The Game

  Chapter 55

  “I’m still amazed you were able to involve so many other players to help me. Each player spending their credits to help me in the Game has saved me so much money. It should actually enable me to achieve our goal, if all goes according to plan. I didn’t think you could get so many on board.”

  “It wasn’t too difficult. Many of them only needed to spend a few thousand extra credits to get what we wanted, and if we succeed, each of them will become very wealthy in credits for having been a part of it. A teacher here, a girlfriend who dates you for only a month there, a salesman who sells you a car once when you’re 30, a man who robs you when you’re 40. All so simple, and fairly inexpensive to buy for each player.”

  Excerpt from Chapter 10 of ‘The Game’

  Trew - 30

  “I’m excited for you, Trew, this car is incredible! Selling this specific model is the reason that I got into selling cars in the first place.”

  My pen freezes above the blank line of the contract. I look up, expecting to see the car salesman giving me a false smile. I was hoping to buy from a nice guy, not some stereotypical lying salesman. But when I look at him, he appears sincere. I’ve become very good at reading people over the years, and this guy looks truly excited about the car I just bought. Who can blame him? It’s one of the best new automobiles to hit the market in years, and I’m buying it.

  “You’re kidding, right?” I ask him. “John, there’s no way you took a job as a car salesman just to sell this new vehicle, is there?”

  John shrugs. He’s a medium-built man just a bit shorter than me, about 5 foot 10 inches. Short cut brown hair, friendly eyes and a comfortable manner about him. His energy is pure and friendly, if you believe in that type of thing, which I do. My wife’s a Reiki master who deals with energy all the time.

  “I never sold cars before this, Trew. When I was 39, my life was in great shape. I was approaching 40 and it looked like I was going to avoid the mid-life crisis so many of my friends seemed to be experiencing. It turns out that life had other plans, I was downsized from my job, my personal life was turned upside down on its head, and I wasn’t sure what to do. Then I saw the commercial for this new car and it just came to me. ‘Why don’t I give that a try?’ I said to myself. So three months ago I took a job selling cars and here I am in front of you today.”

  “That’s very interesting,” I say slowly. “I wasn’t looking for a car. Perfectly happy with mine, then a couple months ago I saw the advertisement for this one and thought, ‘I should really look at buying that car.’ I kept putting it off, and then today, 60 kilometres from home, I was driving by and something just made me pull in to take it for a test drive. Now here I am, buying the darn thing from you.”

  “Well, maybe it has nothing to do with the car,” John says with a smile. “Maybe it was all the supercomputer’s big plan for you and I to meet each other.”

  I feel the glow, the golden tingle in my heart that over the years indicates the universe is giving me a direct message. “What supercomputer is that, John?” I ask.

  John laughs and waves his hand dismissively. “It’s nothing, Trew. I just read a book a long time ago and it stuck with me. It said we live in a computer simulation. A lot of people think I’m a crackpot, but the idea really resonated with me. If I had a religion, it would likely be something that preached that message. I could get behind that.”

  My ears are ringing hollowly as I ask him, “A book written by a man named George Knight?”

  His laugh disappears and his eyes get serious, “Yeah. ‘The Game Is Life’ by George. You read it?”

  I nod. “I did read it many times. A religion, huh?”

  John nods. “Well, yeah. That’s what I always used to say. I was lucky to read it before it was published. About three quarters of the way through, I said, ‘George, this would make a very cool religion…”

  My skull tingles even more. “You knew George Knight?” I ask.

  “Yeah, we were very good friends. I’m surprised you read that book, Trew. It didn’t sell very many copies. I always wanted it to do well for him. Sad life he had at the end. Poor guy.”

  It’s like I’m in a daze. I can’t believe what’s happening to me. “John? How would you like to cut out early and let me buy you dinner?”

  He smiles at me. “You drive?”

  “Of course.”