all the necessary components.
As AJ turned the corner to head down the street to his house, Bucky stepped into his path.
“Why’d you quit. I was just hiding. It’s part of the game.”
“You know that the game isn’t as much fun when one of the players doesn’t move. The game is supposed to be played by moving around.”
“You’re just mad that you were losing again.”
“Only because you cheat, you buck-toothed rodent.”
“Well, at least I don’t have big ears.”
With that, Bucky turned and started walking away. AJ watched him as he crossed the street. For a split second, AJ thought he noticed the tip of a bushy tail sticking out of the top of Bucky’s trousers. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. “Weird,” thought AJ, “It must be some residual effect of the visor.”
#
When AJ got home from school he went directly out to the workshop in the garage. It only took a couple of minutes for his mother to join him.
“Are you okay, AJ?” she asked. “This last week you have been very quiet about school.”
AJ did not look up from his work. He was busy attaching a thick rubber tube to two ends of a “Y” shaped metal contraption. “School is stupid. My teacher is a big dumb weasel.”
“Now, now. What is the problem?”
“The school doesn’t treat us fairly. They let the squirrels do whatever they want.”
Mrs. Hooper smiled a little bit on the inside. In recent years, her son had been one of the students who had a hard time sitting still in class. It was good to see that he was moving beyond that and had reached the point of being disgusted with the kids who couldn’t sit still. “I’m certain the school will take care of them. It’s early in the year. They will identify the trouble makers and deal with them soon enough.”
“Well, someone has to,” asserted AJ.
His mother decided to change the subject. “So, what are you working on? I’m surprised you aren’t playing Battle Bunnies with Bucky.”
AJ sighed as only a thirteen-year-old can sigh. “First of all, the game is Rabbit Warrior. Second of all, I don’t play with Bucky. He’s one of them. Third of all, I’m building something that is more important than the game. Will you please just let me be?”
#
“So far we seem to have above a ninety-five percent success rate,” explained Art. He could not help but allow himself to display a wide grin. “The subliminal manipulation gets stronger every day. Even the youths who no longer play the game are continually affected.”
“That is very good,” replied Art’s boss. The eight-foot-tall grey being from the planet Margon also smiled. His smile was much more difficult to perceive, however. Margonians had a difficult time displaying expressions since their faces and body were made of stone.
The boss continued, “Are we certain that the subliminal manipulation will work on others? Earthlings do not have the highest mental capabilities and Earth youth are particularly easily manipulated.”
“Remember, Sir,” replied Art, “this is just the first test. In a few days, we will begin testing version two on a different set of subjects. I do not doubt that the results will be as positive as they have been with this trial.”
“Keep up the good work, Art.”
#
When AJ arrived home from school, his mother was in the driveway waiting for him.
“AJ. I got a call from your principal. He said you have been acting strangely. He also said you got in a fight today.”
“Yeah, well, Bucky deserved it. It’s the school fault for allowing the enemy to be in the same building as us.”
“What do you mean ‘enemy’? Isn’t that kind of harsh?”
“The stupid squirrels are the enemy. They need to be put in their place.”
“I don’t know what going on with you, AJ. But this type of behavior has to stop. Your principal even says that you’ve started spelling your name wrong on all of your papers. You are AJ Hooper, not AJ Hopper. Now, go to your room immediately. You are grounded for the rest of the night and I’ve taken that stupid game out of your room. You better have a different attitude when I come to talk to you later.”
#
AJ sat at the foot of his four-post bed. Each of the posts was exquisitely carved in the shape of a carrot. He was so upset that his ears flopped down and rested on his shoulders. How could his mother be so blind to the threat the squirrels posed? They needed to be taken down. If no one else was going to do it, he would have to.
AJ hopped to his window. His mother would be busy in the kitchen and would not notice if he snuck out. He pushed the window pain up and stepped through with animal-like agility. He knew what he had to do. He quickly and quietly made his way to the garage. There he grabbed his prototype hammer thrower and a couple of hammers from the toolbox. Bucky was not going to be able to hide this time.
As he started to sneak down the street, AJ noticed some movement to his left. A flash of red fur caught his eye. He looked closer and spied Bucky hiding behind a car. The squirrel’s ugly tail sticking out above the hood.
Bucky had not seen him. AJ took one of the hammers and hooked it onto the rubber tubing. He was going to be ready to fire once he had Bucky in range. As he slowly crept towards his prey, AJ noticed something in his enemy’s hand. Bucky appeared to be holding some sort of make-shift bomb. He clutched a large bottle filled with a light amber colored fluid. The bottle also contained several tiny cylinders that AJ instantly recognized as firecrackers. A cloth fuse had been inserted into the neck of the bottle with a portion sticking out of the top. It was clear what Bucky intended to do. He had to be stopped.
AJ silently crept behind his nemesis. At a distance of about ten feet, he stopped. He aimed his hammer throwing device at the squirrel and began to pull back on the rubber tubing. He had tested the sling-shot before and knew that by flicking his wrist as he released the hammer the distance could be easily covered.
Bucky was beginning to pull a lighter from his pocket when AJ shouted at him. “You squirrel scum.”
AJ fired his hammer the moment Bucky turned toward him. The hammer somersaulted through the air and impacted squarely into Bucky’s face.
AJ laughed as Bucky slumped to the ground. Three birds appeared out of nowhere and began to circle the fallen squirrel’s head. Soon a pair of weasels would arrive carrying a stretcher to take the fallen rodent away. His mission accomplished, AJ turned to begin the hop back to his home.
#
Art and his boss attentively watched the Earth news broadcast.
“We have reports of many unprovoked incidents of violence amongst teenagers. In Bloomington, a pair of teenage boys fought each other with makeshift swords. Both were seriously injured. In Springfield, a boy was severely injured when another used some sort of sling-shot device to hit him in the face with a hammer. A youth was nearly killed when someone dropped a large rock on him from a second-story window. There have been four incidents of arson reported, each involving a teenage boy. So far, there is no explanation for this rash of violent crimes and they seem to be limited to the Midwest. We will have more details as they become available.”
“Well, I think we can safely say that the first test has proven to be a complete success,” proclaimed Art.
“I agree,” commented his boss. “So, what is the second test?”
“Since the subliminal manipulation works on Earth youth we have decided to see if it will work on the adults of that planet. The United States military has just signed a contract to use integrated virtual reality in the training of its soldiers. This should be good.”
“Yes, it should,” added Art’s Margonian boss. Even with a face made of stone, he somehow managed to generate an expression of pleasure. “Planets are going to be willing to pay a great deal to have a means of creating unlimited loyal soldiers. We are going to make a fortune.”
—
James Rumpel is a retired high school math teacher who has greatly enjoyed using his newfound additional free time to rekindle his love for science fiction and the written word.
