The Cheat Code for God Mode
(excerpt)
Margy yanked the cord from the wall. Victor balled onto the
floor and grabbed his head.
“What have we done what have we done what have we
done!”
“Breathing exercises.”
“Hee hee hooooo. Hee hee hooooo. We destroyed
property! Hee hee hooooo. Stole a car! Hee hee—DID WE
KILL ANYONE?”
Margy’s breath escaped her as she stared at the NarviPlay,
the orb casting a light blue circle on the floor where the sun
went through it. She pulled out her remote and turned on her
screen. She searched the apps.
“No... but there were injuries. Lots of damage.”
“We have to fix this!”
“Let’s be positive it’s our fault! This is impossible, so it
must have been someone, something else.” She grabbed the
cord but Victor slapped it out of her hand.
“We can’t hurt more people! And it’s not the most
brilliant idea to send OP back out there when his face is on
every local–”
“It’s not.” Margy brought up the different news apps on
the big screen, which were reporting on the footage from
various security cameras along the unstable’s path. Each
shot of OP was blurred or distorted.
“That’s some lame movie cop out, there,” Victor breathed.
“It’s gotta be part of the cheat code.”
Victor pulled himself to the couch. “Fine. Test it. But it
has to be indisputable, and you can’t hurt anyone, or destroy
anything. No damage.”
Margy nodded and plugged the cord into the wall. She
grabbed the controller and sat next to Victor. OP appeared
on a street corner. Margy opened the command center.
> Giant chicken
[Enter]
Nothing happened on screen. Victor and Margy waited.
Then waited some more.
Victor put his head in his hands and stared at the coffee
table. The stale lager in the mug from last night rippled
ever so slightly.
It rippled again, stronger this time. Victor nudged Margy.
They felt it in their feet.
Margy looked at Victor. “A trash truck moving–”
The walls trembled. Victor jumped up. “I thought I said
no destroying anything!”
He ran out the door with Margy close behind and
sprinted to the end of the street. Down the road, at the end
of Main Street, the river reflected the blinding sun, which
failed to hinder the giant chicken that was wading through
it. The chicken’s wingspan easily stretched from south
bank to north bank. Its feathers fluttered in the wind, water
rushed around its bony yellow legs, and its red waddles
flopped back and forth with each step. Crowds had gathered
as far as their eyes could see.
“Turn the game off, Margy!”
She ran back and hit the button, ejecting the disc.
Shortly later, Victor shut the door behind him.
“What happened?” Margy asked, afraid to breathe until
she knew it was safe.
He was silent for several moments. Victor was sweating
as if he had just ran a marathon. He shivered as if it were
below freezing. He held on to the doorknob as though he
would collapse. “It disappeared.... Like, a cloud of pixels
evaporating in the air, millions of bits of colors just drifting
into the sky.” His panicked eyes calmed and a smile broke
through. “It was awesome.”
Margy laughed. Then they were laughing together. They
shrieked and jumped. They screamed and spun around. They
punched the air and thrust their pelvises. They took shots of
Jameson.
Victor hit the button and Adamina lit the room.
