|
are both having troubled dreams, reliving their
respective Reality-Space experiences. Pride
dreams he can fly, and May dreams about
when she found the Magic Key. In May's
case, she can no longer distinguish between reality and the virtual
reality of The Game. |
| At
the Mall....
Mouse
Zaps Siva |
 Mouse
(carrying Siva's zapper in her
hand) is looking for Sammy. When
she finds Lex instead, she puts
on a real phoney dazzling smile for him that makes her look
guilty; he asks what she is up to. She explains she is looking
for... er... Siva, just in case
she is... er... going to make breakfast again (a rather poignant
reference to Siva's burnt offering
last episode). Lex doesn't stay
for more reminders. |
 Mouse
at last finds Sammy playing with
a stick, then attracts his attention before zapping him. Fortunately,
Siva is there to bring Sammy
to the floor, and takes Mouse's
hit in the rump! Mouse screams
when she sees the consequences of her "play" I
didn't mean it; I was only playing, and allows Pride
to disarm her. Lex rushes to attend to Siva.
I found it,
Mouse rather feebly explains. Neither
Siva nor Sammy
are seriously hurt. |
 Pride
chases Mouse
all round the Mall trying to get a better answer than I
found it. Siva explains
that it is hers, and that she had left it in her room. That
makes Mouse a thief in Pride's
book, and desperate to justify herself, Mouse
explains she only borrowed it to get Sammy.
Next question: what had Sammy done
to her? Pride guesses it has something
to do with The Game. Pride
may shouting too hard at Mouse,
and Sammy tells him to leave her
alone: she's just a kid. Mouse
runs off again and Salene wants
to vote Siva a big thankyou for
saving Sammy. Pride
disagrees, blaming Siva for bringing
the Zapper into the Mall. Siva
agrees she was too careless with it. Salene
blames Mouse for stealing it. The
shouting dies down and Pride goes
to see how May is doing. |
| Sammy
finds Mouse, sitting very quiet
by herself. He has found some red strips of cloth they could
use as Red Tribe armbands. Mouse
has a better idea: headbands! Mouse
says sorry for trying to zap him, and he apologises for
zapping her in The Game. |
 |
|
|
| The
Ram-Ved Sabre Fight is on |
At Ram's
request, Ved calls in to see him
(and Java, his favorite massage-queen
at the moment). Does Ved really
want to go through with the Reality-Space fight? Ram
offers Ved a chance to back down,
saying he doesn't know where Cloe
is. Rather unexpectedly, Ved betrays
his growing irritation with Ram:
I wouldn't want the Virts to see me take advantage of a disabled
sicko like you. Ram
takes the insult on the chin, and sets the fight for 12:00 noon.
Ved asks that if he should win,
Ram must hand over Cloe.
Ram virtually ignores him.
 |
Patch
examines sick Ginny, and asks Jay
and Dee to be real quiet; then
he falls over a chair making more noise than anyone!
Although Ginny
is getting better, Patch explains
that pneumonia needs a full course of antibiotics, to fully
cure the illness; unless they can get more of the correct antibiotic,
she will die. He and Jay discuss
the likelihood of getting more supplies from Ram;
Jay suggests they might ask Ebony
since she is the only one with any influence over him; unfortunately,
Jay isn't on speaking terms with
Ebony right now. Maybe Salene
might try? |
|
|
|
 |
May
wakes for a short time, thinking she is in a different game, which
she really likes, but would prefer the version where she is with Pride
and he loves her; is Amber here?,
she asks. Salene plays along, telling
her she must rest in order to reach the next level where she will
be with Pride. May
drifts back to sleep.
Pride realises May
is in a bad way and somehow blames himself. Salene
urges him to consider his own mental state. She thinks maybe she has
an idea how to start fighting back against the Technos. |
| CityNet broadcasts
a promo for the Ram-Ved fight at noon.
(Mouse & Sammy both see it.) |
| Rival
Wives Ebony and Java fight among themselves - not a good time for
Salene to ask about hospital supplies |
 |
| If
I'd been there... |
Ebony
is furious with Java for allowing the
Ram-Ved fight to happen - had she been
there she would have stopped it! But she wasn't there was she?
Java insists she did try to talk Ram
out of it and reminds Ebony that all
the while she has a cold, Ram doesn't
want her near him; isn't it ironic that not so long ago, Ebony
faked a cold to keep Ram away from her?
In fact (Java continues) Ebony
doesn't have a lot of luck with men - she wasn't able to keep Jay.
Ebony asks if Ram
knows of Java's own involvement with
Jay - she saw him coming out of her
room late last night. A knock at the door is Java's
cue to leave. |
|
Salene,
City Leader, wishes to speak with Ebony
about supplies for the hospital. Ebony
couldn't be less sympathetic: in case Salene
hadn't noticed, drugs aren't being manufactured anymore, and Ram
needs to keep his stockpile for himself, or he might die. Salene
accuses Ebony of having sold out, being
no more than Ram's puppet. Ebony
points out that Salene is City Boss now,
and must accept all of its responsibilities herself, instead of running
to her everytime there is a problem; the
door is right behind you.
Perhaps inspired by her talk with Ebony,
Java visits Ved
(who is practising for the fight with Ram)
to asks him to call it off. No chance!
Java
supervises as Ram & Ved get
ready for the fight. She wishes Ram
luck; for Ved it's Goodbye,
Ved; wish I could say it's been nice knowing you - but I can't. |
 |
|
| Lex, Siva
& the kids watch CityNet as the
fight is about to start. Salene doesn't
even stay to watch the continuity announcer's intro: |
| And now,
the moment you have all been waiting for: a no-holds-barred, winner-takes-all
contest between the Mighty Ram and his challenger, the Techno Wizard,
Ved. Let The Game begin. |
| Somehow, Lex
realises that all the safeties are off. |
 |
 |
 |
|
The sabres look and sound
a bit like the Starwars light sabres, though these ones look a tad
more solid and less like pure light, but that's what they are meant
to look like.
The fight is extremely frenzied and you really believe
that life & death are at stake. 80 seconds into the game, Ved
has Ram on the floor, but Ram
uses his feet to land Ved a blow to the
guts. 130 seconds into the game, Ram
again kicks Ved in the stomach, followed
by his sabre. Ved crumples to the floor
and finds Ram's sabre at his throat.
Who's a sicko now? Ved
asks Ram to finish him off but he refuses
and walks away the winner. |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
| Lex
is full of admiration for Ram's fighting
skills. Siva knows that Ram
needs Ved. But what will Ram
do next? |
| Back in reality, Java
assesses Ved's condition: he'll
live. Ram comments that Ved
fought well and he is proud of him. Clutching his stomach, Ved
limps out of the Black Room. |
 |
so lie down and
shut up! |
Outside in the corridor, Ved
can hardly walk due to his injuries. He collapses in Salene's
arms. She takes him to the hospital.
 In
the hospital, Ved resists Patch's
efforts to help him: I don't need any help
from no stinking Virts, but clearly he hasn't the strength
to get onto his feet. Dee is forthright
as usual: if it was up to me, I'd chuck you
out on the street. But we set up this hospital to treat anyone; even
lowlifes like you; so lie down and shut up! |
 |
While Java administers
painkillers, Ram discusses the fight:
he never thought Ved would actually go
through with it. He needed to teach Ved
a lesson but would never have destroyed him. Ram
needs to share his moment of glory with Ebony
and orders Java to find her, despite
her protests that Ebony still has a cold
and is a danger to him.
 Ebony
comes into Ram's room, a tissue held
to her nose and sounding very bunged-up. If there was any doubt about
her condition, she now sneezes. Java
is alarmed. Ram doesn't seem to care.
They pay each other sycophantic complements (how
they have missed each other) making Java
feel very second-best; Java lets slip
a careless comment in response to Ebony's
I don't know what I would do if anything
should happen to you, that gets her sent out the door.
Ebony takes over the massage and tells
him he was fantastic in the fight.
Ram explains that he didn't enjoy it,
but he has to keep discipline if anyone steps out of line. Ebony
suddenly seems very unsure of herself, and doesn't seem to be enjoying
her massaging quite so much. |
 |
| Pride
succumbs to the lure of The Game |
|
 |
 |
When Salene checks
up on Pride, to see if he is awake,
she finds his bed empty. |
Pride is in
fact getting himself scanned at the scanning center. |
Episode
38
Now that 95% of the City is addicted to Reality-Space,
Ram is ready to make the Virts work for their pleasures. May shows no signs
of improvement. Pride, who was once a staunch opposer of all things Techno,
has become addicted to Reality-Space. Ved (nearly destroyed by Ram) leaves
the hospital and goes back to him. Blue and Red turf wars break out in the
city. Jay resigns from Ram's service. Ved nearly does. Ram is showing signs
of illness, and we see that he often requires to use a breathing mask. Then
he catches a cold.
| It's
late. Mouse has already gone to Bed |
|
 |
Ram
delivers a propaganda talk on CityNet about how rewarding a hard day's
work can be. An electrical storm plays havoc with the power supply
including CityNet.
Sammy turns the computer off before getting
into bed.
Pride comes in late, having been out all day; Salene
guesses that he has been playing in The Game. He avoids the
subject and says they can talk in the morning. |
Pride
skips breakfast (porridge made by Siva
- she is becoming quite domesticated) and makes straight for May
who still lies drifting in and out of reality. Salene
finds him with her and leaves without saying a word. These days he
seems to care more about May than her.
Dee
is about to go on patrol, but Lex would
rather loaf around the Mall. She threatens to pull rank; Siva
tells him he is being difficult and needs some action. Caught between
Dee and Siva's
nagging, Lex can hardly refuse! That
leaves Siva and Patch
in the Mall together. For some reason, he jumps at the chance to help
her tidy the kitchen [and I thought he fancied Dee].
 |
|
Jay
calls in at the hospital to see two patients, Ved
and Ginny. Jay
can hardly believe that Ved is about
to check himself out and go back to Ram
- the man who nearly destroyed him. Ved
explains that Ram needs him and he can't
wait to get out of this dump.
Ved doesn't seem at all grateful that
he has been fixed up and still contemptuously refers to the people
running the hospital as Virts. Ved passes
Ginny on his way out, and Jay
is thrilled to see her up and looking much better. She thanks him
for saving her and asks if Ved really
is his brother. Jay says he often asks
himself the same question.
 |
|
| Ram's
New Regime: no Pay no Play |
Now that 95% of the city has been scanned in (according
to Ved's figures), Java
and Ram decide to put the new "No
Pay - No Play" rule into operation. Such
a catchy slogan, thinks Ram:
simple enough for even a Virt to comprehend.
Ram explains that his operation is on
a massive scale needing huge amounts of electricity.
Ebony isn't so sure that the City kids will be ready to join
a chain gang. That's where The Game comes in: Ah,
but they do want to play; they can't survive without The Game
so we can get them to do whatever we want them to.... ... don't
worry: they'll learn to love their servitude - embrace it with open
arms! [laughs]. Ebony remains
poker-faced.
 |
|
|
| The Blue
and Red Turf Wars |
|
|
 |
As Pride walks through
the city, he finds posters everywhere proclaiming No Pay No
Play. At the outskirts of the Market, an unfriendly bunch
wearing blue headbands surrounds him, asking what color he is -
because he is trespassing in blue territory.
Pushing one of them aside, then upturning their trading
table of shoes, Pride escapes.
|
 |
| At
the Mall, in their room |
Mouse & Sammy
put
their headsets on to enter Reality-Space, but all they see is
a hard-reality message on the screen that they must now pay
for their enjoyment. First they must get a new access code from
the scanning center. |
At the casino, Pride
finds the same No Pay No Play message on the terminal
he tries to use, and a Techno door-man
throws him out before he can do any serious damage to the computer
in his frustration.
|
|
| How
to Sell "No Play No Play" to the Virts? - Use Jay
of Course! |
 |
Java
and Ram discuss the new No
Pay No Play regime; Java
has calculated that an eight-hour shift is about right, without
leaving each Virt too exhausted to enjoy the Reality-Space they
have worked for. Ram is certain
that: they'll be thinking of nothing
else during their |
Ram needs oxygen
once in a while. He is becoming sick |
daily grind; dreaming
of escaping from their loathsome existence.
On reflection, Ram thinks Ebony had a point: how do you sell the idea
in the early stages? Ram has the answer: JAY! He is a well-known
figure in the city and it will be his job to sell the No Pay
No Play idea to the Virts. Then, when the City starts grumbling,
he will be the object of their hate and his fate will be sealed! Java
thinks it is a wonderful idea and volunteers to tell Jay about his
new role herself.
 |
Java
brings Jay a cocktail by the pool,
and tries to sell him his new role that she and Ram
have cooked up for him; she understands that he is bitter for
being left out in the cold, and has come to welcome him back
into the fold. Now that the Virts will no longer be getting
a free ride, Ram needs a strong
figurehead to get the new idea through. Jay
says he has always hated Reality-Space and is not about to force
it down people's throats. Java
reckons that messing with the Mallrats
has really screwed him, turning him into a total loser. Then,
kissing him lightly on the cheek, she leaves him to enjoy the
cocktail - which he sweeps off the table onto the ground. |
|
| Jay
& Salene get Unexpected help from Ved |
|
 |
As Jay and
Salene discuss the new workcamps, Ved
makes a most unexpected appearance at the Mall: he volunteers that
whereas he has led Ram to believe that
95% of the City is hooked on Reality-Space, the true figure is 70%;
Salene realises this means that nearly
a third of the City might be willing to fight against it. Ved
wishes them luck and leaves the Mall.
Jay and Salene
speculate whether Ved might be coming
over to their side - if he did, everything would swing in their favor.
But Ved has let Jay
down too many times before and they can't count on it. Jay
decides it is time to officially resign from Ram's
service. |
| Pride
Keeps his Addiction Secret |
When Pride eventually
gets back to the Mall, Salene has been
worried sick wondering where he was. He tells her nothing about The
Game or that he was thrown out of the casino. All he will say
is that he has been wandering about the city trying to get back to
normal - but that is going to difficult in view of May's
condition. He appeals to Salene to bear
with him.
| Just
bear with me, Salene |
|
|
As Lex
and Siva walk through the city they notice
that the Blue-Red turf fights are getting worse. Lex's
main concern is that with all his customers only concerned about what
color they are, he is going to lose a lot of his scam income! Siva
is confident he will soon find a new angle. As a crowd of fighting
kids comes by, Lex muscles in and sees
them off.
| Oy
- I told you to go home! GO HOME! |
|
|
At the scanning center, Sammy
and Mouse collect their new passcards,
on the condition they join a work party. Theirs is number five.
At the power plant, the Virts are learning how to be well-behaved
wage-slaves; we see Mouse struggling
with a heavy cart of coal.
 |
| Mouse:
after a Day shovelling Coal |
Siva
has just had a bath and washed her hair, and is surprised to see Mouse
even dirtier than usual. Mouse struggles
with an explanation: she was out playing at....er.... the City dump.
Siva volunteers to show Mouse
how to use soap in the bath, showing her minimal collection of scents,
perfumes, cleansers, toners and moisturising agents. Wow,
says Mouse, sounds
complicated!
|
|
Java
intercepts Ebony on her way to see Ram,
and won't allow it while she is still infectious. She also accuses
Ebony of not caring for Ram
and that she would dump him if a better offer came her way. Ebony
doesn't deny it, assuming Java would
do the same. She assumed wrong: Java
is going to stay with Ram for the duration.
Java
thought she was doing the right thing in turning Ebony
away, but when Ram comes in he is furious
with her: he himself had sent for Ebony,
'flu or no 'flu, and she had no right to send her away. He alone decides
whom he will see, and when. Once again, Java
has been put down on account of Ebony.
 |
|
When Ved
goes back to Ram, (their first
meeting since the sabre fight) he is using a breathing mask
again. Ram seems pleased to see
him. Ved tries to get out sentences
that would indicate his resignation:
| |
Instead of hurting his feelings you've
clarified them.....That's why I'm here
Regarding Cloe:
she's my girl and I'm going to be with her....
and as far as the Technos go..... well, I'm.... |
But Ram isn't
much of a listener, more of a talking machine, and when he asks
Ved if he is still 100% committed
to the cause, Ved is too timid
to go through with his resignation; instead he confirms his
complete loyalty to Ram. |
|
After a gruelling day
patrolling the streets, Dee tells
Patch that Law & order is breaking
down across the city. She & Lex
will try to keep the lid on it, but there is a limit to what
they can do. Patch has already
had people walking into the hospital, hurt in the gang-fights.
With limited medical supplies, there is a limit to what he
can do. The talk is about the city, but the eye contact is about
themselves. Then Siva walks by
in her bath robe: Hi, handsome!
[Now which one should Patch go for?]
 |
Lex
watches a pre-recorded broadcast of Ram
on CityNet, but the continued power surges make reception very unreliable.
The No Pay No Play slogan is read for him by Siva
(Lex still can't read). The whole thing
gives her the creeps and she wants to turn it off - it reminds her
too much of Ram. But it gives Lex
an idea of how to get things moving again: a
foolproof plan: good times are
just around the corner!
|
|
|
|
 |
Jay
is again by the pool, when a Techno
brings him the speech he is to make on CityNet, entitled "The
New Deal".
| |
Come rejoice in the
glory of work. Taste the fruits of your labors. The Game
awaits those who have the strength to give of themselves....
|
Jay
reads no more, rips it off the clipboard and into the pool.
|
|
At the end of the day, Jay
walks into Ram's operations room
to announce with no hesitation: I quit.
I no longer take orders from you or any Techno. Ram
is surprised that he doesn't want to accept his new role.
Slave Master? I've played that game for too long; it's over.
Jay believes Ved
will do the same and calls for him to follow him out, but Ved
refuses, declaring his true place to be with the Technos.
Jay asks what happens now. Ram
is about to explain that in the light of his treachery, he has
no choice but..... Ram has a bout
of sneezing, and his order: Guards,
seize him, is delayed and unclear. Java
is clearly very concerned about the sneezing. |
Ved
gestures to Jay that he must escape,
and he manages to get out the door followed by two guards who seize
him. Java happens to be coming the other
way, and she orders them to release him. She asks Jay
to help her get revenge, and in return she can help him. Jay
says the only person she is interested in helping is herself. Java
warns what will happen if he won't co-operate: he will have to be
taught an expensive lesson. As
Jay is bolting for the exit door, Java
adds a postscript for her mental diary: A
lesson you'll never forget. Her tone is menacing in the
extreme.
 |
A lesson you'll never forget |
|
|
