The Game (The Game is Life Book 1)

This is the first book of the series by Terry Schott. He started writing this book in his blog and spread it among his friends via Facebook.

## Main story arc

The first book mainly follows Zack, Brandon Strayne and Alexandra Montoyas on Tygon as well as on Earth in the form of their avatars Trew and Danielle around the events of the 30th anniversary of The Game.

The concept of The Game is explained in detail by the use of interview and book snippets which talk about the history and the value of the game for society on Tygon.

http://www.amazon.com/Game-Life-Book-ebook/dp/B009U5TCKU/

## Chapter Breakdown

A brief description of each chapter from Book 1

Book One Chapter Summaries

Chapter 1 - An old man wakes up in a white room and thinks he died. Instead of in his 70’s, he is now a young man of 17, His friend KYLE is there to welcome him back. The old man - now young, is named ZACK. And he the full life he remembers having just lived was actually a play inside an immersive Virtual Reality simulation called, the GAME.

Chapter 2 - Zack talks to Kyle for a bit. His memory is pretty fuzzy but he is told it will come back soon. Zack notices he is wearing a bracelet that has a green gem with gold flakes floating around in it. Kyle gives him a pair of glasses to put on and it begins to play a video that explains where he was and what happened to him.

Chapter 3 – We learn a little about the Game, then Kyle quizzes Zack about the documentary he watched through glasses.  Zack remembers something that makes him happy. He is very successful at playing the Game so far and has a comfortable lifestyle here. He’s also a superstar and other players treat him like he is a celebrity… because in this world, he is!

Chapter 4 – Zack returns to his apartment and we learn that BRANDON STRAYNE is his Patron, they discuss his next play/strategy  -  learn about FIRSTING and that ANGELICA is going to interview Zack and that she was one of the best players and finished her last play 4yrs ago in 1st place. This is a very rare occurrence. Billions of kids play, and most fail out before reaching their ‘retirement’ age of 18. Only a few have finished in 1st place on their last play. The world is excited at the idea of Zack being in position to maybe do this.

Chapter 5 – We read more about the history of the Game, Brandon & VIRTDYNE. It was a company that invented virtual reality but could not make it work and was close to going out of business. A young Brandon stepped in and solved their problem, making vr possible and also receiving controlling shares of the company so he became the owner. He then took VirtDyne on to convince the world to make the Game the new school for kids all over the world. It also had a side benefit of allowing adults and the world to follow students as they played. This resulted over 30 years of the Game becoming the key source for education, entertainment and basically control over the world. And Brandon Strayne profited from it all. We are now celebrating 30 years of the Game at this point and there are some special events planned. Everyone is watching Zack, excited by what he may or may not accomplish on his final play.

Chapter 6 - Brandon is interviewed by LISA ROHANSEN, we learn the history of the Game.  – he announces that Zack will be interviewed by Angelica and reveals that someone named ALEXANDRA MONTOYAS, a student who failed out of the Game, is being offered the chance to come back in for one free play. This is exciting news to fans.

Chapter 7 – We learn some of Alexandra’s history, in & out of the Game. How she was trending and successful, then became girlfriend to Zack. She risked all her points on trying to hook up wth Zack in Game. It failed and she failed out. Now we see Alexandra in the place where failed students go. TRADITIONAL SCHOOL. It is a terrible place. A slave work camp where these kids are forced to work for food and shelter until they are 18. They do the work the rest of society does not want to do. We see Alexandra trying to evade the dangers of the school. She is hunted down and caught by CRUNCH & his crew of bullies. Her life is in danger but before things get beyond control, she is saved by body guards and is taken away.

Chapter 8 – Alexandra gets called into  PRINCIPAL WILLIAM’s office (students call him the TOAD) & is reunited with her ex sponsor LILITH, accuses her of abandoning her. Lilith shows Alexandra how other “traditional schools” are run and what kids experience. After watching this on a video, Alexandra better understands that she was not abandoned by Lilith and that the woman did the best she could to help her. Even though it was not a lot, she accepts that Lilith tried and forgives her. Lilith tells Alexandra the good news; that she has been given a free play. Another chance to play the Game and escape this hell she is in.

Chapter 9 – Brandon driving in his car & gets a call from his FATHER. We learn there is a bigger plan of some kind that seems to have been going on for quite awhile. We also learn that ‘time is running out’. Will Zack do what they want – yes.  Is Alex a problem – no.

Chapter 10 – Angelica interviews Zack – she gives him the advice to not go for #1 but to do everything he can to finish as low ranked as possible (why?). Fans are also told that the date of his re-entry for the new play into the Game will be 12:21am birth, Dec 21, 2012 (Game Time)

\*\*This date is important. Ask me to explain it in a different post if you don’t see it.

Chapter 11 – 6 days after the interview, Zack goes back into the game. His friend Kyle and Marcie will play the roles in the Game as his parents & we also learn that many other players have spent credits to set up their plays so that they will all be around and able to maybe help interact with Zack to further his play. We learn that it is illegal to hack into the Game and manipulate it directly, but there are also clever ways to spend points and timing of plays and that sort of thing to increase the odds of getting better results (never any guarantee, but increased odds). Zack asks about Alexa but Brandon tells him they can talk about her after this play.  Learn that the player can chose their own name before entering the Game, Zack chooses the name TREW.

Chapter 12 – Game world is called EARTH and is modelled after the real world which is called, TYGON.  – The simulation is controlled by a super computer called the MAINFRAME. Over the aeons of Game time, players inside have come to recognize the influence and presence of the Mainframe and started to refer to this presence as ‘God’.  – Alexandra entered the Game 2 days after Zack – find out what Alexandra had very few credits, not enough to really do a good play. Lilith is mad thinking she has been set up to fail. Alexandra says she is happy for the chance and tries to be positive. Rather than water down her credits by spending them on what most players do, she focuses on simple things and spends all her credits on only three things – HEALTH, LONGEVITY, and FOCUS.  Alexandra reveals she thinks she is a prodigy of the Game itself and her strategy is to play her “life” as if it were a game. The Press won’t speak to her, Lilith suspects others involved to keep her out of the spotlight

Chapter 13 – Takes place on Earth - STEPHANIE has an odd recurring dream (flood), she hears about Trew’s birth, Stephanie feels she must find him.

Chapter 14 – more info about the Game – read about a man named GEORGE R KNIGHT, and how, years before Trew is born, George starts to write a book. In that book, he states that he believes his world is run by a super computer and they are all living in some kind of game…

Chapter 15 – At VirtDyne, we meet Zack’s (Trew’s) team and his RIGHT HAND MICHELLE.  They learn someone is trying to kill Trew (can be quite common for players who are trying to rank high).  Allude to a protector.  Trew is rich (1Million dollars gifted to his parents for him because he was the first (only) child born on Dec 21, 2012) and has good parents that teach him about religion/spiritualism.  Trew is 7 and not yet self-narrating

Brandon asks about Alexandra (playing as DANIELLE BENTON), looks at her credits and scoffs – disbelief that this strategy will amount to anything. The team says that  RAPHAEL was spotted following Danni. This concerns Brandon & he wants confirmation.

Chapter 16 – Danni is 8yrs old, racing friends doing parkour, wins, falls into traffic, Raphel saves her. We get to see her carefree “life is a game” mindset and see that her credits are at work, and paying off at least in the short term. And this confirms for the reader that Raphael is there and actually protecting her.

Chapter 17 – GAME MASTER named HACK (secret game master that reports to Brandon and works apart from the others) announces he has succeeded at developing a method for communicating with avatars inside the game when they are meditating. This goes against the rules and programming of the Game. Must remain secret to all, especially the Mainframe. Brandon says he is going to use this to “become a god”

Chapter 18 – it is a hot December, Trew is 9 – karate tourney. Steph & Raph meet, we learn they know each other. Trew meets Danni in Game.

Chapter 19 – Trew & Danni spar. Trew uses his “talent”, Danni and the eternals spot it, Raph lets Steph know Danni has it too.  Concern they will not forget it as is often the case now that each has seen another with it. Trew barely wins the spar match, excellent skills – Danni and him are already instantly friendly and comfortable with each other. He asks if she can join them for ice cream. She can and does.

Chapter 20 - COMMAND CENTRE – Brandon not happy as they watch Trew & Danni meet.  Brandon says Danni is a wild card and doesn’t want her interfering in Zack’s play.  All team members bet life savings on the play for #1.  Question asked - How did Alex get a timeless? It is very expensive to get one in Game, possible only for wealthy players who spend a ton of points before they begin their play. Alexandra did not have nearly enough points for such a purchase and he saw she did not make that buy. Brandon tells Angelica to watch feed (tells us she can watch through timeless).  They find out that the Mainframe gifted Raphael to Dannielle. Brandon is not pleased to hear this.

Chapter 21 – Lisa Rohansen interviews Brandon on camera and asks about Danni & Trew, also Timeless – are they real? Brandon does his regular charming thing, providing a good interview without giving any concrete information about strategies and also not having to address if the mythical Timeless really exist. Some players swear they do but they have never been seen in anyone’s Game feed by viewers. And they remain a myth.

Chapter 22 – Danni finds an old copy of a book titled,  “The Game is Life” by George R Knight in a used book store & learns Trew did too – they begin to read the book together over a zoom style chat (they still live far apart).

Chapter 23 – Brandon/Michelle discuss George’s book – we learn George was Zack on his last play (at the beginning of this book, the old man and life that Zack remembers was him as George R Knight) . We learn that Brandon tried to arrange for the complete destruction of all trade copies of that book George wrote (there were only 100) but somehow at least two survived. Not only did they not get destroyed, but the kids still found a copy each at the same time! Brandon also not pleased that the two continue to be friends and are interacting with each other. This is an issue with the two of them together, both showing and growing their talent & becoming spiritual. Brandon decides it is time to talk to Mainframe.

Chapter 24 – Brandon meets Mainframe, SYLVIA. Sylvia is a sentient ai life form (not known to anyone else on Tygon except Brandon) after a verbal game of cat and mouse, both of them deny that they can communicate with the avatars, even though both suspect the other has found a way to do so.

Chapter 25 – Danni & Trew finish reading the Game is Life, discuss that they might be living in a game, talk about committing to learning lots of things to further investigate how this might be true. They also wonder how to use this knowledge, if it does prove true.

Chapter 26 – Stephanie’s dream of not being able to save her mother, the lake that crushes her.  Goes to visit Trew & learns the kids both have copies of “the Game is Life”.  And then, out of nowhere, CARL appears.

Chapter 27 – Carl & Steph talk. Says that he is there to take a look at the kids, some threats thrown around. Stephanie plays protective mother wolf. Carl finds that cute, not intimidated, then he says he will go.

Chapter 28 – Angelica takes headset off from viewing the interaction between Carl and Stephanie (she was firsting through Stephanie’s point of view.) Brandon visits, they discuss the Carl issue, Brandon says it doesn’t appear dangerous to their player Zack (Trew) at least not at the moment.  He predicts Carl will go on a killing spree.  Brandon tells Angelica to deliver a message another Timeless inside the game, an ETERNAL named SAMANTHA, and also to Stephanie.

Brandon wants Samantha and Steph to begin meditating every day for 15 minutes at a set time. Brandon has been thinking about his conversation with Sylvia, and has a thought… thinking that if he controls and can communicate with avatars inside the Game through meditation, perhaps she has found a way to do it through a similar mind frequency achieved by players when they are praying.

Brandon is frustrated. He hoped to gain an advantage to help Trew with the meditation, but is not sure it can work if Sylvia has found a way to get similar communication she will try and outwit and outplay him. Time is running out – Trew must succeed

Chapter 29 – Trew is now15. He visits Danni for her Birthday. They talk about their working theory that they are all living in a virtual simulation. Both agree with every new thing they look at to consider. They they talk about sharing the message and how getting people to believe them that they are in a game might not be easy, but they feel it’s worth a try. Commit to doing this over time and when the opportunities arise.

They have their first kiss.

Chapter 30 – Brandon is at his penthouse going over issues – Trew, Danni, Timeless, Mainframe/Sylvia – Father calls, tells Brandon to allow Danni to remain alive. Tells her that “she’s the one”. Her entrance into the Game activated something. \*\* If her avatar exits the game, Mainframe will shut the game down forever. It has suddenly become very important for Danni to remain in the Game if Trew is to have any chance to finish his last play in first place.

Chapter 31 -  Danni & Trew – talk about the experiment keeping the chicken cell alive for 30 years. They wonder if that might mean humans can live longer than they do also. They decide to spend time studying things that can help them through life, and to divide them up so they can accomplish more as a team than one person could on their own– reiki, psych, eastern & western, decide to be healthy so their avatars can live the longest possible. I think one of them declares they will live to be 140, and the other agrees.

Chapter 32 – Raphael follows a guy who has been following Danni, finds a SEVER SPIKE on the guy and kills him with it.

Chapter 33 – Lilith & Brandon meet, she asks for help talking to Raphael. Brandon learns that someone tried to sever spike Danni and is angry. He thinks maybe it is time to join Alexandra’s team with Zack’s. Lilith agrees and is glad for the extra help this will bring (and increase the odds of her player doing better than they dared hope for)

Chapter 34 – Samantha meets DANIEL (the devil) in a back alley and delivers Brandon’s message (that she must have received from meditation). The request is for the INFERNALS to agree to put a CLEAN MARK on Danni which means both sides of the timeless will agree not to hurt or kill Danielle. Daniel, the devil, agrees.

Chapter 35 – Trew is now 17 or so. We see him with his current girlfriend JANE. The relationship isn’t really very good, even by teenager standards. He finds out Jane has been cheating with another guy. Rather than get mad and fight, Trew just walks away, realizing that he did not feel for her the way he feels for someone else… Danielle.

Chapter 36 – Danni & Trew talk about spirituality, chakras, etc, and a relationship with each other. They agree to start dating. This makes them both happy =)

Chapter 37 – Command Centre – we see the kids together, Zack is turning 20, and both are doing very well in the game.  Talk about Belief vs Faith.  The Team guesses that based on their studies and actions that the kids intend to turn the Game into a religion. Brandon is not thrilled to hear this, but there is nothing they can do but watch and see how that turns out.

Chapter 38 – Introduction to SHANE. He hunts the library, looking for new subjects for his ZOO. He finds one and we see how that works. Great chapter.

Chapter 39 – Blurb – Don’t be a farmer

Chapter 40 – We learn that the way the Game is broadcast to viewers on Tygon, there is a 1hr delay for all viewers except Brandon – this is a 30 year secret. He has a special live feed where he sees the Game events happen in real time when no other person can. He uses this feed to give access to  Angelica who spends much time monitoring it for him. She tells Brandon that Trew is not interested in meditating, yet he is spending time silent and contemplative. Brandon shakes his head, and guesses that he is praying. And prayer has been locked out for Brandon and his technician Hack. They come up with a plan to correct this and Brandon delivers messages to the inside (Angelica → Raph – Danni) to attempt to encourage  Trew to meditate instead of pray, so that Brandon can deliver messages to him directly.

Chapter 41 – Danni & Trew live together.  Trew brings Raph home for dinner, get to talking about meditating, but Trew says he is not interested. Even Danielle asking him to try delivers no results for him and he goes back to prayer.

Chapter 42 – Brandon, Angelica, Michelle discuss the fact that Danni and Trew are having moments where they appear to be “disappearing”.  Brandon reveals the game can be taped & reviewed. This is another thing known only to Brandon (everyone has been told this is not possible. Firsting is different, it is a finished play and complete. Brandon can tape and review while they are still in their play. Firsting happens only after they exit and all data is compiled. Brandon tells them not to be worried. The kids are simply Meditating when they “disappear”

Chapter 43 – Despite trying repeatedly to meditate to please Danni and Stephanie who are both asking him to do so, Trew can’t meditate. He talks about prayer. Trew also proposes to Danni.

Chapter 44 – Steph’s dream – the maze.  She meets Raph for breakfast, they talk about revealing to the kids that they know each other.  Talk about Trew’s verbal skills.  Revolution/Religion. Raph says they are the same thing.

Chapter 45 – Brandon & Sylvia speak. Really confront each other about hacking into the game.  Brandon is angry because Sylvia has taken his potential advantage & stolen it (made Zack unavailable to him). Sylvia offers to help. Brandon finds out Sylvia selected that Danni’s death would end the Game on purpose.  She was given final say.  Brandon asks who allowed that. Sylvia will not tell him and he can not draw it out of her.

Chapter 46 – Lisa Rohansen selected as host for a new Fan channel dedicated to all things Trew channel.  We watch the Wedding day and see Danni and Trew get married inside the Game. It is a big event to them and their families but a huge deal outside on Tygon and all celebrate it.  Lilith & Brandon guest star at a very special event to celebrate and watch as their two kids get married inside the Game.

Chapter 47 – Trew, recap of wedding day. Brandon and Lilith. Lilith knows what is likely to come and begins to cry, saying “she didn’t have enough points for this.” Trew finishes the internal monologue with the thought “I’m in heaven”.

Chapter 48 – Meeting at Command Centre, 3yrs have passed since the kids got married, Trew is 28, Danni is 27 and pregnant.  She didn’t have points for smooth pregnancy so everyone is keeping an eye on her from the command centre. Hoping for the best, but knowing there is most likely to be trouble of some sort on this front.

Chapter 49 – Trew comes home and finds Danni on the floor. His panicked thought at the end of this chapter is, “I’m in hell”.

Chapter 50 – Brandon at the Command Centre. Danni is brain dead atm and Brandon says “no one pulls the plug”.  He fires one of the team members named CLAUDETTE  for saying “she is just a video game character.  They start a ‘pray for Danni campaign’ with citizens of Tygon.

Chapter 51 – Two suited men come to the hospital – Gabriel & an un named man. The unnamed man saves Danni, looking directly through the eyes of the player to deliver a message to viewers on Tygon, telling them that their prayer and well wishes were what allowed him to intervene and save the girl’s life inside the Game.

Danielle’s live is saved, but loses the child.

Chapter 52 – Danni in hospital, feeling better. Both her and Trew are sad at the loss of their child. They also learn Danni will never be able to have children. During her recovery in the hospital, Raph & Steph explain a bit about who the other two were… and admit that they are Timeless.

Ch 53 – Raph & Steph do explain Timeless without any SCRAMBLING (usually all reference to Timeless is cloaked by a scramble program. Not this time though. All viewers watch and learn about Timeless with Danni and Trew). We learn that Timeless live inside the game long and their bodies on tygon die.  They can do awesome things but try not to as once they open the door for any other normal avatar can do ‘the impossible’ also. Infernals vs eternals explained a bit.

Ch54 – Brandon has another phone call with his dad.  Father is not happy Tygon was ‘shown about timeless’  Brandon explodes in anger at being questioned about his methods as he is the best & was chosen because of it (better than his father even) Brandon smashes phone, frustrated that things are difficult and time is running out.

Ch 55 – Trew buys a car from JOHN, Turns out that John knew George Knight when he was alive.

Ch 56 – Trew turns 30, big party.  Buys car from John.  Danni has one more present – she tells him about the time she almost died & how she met God, they decide to go forward & get serious with building the Gamer movement.

Ch 57 – Brandon at the Command Centre.  Trew is now 35 and the movement the couple created 5 Game years ago is growing , Raph is helping, we learn how big a deal Raph is to the history of the Game.  BUT… Zack’s Ranking is dipping. Brandon assures them all is on track. Path is not what they planned but all agree to help him (Trew, and also Danni) move forward with it as it currently exists.

Ch 58 – Steph & Trew visit Danni at her job, she shows them what she can accomplish with her Reiki.  Steph is very impressed, only the best & most skilled timeless can accomplish this type of thing.

Ch 59 – Danni 37, Trew 38 – Trew is now doing talks to big groups about their movement to great success. They have been flown into a nice location and get some time to spend on the beach before the talk, life is good.

During the presentation, Carl appears and kind of threatens them then leaves.

Ch 60 – Trew is 39 – Surprise party in paris with Danni, 6 months before his b-day. They discuss the movement, love etc. Things continue to build.

Ch 61 – Trew 40, had a good day with family etc, he gives a big talk. Gets separated from Raph when he gets onto the elevator – Carl is there.  Panic at the Command Centre.  Trew is stabbed  by in the eye with a Sever Spike by Trew. He screams in horrible pain, and dies.

Epilogue – Command Centre. The results of Trew’s Game performance come in and they learn that he finished #1 – The team celebrates, until they see the sever spike. We know from this that Zack is permanently dead in the real world of Tygon. Agree not to release this for a day or two while the world celebrates.

Brandon visits Zack’s room to pull the plug but his Father is there. We see from the description that this is the same man who saved Danielle inside the Game when she almost died. It is Samson Thorn. The two men hug and Thorn says he must leave. Before he exits the room, he tells Brandon not to pull the plug on Zack.

To be continued in Book 2

### A Brief Synopsis of Book 1

On the planet Tygon, The Game is a virtual reality simulation which has replaced all other forms of entertainment and the majority of the population obsessively watches the players compete. Top ranked players are wealthy superstars, low ranked players are forced to leave the Game to become slaves. The Game simulates real life; Players are born, age, live, and die inside the Game, not knowing that they are playing in a simulation.

Brandon Strayne, creator of the Game,  controls the world both financially and politically. He sponsors Zack, a top ranked player, and encourages him to risk everything during his final play in order to retire as number one. Zack’s old girlfriend, Alexandra, previously ejected from the Game and sent to the slave camps, wins a chance to play during the same time as Zack’s final play.

Zack (Trew inside the Game) and Alexandra (Danielle inside the Game) grow up inside the simulation and, over time, meet each other and fall in love. They begin to believe that they are living in a virtual reality and their conviction gets stronger as they age. They marry and begin to share their theory with others. Over time, millions of people begin to follow Trew and a new religion/movement is formed.

Brandon Strayne watches the developments with satisfaction; he has been hoping for a player to create such a movement inside the Game since creating the simulation thirty years ago. Brandon’s father contacts him periodically, reminding him that time is running out and this plan had best succeed.

Fans watch closely as Danielle becomes pregnant but suddenly loses the baby and almost dies herself. Mysterious men known as Timeless (entities talked about by fans but not seen in the entire history of the Game) appear at the last moment and use what seems like magic to save her, but she loses the baby.

For the first forty years of their virtual lives, Trew and Danielle live a life filled with many extraordinary adventures. There are many instances where they do things which are thought to be impossible. Fans watch the romance and adventures they have and love it. When Trew turns forty, after a large birthday party in his honour, he is separated from his Timeless protectors and assassinated by an evil Immortal named Carl who uses a weapon on Trew that causes permanent death in both the Game, and Tygon.

With his death, Trew’s play is complete. Unaware that he will not wake up in his home reality, fans are overjoyed as he finishes ranked number one, a feat accomplished only 11 times in the 30 year history of the Game. Danielle mourns the loss of her husband but thinks he has returned safely to their home reality and she will see him again. Trew (Zack again) is in a bed on life support, brain dead. Brandon goes to unplug him, but his father is there and tells him to leave the boy plugged in for a bit, even though he can not wake up.