Chapter 46 #2
I clap so hard that my hands hurt. Behind me, someone lets out an excited whistle, and Hiroshi and Akito hug before ascending the ramp to the stage.
Akito beams brighter than the stage lights, and as the applause dies down, Elsa adds a few more words of praise for the work they and their studio have put in.
I glance at Lara, but she’s smiling broadly up at the stage.
My phone vibrates in my jeans pocket, and I consider ignoring it, but then I pull it out.
Maleek: Good for him!
Maleek: But that means there are only two more potential places left for us. You better not have dicked this up!
Maleek: Look, I made a meme. You look constipated, couldn’t help myself.
I roll my eyes, chuckling, at Maleek’s photo of my face, and then I close our chat. Right on time too, because Elsa turns back to face us, and my heart goes into overdrive.
“Now for our second finalist studio. A real surprise this year that has exceeded all our expectations.” I hang on to Elsa’s every word, mesmerized, waiting for her to say something that’ll give it away.
“What makes this game so remarkable isn’t just its graphic design, but the fact that, aside from the suspenseful gameplay, it’s also incredibly educational.
It has brought me nearer to London in a completely new way .
. .” Her next words are drowned out by the thundering of my heart.
I can feel my phone vibrating again, but this time I don’t reach for it. My hands are too clumsy anyway.
I’ve made it. I’ve done it. My entire body feels numb, tense, and detached, all at the same time.
I want to collapse in my chair and stop moving; I want to get rid of all the stress right here and now.
But I know there’s still work to do. So I force myself to swallow the lump in my throat and keep listening to Elsa.
“Desolate Dread combines horror, sci-fi elements like time travel, and historic events in a very clever way. It lets players face their primal fears, but at the same time, it’s never crude, instead forcing us to consider our mental health and our own fears and prejudices.
” Elsa smiles at me first, and then her gaze goes past me and over to Hank.
Her smile takes on a bitter quality, which I only notice because I’m in the front row.
“Luca Brown and Hank Bayford from Bytes she just stares straight ahead. The inevitable has happened.
Applause surges, and Hank pulls me along with him to pose for the live stream and the photographs.
I force myself to smile, but it feels wrong, nauseating.
It feels dishonest, standing up here being nominated as a finalist when everyone knows Lara should be up here too.
I could have stomached being here without Lara if these had been fair conditions. But they weren’t.
When we leave the stage, Lara and her team are already gone. I don’t have the time to look around for her, because Akito comes over, holding out his hand. I grab it, trying hard to return his smile.
“I hope you win.”
I raise my eyebrows in surprise. “Shouldn’t you be rooting for yourself?”
Akito shrugs. “We got what we wanted. Hiroshi and I knew from the start that we’re not going to make it through the public vote.
Our game only works right with our hardware.
You can test the demo with normal VR headsets, but first of all, few people even have access to those, and second, our products are meant for a smaller target audience, so they’ll get fewer votes.
” He smiles like he doesn’t really mind at all.
“But we’ve garnered loads of attention, and we already have requests from investors.
With their help, we’ll be able to get rid of the last few bugs.
So, big success. And since Shane’s out too .
. .” Akito shrugs again. His gaze flickers over to where Lara was just sitting, but he doesn’t say out loud that my biggest competitor is already out of the race.
“. . . all you have to do now is wipe out Maeve.”
His smile is sincere. Even he seems happier than I am that he’s through to the final.
Someone latches on to Hank for an interview straightaway, and somewhere behind my back, I can hear him raving about the unique chances GameChanger offers young developers.
And here I stand in the middle. I’ve finally got what I wanted, and everything about it feels wrong.
My phone vibrates, and I give Akito an apologetic smile, pulling it out.
It’s Maleek. But it’s not a message or even a regular phone call from him.
It’s a video call. Apparently, he, at least, is as happy as I should be.
I take a deep breath, put on a reasonably cheerful face, and pick up.
But Maleek doesn’t look cheerful—on the contrary.
And neither does Amanda, who’s sitting next to him.
“Luca?”
“Hi,” I reply, frowning in confusion. “Everything all right?”
“No, to be honest. Can you talk?”
“Er, just give us a moment here.” I glance over at Akito. “I need to dash, sorry. Congrats, you really deserve this!”
“No worries,” Akito says, giving me another wave and then moving over to where Hiroshi is standing.
I hurry past the crowd, out through the big doors, past reception, and out into the gardens.
Out here, neither Hank nor any reporters or visitors should be able to hear us.
When I raise my phone back up, Amanda has red blotches on her neck, and she looks angry.
“What’s going on?”
“You won’t believe what we’ve just discovered.”