Chapter 75: Beautiful Irreality

~ Team 6 followed their escort down three hallways and up a flight of stairs before he stopped in front of a white door.

"Alright, here's your exit," he told them in a bored monotone. Takyle gave him a quick nod, and stepped through the door with Jaden and Andrew just behind her. As one, Team 6 stopped in their tracks just inside.

The doorway had deposited them right in the middle of a bunch of wooded foothills. Above the hills, shining silver and gold in the evening sun, towered huge mountains, capped with snow. The entire scene was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Whoa," said Andrew, in an awed voice.

"And you'll need this," said someone from behind them. They all jumped at the voice, having already forgotten about their escort. He was leaning through the door, which from this side looked like nothing except a frame, freestanding on the hillside. He was holding out a map. Takyle took it from him and he nodded and closed the door. It popped out of existence, leaving them alone in the shadow of the mountains. Takyle studied the map.

"Looks like we're going to climb the mountain, guys." She rolled it back up and stuck it through her belt. "Let's make time while we've still got daylight. Seems that we've got a bit of hiking to do before we even get to the mountain.

"Oh boy, more walking!" Jaden's mind cheered sarcastically.

"Endurance. This entire race is about endurance," he reminded himself and fell into step behind Andrew. As he plodded along through the forest, he allowed his mind to drift and enter what Andrew called his "meditation coma". Years ago Jaden had found that while he was doing a repetitive activity he could slip halfway into a trance-like state and hold himself there, whilst still remaining aware enough to carry on with what he had been doing. It wasn't the same as sleeping, but it was at least somewhat restful. At this point, Jaden was exhausted and it didn't seem like that was going to change any time soon. He'd take what he could get.

The team continued walking for a little over three hours, taking only two short breaks. When it was too dark to efficiently navigate through the woods, Takyle called a halt in a small glen.

"Why don't we make camp here, eat something, and sleep for a while?" she asked. Jaden stared at her. Did she really think that anybody was going to disagree with that? He dropped his pack onto the ground behind him and began to sink down. He stopped when he saw Andrew pull out his hatchet, presumably to gather firewood. Jaden pulled himself back up.

"No, Andy, I'll do it. You need to rest." He knew that Andrew must be in pain because instead of arguing, he handed over his hatchet with a grateful nod.

Jaden walked a short distance away and shone his flashlight around the woods bordering their little clearing looking for a fallen tree or large branches. He quickly located a few and Takyle joined him in hauling the wood back to where Andrew sat, mixing water with some kind of powder in a little tin pot. He looked up from what he was doing as they dropped the firewood in a pile to the side.

"Great. As soon as you guys get a fire going we can have..." He picked up the empty packet and read the label. "Dehydrated, nutrient infused, chicken flavored, extra calorie, complete protein carbohydrate meal."

"Oh yum, my favorite," said Takyle, dryly.

"Andrew, don't we have a little gas, camp burner?" asked Jaden.

"Why yes, yes we do. But I saw no reason to break that out when we were making a fire for warmth anyway."

"Yeah but, we're not actually building a fire. This is a sim. We just think we are."

"And so we'll actually be eating our slop, I mean, ehem, p.c. meal cold when we think it's hot. But since it doesn't actually have to be cooked it doesn't matter." Andrew smiled. "It's all in your brain," he said in his 'creepy voice'. Jaden shook his head and sat down by his pack.

"I don't want you guys to get the impression that I'm not enjoying myself in this race here," he said. "But I'll be honest with you, I'll be delighted when we're out of it."

"Oh you don't mean that!" Takyle said in a mock scandalized tone as she stood up and put her lighter back in her pack. "Day to day life will be so boring for you after all of this is over Jay."

"Yeah, maybe." He pulled off his boots and rubbed his feet. "But I think I'll be able to live with that."

Andrew suspended his little cooking pot over the fire that Takyle had started.

"I'll be happy to get back to school. I'm having a blast at this, but I do miss it," he mused. Takyle sat down on her unrolled sleeping bag and nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I guess I do too... Never thought I'd hear myself say that!" She smiled. "Guess maybe I'm growing up, guys."

"Uh oh, better watch out, pretty soon you'll be getting all "responsible" and stuff," warned Andrew.

"Nah, I wouldn't dare," she replied. For a while they sat in silence, staring into the hypnotic flames of their small campfire until Andrew stirred the now steaming gruel one last time and pulled the pot away from the flames.

"Get out your mess kits, folks. Soup's on." He grimaced as he spooned a portion of the meal onto the plate that Jaden held out. "I'll tell ya, the real world might be boring after this, but the food won't be! While you're eating this imagine that it's prime rib with a baked potato or... something... that's actually good..."

Takyle dug in her pack and tossed Jaden and Andrew each one of the apples that she'd taken from the dressing room.

"Here. At least this time we can have some real food for dessert anyway."

Andrew grinned. "Hey, awesome. Thanks."

"Thanks Ta." Jaden raised the apple to his nose and breathed in. He didn't think that as long as he lived, he would ever get tired of the smell of a fresh apple. Never, ever. ~