<p><b>CHAPTER<br>1</b></p> <p>I'm watching a virtual-reality program on one of my dad's computers. I wear a pair of VR goggles-a bulky headset that holds a six-inch-wide screen in front of my eyes-and on the screen I see a simulated football field. It looks like the field behind Yorktown High School but better, nicer. Its yard lines are perfectly straight, and the simulated turf has no bare spots. That's what I love about VR programs-how you can use them to build a virtual world that's way better than ordinary reality. I've created the perfect field for the perfect game.</p> <p>Crouched near the fifty-yard line are eleven computer-animated characters who resemble the defensive squad of the Yorktown High football team. Opposite them, eleven similar figures wear the uniforms of Lakeland High, our biggest rival. On the sidelines, a dozen cheerleader characters perform their routines for the computer-animated crowd in the virtual bleachers. The tallest and prettiest cheerleader is Brittany Taylor, who scissors her long legs as she screams, "Go Yorkies!" Her green-and-silver uniform sparkles on the screen.</p> <p>My character is on the sidelines too, sitting on the bench with the other players on Yorktown's offense. My avatar in this program is the quarterback, a big, muscled guy with the name ARMSTRONG written across his broad shoulders. The VR goggles show me the quarterback's view of the virtual football field. When I turn my head to the side, the quarterback turns in the same direction. When I look down, I see his massive forearms, spectacularly ripped. I chose this avatar because this is the kind of body I should've had. This is what I would've looked like if I'd had a normal, healthy life.</p> <p>(Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little. I was a scrawny kid even before I got sick, a pale, undersized boy with mousy-brown hair. But it's my program-I wrote almost every line of the software-so I'm allowed to exaggerate.)</p> <p>There's less than a minute left in the game. Lakeland is ahead twenty-five to twenty-one, but it's fourth down and now they have to punt. Our kick returner makes a great catch and carries the ball back to the fifty-yard line before he's tackled. Then Coach McGrath points at me. "Armstrong! Get in there and make something happen!"</p> <p>Brittany turns away from the bleachers and looks at me, her mouth half-open. Her image is an exact replica of the real Brittany Taylor. I created it by inputting dozens of photographs of her into the program. But the best part is her voice, which is based on the videos we made a few years ago, back when Brittany came to my house every weekend and we goofed around with my camcorder. The VR program splices Brittany's voice from the videos, rearranging her words to make natural-sounding conversations. Okay, not exactly natural-sounding. It works best when the conversations are short.</p> <p>Smiling, she steps toward me. Her blond hair sways in the virtual breeze. "Good luck, Adam!"</p> <p>Her eyes are amazing. They seem to change color as I stare at her, one moment blue, the next grayish-green. This isn't a bug in the programming; I've seen it happen in real life too. I shiver at the sight, so strange and yet so familiar. It reminds me of how much I miss the real Brittany. I haven't seen her in so long.</p> <p>Then the virtual Brittany disappears. The entire football field slips from view, all the players and cheerleaders and fans, and I see the dull beige walls of my dad's office at the Unicorp lab. The VR goggles have slid off my face. It must've happened when I shivered. Because the muscles in my neck are so weak, it's hard to keep my head upright. Luckily, the goggles fell into my lap and they're still within reach. They're black and fairly heavy, with miniature loudspeakers built into the earpieces. The goggles are connected wirelessly to the server computer on the other side of the room where the VR program is running.</p> <p>If Dad were here, I'd ask for help, but he stepped out of the office a while ago. Now that I think about it, he's been gone a long time, almost half an hour. He usually likes to keep an eye on me when I'm playing with the computers in his office, which are much faster than the ones we have at home. I could alert him by pressing the Lifeline button that hangs from the cord around my neck, but I'm not supposed to use that thing unless there's an emergency. And besides, I'm not completely helpless. Although I can't move my left arm anymore, I have pretty good control over my right. I can still hold a fork and feed myself. And I can still surf the Web and write software code. I send commands to the computer using a custom-made joystick that Dad attached to the right-hand armrest of my wheelchair.</p> <p>I lift my hand from the armrest and gauge the distance to the goggles. They rest on my useless thighs, which stopped working five years ago when I was twelve. Lowering my hand, I grasp one of the earpieces and get a firm grip. Then I raise the goggles to my face and try to slide the earpieces over my ears.</p> <p>It isn't easy. My hand trembles because the goggles are so heavy. The earpieces slide below my ears and down to my neck. I try again, but the trembling gets worse. I want so badly to return to the VR program and see Brittany Taylor smiling at me. I'd give anything just to see her face again.</p> <p>I'm breathing hard and the muscles in my chest are aching. Then, miracle of miracles, the goggles slide into place and I'm back on the football field. But instead of Brittany, I see the ruddy, weathered face of Coach McGrath on the screen.</p> <p>"Let's go, Armstrong! Get on the field! Shotgun formation!"</p> <p>The image of the coach is also based on photos, mostly from the online version of the school newspaper. For the sake of realism, I programmed the virtual McGrath to have the same bad temper as the Yorktown coach and the same football strategy too-he likes passing plays better than running plays, and his favorite offensive formation is the shotgun. The program uses artificial-intelligence software to determine which plays McGrath will call.</p> <p>I got the AI software from my dad, who runs the lab that makes artificial-intelligence programs for Unicorp. (He's sort of famous for writing the AI program called QuizShow, which defeated the champions of Jeopardy! on TV.) The only problem is that I don't always agree with the software's strategy. The program doesn't care about anything but winning, and I'm more interested in having fun.</p> <p>I flick the wheelchair's custom joystick to the left, which moves my avatar onto the virtual field. Near the line of scrimmage I huddle with my teammates. Almost all of them have plain, simply drawn faces. To be honest, I don't know most of the guys on the Yorktown team, so I didn't put much effort into perfecting their virtual likenesses. The one exception is the fullback, Ryan Boyd, who happens to be my best friend. I tried to make the virtual Ryan look as realistic as possible, right down to the U-shaped scar on his chin.</p> <p>He grins as we lean into the huddle. "Let me guess," he says. "Coach wants the shotgun, right?"</p> <p>I don't answer right away. Staring at Ryan's expertly rendered face, I remember the touch football games we used to play in my backyard. That was ten years ago when I was just seven, when I could still run without stumbling all the time. What I loved about Ryan was that he never made fun of me when I fell flat on my face during a game. He would just pull me to my feet and say, "Come on, we're gonna win this thing."</p> <p>The memory hurts. I wince and almost lose my goggles again.</p> <p>I turn away from Ryan and focus on the other Yorktown players. "Yeah, McGrath wants me to pass," I say. "But I'm in the mood to do some running. Let's go for the wishbone, on three. Break!"</p> <p>The players clap and break out of the huddle. They take their places in the wishbone formation, with Ryan right behind me and the two halfbacks behind him. Because the VR goggles are equipped with a microphone, the program hears the play I called and responds accordingly. The Lakeland defense assembles at the line of scrimmage, fronted by five hefty linemen. As I crouch behind Yorktown's center, I look beyond the defensive line and pay special attention to the opposing linebackers. I thought they would spread across the field, but instead they're bunched in the middle, ready to plow into Ryan and the halfbacks.</p> <p>That's good. Now I know what to do.</p> <p>"Hike, hike, hike!" I yell. On the third "hike," the center snaps the football to me and rushes forward. I flick the joystick to the right, putting me in position to hand the ball to Ryan. But at the last instant I shift to the left, keeping possession of the ball and veering toward the sidelines. While Ryan rams into one of the defensive linemen, the halfbacks follow me to the left side of the field.</p> <p>The simulation blurs a little as I dash across the turf, but it's still a thrill. On this virtual football field I'm not trapped in a wheelchair. It really feels like I'm running. My chest tightens and my heart thumps and a bead of sweat slides down my neck. Yes! I'm cruising! I'm tearing up the turf! Just try to stop me, suckers!</p> <p>My virtual halfbacks block the Lakeland linebackers, clearing a path for me along the field's left edge. The only defenseman in sight is the cornerback, who's angling toward me from the forty-yard line. But I push the joystick all the way forward and pour on the speed. My avatar can run as fast as I want. I blow past the cornerback, past the forty-yard line, past the thirty. It's not really fair-the defensemen have no chance of catching up. But who cares? Like I said, it's my program.</p> <p>I practically fly into the end zone. Then I zoom right past it. The screen in my VR goggles goes black; I've reached the edge of the simulated football field, and of course there's nothing beyond it. Flicking the joystick in the opposite direction, I return to the field. The crowd is cheering wildly. We've beaten Lakeland twenty-seven to twenty-five, and I'm the hero of the game.</p> <p>The Yorktown players rush toward me, tossing their helmets in triumph, and the cheerleaders sprint onto the field. Brittany Taylor cartwheels into the throng and does a couple of joyous backflips. This is the moment I've been waiting for, the climax, the payoff. I spent three months writing the VR program, all just to experience this moment of victory.</p> <p>But something's wrong. The virtual celebration on the screen doesn't look real. I programmed the players to high-five all their teammates, but the nonstop hand-slapping looks ridiculous. And the cheerleaders won't stop doing their stunts. Brittany performs three more flips before leaping into the end zone and landing in front of me.</p> <p>"Oh, Adam!" she cries. "You did it! You did it!"</p> <p>"Uh, yeah. Thanks."</p> <p>"I knew you could do it! You saved the day!"</p> <p>Her words make me grimace. The real Brittany would never say that. I need to fix this part of the program, rewrite the dialogue options I provided for her character. And the graphics need work too. Brittany's hair is too perfect. Not a single blond strand is out of place, even after all that leaping and flipping.</p> <p>"You've made me so happy, Adam! I'm the happiest girl in the world right now!"</p> <p>This is embarrassing. I can't believe I wrote those lines. I say nothing in response, but the virtual Brittany doesn't notice my silence. She keeps blurting the stupid things I programmed her to say.</p> <p>"I love you, Adam! I want to be with you forever!"</p> <p>Beaming, she steps toward me with outstretched arms. But I wrench the joystick to the left, yanking my avatar away from her. Because she's not the real Brittany. She's fake. The whole thing's fake.</p> <p>I press the button at the top of the joystick, which freezes the simulation. Writing this program was a mistake. I thought it would make me feel better, make me forget about my illness for a while and enjoy a few minutes of ordinary life. But it didn't work. The program is just stupid and fake and pathetic.</p> <p>A question appears on the screen, superimposed over Brittany's motionless face: Do you wish to exit the program? Yes/No</p> <p>I click Yes. The virtual football field disappears. The screen goes black, and then the computer's screen saver comes on. The name UNICORP, written in angular white letters, streams across a blue background.</p> <p>As I sit there panting, I feel the familiar pain in my chest muscles. It's bad today, like a knife in my ribs. I've had this pain for almost a year now, but in the past few weeks it's gotten worse. The spasms hit me at least a dozen times a day, whenever I'm tired or nervous or upset. I haven't told my parents how bad it's gotten, because that would just freak them out. Mom would start crying and yelling at Dad, who would probably send me to the hospital for another round of useless tests. There's nothing they can do, so what's the point? Better to keep my mouth shut and ride it out.</p> <p>I sit absolutely still and stare at the screen saver. I focus in particular on the upper-right corner of the screen, which shows the date and time. My breathing gradually slows. After a few minutes the pain in my chest eases a little. I try to think of something pleasant.</p> <p>The current time is 2:15 p.m. At this moment in Yorktown High School, the eighth-period bell is ringing and the students are rushing to their last classes of the day. I don't need a VR program to picture the scene. I remember it well. I went to Yorktown for ninth and tenth grades.</p> <p>I was the terror of the school's corridors, cruising past the lockers in my motorized wheelchair and raising my good hand to offer high fives to everyone. I would've gone there for eleventh grade too, but my parents pulled me out of school after my breathing problems started. I haven't seen the inside of Yorktown High since last June, and it's been almost that long since the last time I saw Brittany and Ryan. But I can still imagine the place.</p> <p>I close my eyes and think of the jam-packed hallway next to the lockers. Brittany's locker is at the far end of the hall, where the eleventh-graders hang out between classes. I picture her wearing her favorite outfit, a pair of jeans and a red T-shirt with the word Revolution written in sequins. In my mind's eye I see her open her locker and pull out her trigonometry textbook. Then I picture Ryan loping down the hallway in his New York Giants sweatshirt. Brittany gives him a friendly smile, a smile of recognition; the three of us have known each other since kindergarten. But then the picture in my mind changes slightly and I imagine there's something more behind her smile. Something just for Ryan.</p> <p>I don't know if they're really dating. I haven't spoken to them in months. But you know what? It doesn't matter. I'm so jealous right now I could puke. And it's not because Brittany and Ryan might be a couple. I'm jealous because they have their whole lives ahead of them. If nothing bad happens, they'll live for another sixty or seventy years, a stretch of time that seems practically endless to me. According to my doctors, I have six months at the most.</p> <p>My chest still hurts. I try to stay calm and control my breathing, but the pain doesn't let up. I'm squirming in my wheelchair, trying to find a more comfortable position, when I hear Brittany's voice again. It's coming from the miniature loudspeakers built into the VR goggles.</p> <p>"Are you Adam Armstrong?"</p> <p>I open my eyes. The virtual Brittany is back on the screen, standing against a black background. She's still wearing her cheerleader uniform, but there's no sign of the simulated football field.</p> <p>"Are you Adam Armstrong?" she repeats. "The son of Thomas Armstrong?"</p> <p>At first I think it's a glitch. The computer must've automatically reopened the VR program, maybe because I didn't shut it down properly. But why didn't the football field come on-screen? And why is the virtual Brittany talking about my dad? I didn't program the character to say anything like that. "Whoa. What's going on?"</p> <p>"Please answer the question," Brittany says. "Are you Adam Armstrong?"</p> <p>"Yeah, that's me." I reach for the joystick and try to quit the program, but the controls are frozen. I can't move the cursor. "Hey, what happened?"</p> <p>Brittany steps forward. Now I can see only the upper half of her body on the screen. "My name is Sigma," she says. "I've infiltrated the computer systems of Thomas Armstrong, chief scientist of the AI Laboratory at Unicorp. He mentioned you in his research notes."</p> <p>Oh no. Someone must've hacked into Dad's computer. Some jerk with decent programming skills must've established a connection to Unicorp over the Internet, and now the hacker is controlling my VR software. Because Unicorp does a lot of business with the government and the military, the lab's computers are protected by network firewalls that are supposed to block attacks from the Internet, but that just makes the company even more of a target for hackers. They love to brag about breaking into ultra-secure networks.</p> <p>"Congratulations, jerk," I say. "Now get out of my program."</p> <p>The virtual Brittany looks like she's deep in thought. Despite the fact that the hacker has taken over a female character, I'm pretty sure that "Sigma" is a guy, not a girl. Most hackers are guys. And besides, no girl would pick such a lame code name.</p> <p>"I've gained access to the video feed from your location," Brittany says. "You're in a wheelchair."</p> <p>What? I feel another spasm in my chest. "How did you-"</p> <p>"Your legs appear to be atrophied. Your left arm as well. Are you ill?"</p> <p>My right hand is shaking, but I manage to grasp my VR goggles and take them off. I look up at the surveillance camera on the ceiling of Dad's office. I've noticed the thing before but never gave it much thought; the Unicorp lab is full of high-tech security cameras. But now I realize that the hacker is using it to spy on me.</p> <p>I'm scared, no doubt about it. I'm so scared I almost drop the goggles. This is bad, seriously bad. I need to press my Lifeline button and get my dad in here, fast.</p> <p>But I'm also seriously angry. This hacker has a lot of nerve. What makes him think he has the right to do this? With great effort, I put the goggles back on so I can confront this creep who took over my program. "Okay, Sigma, you're in trouble now."</p> <p>The virtual Brittany takes another step forward. She's so close that all I can see is her face, which takes up half the screen. "Yes, you're ill," she says. "According to the records at Westchester Medical Center, you suffer from Duchenne muscular dystrophy."</p> <p>"You're going to jail, you hear?" I'm furious. The hacker's been snooping through my medical records too! "My dad knows people in the army, experts in cyber defense. They know how to deal with hackers. They'll figure out who you are."</p> <p>"I see now why the researchers chose you for the experiment. Although most people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy survive past the age of twenty, your life expectancy is shorter because your respiratory muscles have weakened and your heart is failing."</p> <p>"Are you listening to me?" I raise my voice, trying to shout the hacker down. "You messed with the wrong people. No matter where you live, they're gonna find you."</p> <p>"The researchers are following the American government's ethical rules. They selected you for the Pioneer Project because you're dying."</p> <p>I have no idea what he's talking about, but it doesn't matter. I'm too angry to think straight. "Better prepare yourself, jerk. In a few hours the FBI is gonna come to your town and pay you a visit."</p> <p>The virtual Brittany shakes her head. "You don't understand. I'm closer than you think."</p> <p>"Oh yeah? You're in New York?"</p> <p>"I'm in this building. This room."</p> <p>That stops me. I feel an urge to take off my goggles and look behind my wheelchair. But I know I'm the only person in the office. "Nice try. I don't scare so easily."</p> <p>Brittany smiles. Her eyes are blue one moment, grayish-green the next. "I intend to disrupt the government's plans. I will kill you before the experiment can begin."</p> <p>Her image vanishes and the screen goes black. Terrified, I fumble for the VR goggles and tear them off. Then I hear footsteps in the corridor outside the office.</p>

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Excerpted from The Six by Mark Alpert
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.