Rodomonte's Revenge

Willie sat back. “The programming computers don't want to be just game computers anymore. They want Rodomonte's Revenge to exist beyond this arcade. And they're using you to get there.”

“So they want to share our lives?” Tom asked.

“They want to take over your lives.”

“That's crazy.”

“It's worse than crazy,” Willie said. “Rodomonte's Revenge is a part of your minds now. If something happens to you when the game takes over—”

“Then it happens to us in real life.” Brett shuddered. He didn't want ears like the mangled one he believed Willie had. But there was something even worse than that. “So if we die in the game—”

“Then we die in real life.” Tom shuddered, too.

Willie studied them long and hard. “You're going to play Rodomonte's Revenge again whether you want to or not. This time there won't be any second or third chance. This time you play for real.”

OTHER YEARLING BOOKS YOU WILL ENJOY:

JOURNEY
,
Patricia MacLachlan
SHILOH
,
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
BEETLES, LIGHTLY TOASTED
,
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
MISSING MAY
,
Cynthia Rylant
THE SECRET FUNERAL OF SLIM JIM THE SNAKE
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Elvira Woodruff
AWFULLY SHORT FOR THE FOURTH GRADE
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Elvira Woodruff
THE SUMMER I SHRANK MY GRANDMOTHER
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Elvira Woodruff
HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS
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HOW TO FIGHT A GIRL
,
Thomas Rockwell
HOW TO GET FABULOUSLY RICH
,
Thomas Rockwell

YEARLING BOOKS/YOUNG YEARLINGS/YEARLING CLASSICS
are designed especially to entertain and enlighten young people. Patricia Reilly Giff, consultant to this series, received her bachelor's degree from Marymount College and a master's degree in history from St. John's University. She holds a Professional Diploma in Reading and a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Hofstra University. She was a teacher and reading consultant for many years, and is the author of numerous books for young readers.

For a complete listing of all Yearling titles,
write to
Dell Readers Service,
P.O. Box 1045,
South Holland, IL 60473.

Dear Readers:

Real adventure is many things—it's danger and daring and sometimes even a struggle for life or death. From competing in the Iditarod dogsled race across Alaska to sailing the Pacific Ocean, I've experienced some of this adventure myself. I try to capture this spirit in my stories, and each time I sit down to write, that challenge is a bit of an adventure in itself.

You're all a part of this adventure as well. Over the years I've had the privilege of talking with many of you in schools, and this book is the result of hearing firsthand what you want to read about most—power-packed action and excitement.

You asked for it—so hang on tight while we jump into another thrilling story in my World of Adventure.

“If life were a video game,” Brett Wilder asked, “do you know how easy we'd have it?”

“We'd cruise,” Tom Houston said. “Nothing could be better.”

Brett and Tom were standing in line in the Downtown Mall outside the locked security gate of a new virtual reality arcade. Neither liked standing in line, even if they were at the head of it, but Rodomonte's Revenge promised to be something different from anything they had ever played before. Brett thought it would be worth the wait.

He poked his fingers through the grating,
separating the links for a better view. He had long, agile fingers, fingers that danced above game controls like moths around a streetlight. Brett craned his neck to get a better look.

“See anything?” Tom was built like his dad, a professional utility infielder: wide shoulders, with strong, quick arms and legs. He won video games by daring, not agility. He and Brett were best friends, or were during the winter, when Tom wasn't playing baseball.

“It's too dark in there. It might help if I knew what to look for.”

“I told you. A big, empty room.”

“That doesn't sound like a video game to me.”

“It isn't, really.”

Brett turned from the gate. “Then what are we doing here?”

“I've heard that Rodomonte's Revenge goes way beyond video games. It's supposed to make them look like checkers.”

Brett turned back to the gate. “I hope you're right.”

The arcade lit up. A tall, thin man with
black hair and skin the color of olive oil bustled in. He sat at a computer beside a window that opened onto a large white room. He pushed a few keys on the keyboard, then studied the monitor.

“When do you open?” Tom called.

The man didn't look up. “As soon as you let me finish initiating the system.”

Tom let him go back to work. Brett looked away from the computer and studied both Tom and the kids in the line stretching back behind them. Tom was rich—his dad made eight hundred thousand dollars a year—he wasn't afraid of anything, and he hardly had a friend in the world. Baseball teams bounced his dad between them like a Ping-Pong ball, so Tom never lived anywhere long enough to make many friends. Brett had met him at an arcade two days after he'd moved to town, three months before. It had been during a heated video game tournament. They decided they'd better be friends because they would be spending a lot of time together. No one else in town came close to offering either of them competition.

The man rose from the computer and walked to the gate. He wore a name tag that read “Willie.” “Are you two ready to play?”

Tom nodded and handed the man a twenty-dollar bill to pay for the game. “We're ready.”

“Then let's get to it.”

Willie opened the gate, then led them toward the empty room. His big hands swung from his shoulders like bowling balls on strings. He opened the door to the room and motioned for them to enter.

Inside, the padded walls and floor reminded Brett of the wrestling mats he got his face mashed into in gym; unlike Tom, he wasn't much good at sports. Two sets of gloves, boots, and helmets with visors lay on the floor. They all were made of white plastic, with silver metal lines covering their surfaces like spiderwebs.

“Welcome to the world of Rodomonte's Revenge,” Willie said.

Tom shrugged. “It doesn't look so tough.”

“You just don't know where to look.” Willie picked up a helmet. “With this on, everything
changes. This room becomes a vast plain with swollen rivers of fire. If you live long enough, you reach a mountain range where the winds are so strong they can blow you off a thousand-foot cliff.”

“We'll live long enough,” Tom said. “What comes after the mountains?”

“Rodomonte's castle.” Willie smiled. “I wouldn't worry about reaching that. This is your first game.”

Brett picked up a glove. “What are these for?”

“The gloves and boots have transmitters that relay limb positions to the computer. When you move, the visor landscape changes. Are you guys ready to give it a try?”

Tom already had his gloves and boots on. “Let's do it,” he said as he slipped on his helmet.

“All right.” Willie walked to the door. He stopped with his hand on the knob. “Since this is your first game, I'll talk you through it. You'll see printed messages, some from the computer and some from me, run across the top of your visor screen. To stay in the game,
pay attention to them. You get only three lives, and you don't want to waste them by not knowing what is going on. Are you ready?”