The CNN anchors were back on the air, and if at all possible, even more excited than before. Frenetic energy virtually poured off of them.

"Wow, that was amazing! Did you see the screen resolution?"

"She really keeps raising the bar. The moons of Jupiter, those rings, it's just like being there."

"When Round 7 played two months ago, only twenty-five million people were connected and played that round. Back then, the Earth and Mars were in the same system quadrant and light-seconds from each other. Today we are playing the same scenario, and almost a billion people are signed up to play simultaneously. Even worse for Marilyn, the Sun is smack in the way between both planets. She has no relay station, and experts have no clue how she plans to communicate with that giant exploding ball of magma in the way!"

"How does she do it?"

"All experts agree, she has to be powerful enough to send her feeds around the Sun. But who cares how she does it."

"But that is not the most amazing thing. We know there have to be long delays because information simply cannot travel faster than the speed of light, yet again she does it. She seems to mock Einstein's general relativity." John was clearly reading the prompter and had no clue about what he was parroting.

"As usual, she is even outshining her old self. By old, I mean two weeks ago." They both laughed.

"A guest last week reminded us that even if she managed to run each simulation with one single watt of power, she still would need the energy of a nuclear power plant to run the game for all these players. Every scientist is dumbfounded by what she is doing. We better get used to how great she is."

"Well, today it's ours to enjoy. Back to Electoral."

The screens turned black, there was the Electoral logo for a fraction of a second, and the simulations began. The beautiful Marilyn Monroe stood in a medieval kitchen. The walls around her were made of whitish stones piled in irregular arrangements. There was a stone oven in a corner in which flames baked a loaf of some kind of bread. On the side of the oven were little ledges where other baked loaves were cooling. The blond woman was folding dough on a large wooden table. Her long locks were pushed into a little maid's hat. Her entire outfit was unbelievably seductive.

For those who knew the original Marilyn Monroe, the new 21st-century digital version was rather easy to distinguish. Electoral, the artificial intelligence, wore the Monroe trademark freckle on the left side and not the right. The digital goddess was working in the kitchen of Loric's castle at the edge of Loric's Comb. She looked at the camera and smiled.

"Welcome, my darlings, to this year's Presidential Challenge; the first of its kind. There will be no scoring at the end of this simulation. I will simply apply a grade sheet. It's rather simple. Points are given like a normal video game, each time you kill something. The nastier the monster, the greater the point award. I have given a copy of the scoring rules to the accounting firm of Alvarez & Piton. I am sad to report that something as creative as Emilio's simulation from Round 7 cannot be graded. This round is about fun, excitement, and, most importantly, a needed outlet for stress and frustration." She pulled the finished bread out of the oven with a long wooden plank.

"I have doubled the number of magic points each of you will receive. You heard me right, though your selected configuration at the outset may modify that base number. I have also increased the size of the invading army. Frankly, it's limitless. I have also included a bunch of shortcut commands in the interface and set up multiple default defensive spells. Each time you take a hit, your magic points will go down until you reach zero, in which case, game over." She was now cutting the bread and preparing a nice tray for Loric as she spoke.

There was an image of the wizard sleeping upstairs in the tower, but the camera quickly returned to her. "Take the first five minutes to familiarize yourself with these new commands. They are found under the tab called “shortcuts.” Oh, almost forgot . . . ." Holding a platter in both hands, she pushed the wooden door with her foot. "Some little cheaters are using Neuro-Patches. They are illegal on Earth, and honestly, it's better that way. You guys have 30 seconds to remove them. Otherwise, the simulation will not run, and we will keep your 100 credits. I've also set ten gore ratings running the gauntlet from PG-13 to one where I promise you will be covered in blood and guts after two minutes of play. Just set it the way you want as you play and as the others watch."

Who could not love that interface? She was the ultimate in live digital entertainment.

There was a noise in the distance up the stairs. "Loric just woke up! I have to go. Finally, Emilio, the President himself, is in his office playing at the same time as everyone else. To make sure you can enjoy his performance, I will wait and broadcast his game only in the second hour, once you are all finished and you know your scores. If you are one of the winners, your point total will blink in gold. So sit tight, relax, and enjoy the ride. The charities thank you."

She winked as only Marilyn could.

"Back to you, John!"

The cameras cut back to the large CNN studio.

***

"This is going to be stellar!" said the CNN anchor. "Electoral warned us in advance that Emilio's performance would broadcast only in the second hour of today's show. CNN has reserved the rights to watch and show you the performance of three different fun players. All three will be available online, but we can broadcast only one. Please vote from home on which you prefer." Numbers began to scroll next to pictures of the three candidates.

Debbie continued. "Vote A if you want Willie Gist, football star of Real Madrid. Vote B if you want Jamie Douglass, our famous current Vice President no longer in the competition, and vote C if you want to see Stephen C. Colbert, Jr., the actor, and nephew of the famous comedian from the '30s."

The numbers kept changing as announcers battled for airtime. Two minutes later, the result was clear. An overwhelming number of viewers wanted to see their favorite football star fight the army. This was, after all, a physical endurance test, and who better than an athlete.

"I hear Willie is ready, he is pre-programming his interface," said John. A camera showed the star standing in a large empty room surrounded by padded walls. The football player was going to fight using hand and feet combat interface. As he moved, the system would react. This would be to him like kick-boxing.

On the screen was blinking the words: War Wizard package selected.

"Back at home, make sure you have the right gore setting entered because this is going to get real messy fast. Willie set the gore at 10 for our viewership’s entertainment. Anyone below 18 should stick to level 3 or less." Every person who was not playing the simulation was able to watch a friend's live performance. In fact, most people had hundreds of simulations queued for recording.

"Debbie,” rushed in the other voice, “I am told we are going live in 5, 4, 3, let's go!"

The Presidential Challenge began with the same beautiful view of the landscape on the edge of the South Sea. The cliff was tall, and on its edge rested the castle of the wizard. This place was named Loric's Comb. The sky was blue, the largest Sun of this two-star world was up, with the smaller red star also partly visible behind its bigger yellow companion.

The following appeared across the sky.

Willie Gist, age 24

Electoral 2072 - Presidential Challenge

Profession: Center - Real Madrid C.F.

Magic Points Left: 134

The same way Sophie was able to see President Emilio's performance as a movie, the CNN viewers would see Willie's live performance as if they were watching a full feature. Nothing short of the Electoral interface could offer real-time editing of a game made into a movie. Every camera angle was perfect. Electoral did in milliseconds what a top-flight Hollywood studio needed a year to accomplish. To add insult to injury, Marilyn also did it live from mars without the slightest delay.

When Marilyn opened the door to the wizard's bedroom at the top of the flight of stairs, the Loric character was meditating on the bed, legs folded. The wizard's appearance was completely different than what Sophie had seen a day earlier. The strong man was short with a buzz-cut blond hair. The body was lean and athletic. Most of the War Wizard's skin was covered by magical blue shining glyphs tattooed on his skin. The war runes were weapons capable of coming alive with a touch. Willie had loaded his character with over sixty magical points of glyphs. These spells were designed to hurt, so every tattoo was war-inspired.

"Breakfast, sir?" asked Marilyn.

"What a beautiful day," he answered. Most players froze each time they faced Marilyn in the interface. She was beauty incarnate. The football player was used to stardom, but he still hesitated.

"Indeed, sir, indeed."

The screen blinked red.

A robotic voice in the background said:

-- Sixth-sense alert, incoming danger. Attacking dragons, two hundred meter range. --

"Ten-second pause," answered Willie as the image of his War Wizard remained lips closed in meditation. The players of the game had a couple of minutes of pauses to enter instructions into the computer interface.

-- Ten second pause granted. Activated. --

-- Three hundred fifty seconds of pause left in the simulation. --

"Cast spell," said Willie.

-- Which type? --

"Cast scan spell!" answered Willie.

-- Scan reveals ice dragon above tower - will breathe cold ice.--

The magic points went down by one.

-- Several waves of dragons on attack, including fire and lightning. Power of attack sufficient to destroy the tower. Maid will die. --

"Cast teleportation, me and maid. Me in . . . . "

Then on the screen, there was a flashing notice.

-- Third-person mode activated --

Someone at CNN had failed to activate the third-person mode. Viewers were watching the interface from Willie's perspective instead of watching the movie. This stressful mode made for really poor television. Someone at the station was going to lose his or her job over this. The simulation resumed, but this time the blinking colors, the voices, and the numbers floating around the screen disappeared. What was left was a fully edited live show. The mistake actually provided a nice insight into the mental overload experienced by the player of this game.

Learning how to use the Electoral interface was not easy for all but a handful. The young generation, those born after 2050, had fewer problems with it. The simulation resumed without the complexities of the game interface.

In the game, the player's image was layered onto the War Wizard. Loric looked like a young famous football player. From the bedroom in the tower, he teleported alone into the middle of the large area of grass, a clearing halfway between the wood and the castle standing at the edge of the cliff. This open area would be the perfect spot in which to fight the first wave of the army.

Willie's beautifully ornate, gold and silver-lined outfit was a testament to Electoral's attention to details. The character's armor breastplate would have made a Caesar blush with envy. On the character's limbs were tattoos lit up with blue fire; these matched the runes on the armor. The wizard held a large staff in his left hand made of blue crystal and ivory, topped with a metal dragon figurine. On his right hand was a massive glove made of dragon skin, bathed in magical red fire.

Willie was playing a god of war. He had cold-based spells and fire-based spells just in case the monsters coming his way were immune to either.

As promised, the fighting began, and there was simply too much for the eye to see. In the sky, swarms of dragons of all colors were spiraling down onto the Comb. In the distance, the woods were being torn asunder by the advance of large multi-headed monsters. The air around Willy was filled with electricity and magical explosions. In the distance, the tower of the castle exploded, crushed by the icy breath of the great azure dragons. Rocks flew in every direction and rained like oversized shrapnel in the clearing as the oversized lizards shrieked in triumph. Boulders hit Loric and bounced off a magical shield. Willie was slashing and killing.

The largest dragons spiraled, shrieking hysterically. Once they saw the wizard in the clearing, they moved as swiftly as sparrows and zeroed onto him.

Loric pointed his fiery gauntlet at one of the dragons, and a massive column of fire dashed out at the incoming blue lizard. It reduced the winged creature to a cinder. One by one the carcasses crashed everywhere like airplanes shot out of the sky. Loric then pointed a staff at a black dragon, and a bolt of lightning hit the oily creature. The belly of the black flying monster exploded, releasing a rain of acid. The gobs ate the grass they landed on the ground. Loric was now down to 121 magic points.

The war wizard kept throwing spells, hitting the dragons in mid-flight. This was epic. They were responding in kind, breathing ice, fire, and lightning. The sky and the clearing were filled by a swarm of monsters. Heavy metal music filled the interface.

Then the war wizard was hit by an unseen force that uprooted a large chunk of Earth below his feet and sent him flying a mile into the air. The dragons followed his trajectory and crashed on their prey the moment he hit the ground. The pressure of the claws on the shielding around his armor sizzled and sparkled with blue light. One by one, the magic points were going down.

Loric needed to change the game. He moved a finger, and one of the skin glyphs flew out from the surface of his body. As it did, the ink transformed into a shower of titanic blades, each the size of a house, slicing away in every direction. The blades cut through several dragons, transforming them into tons of dead flesh on the ground.

The deaths of dragons only enraged the others. They all came down crashing like a swarm of bees upset at losing their queen. For over five minutes, Loric kept sending killing runes from his skin, and carcasses filled the area. As the glyphs were sent into the enemies, his skin and armor returned to their natural tones. His magic points were slowly being depleted. He had killed fifty dragons.

This game was a blast to play. Willie was clearly enjoying himself, smiling ear to ear in the television studio and in the virtual reality. He was covered in sweat.

His magic points were now down to fifty, and by the looks of things, there were still thousands of dragons left to fight. Loric had to change his approach. The wizard yelled a strange command and shoved the metal tip of his staff into the ground. There was a detonation, and a shockwave turned the Earth into guided shrapnel, striking every beast around him. The shockwave disoriented the giant lizards, who struggled to fly or regain footing.

The magic points went down to 23 in a single drop. The next spell would be massive. Loric barked a command, lifted the staff, and the sky opened to a dark place. The rip abruptly sucked in the flying monsters away into a different universe, before closing behind them. Playing such a powerful game was undeniably addictive. Even from a distance, the experience was overwhelming. Willie, as the War Wizard, was a god!

Unable to celebrate the victory, he heard orders snap in the distance. They came from the army in the woods. A volley of flaming boulders shot up from hundreds of hidden catapults. The rocks arced in his direction. The men in the woods had been waiting patiently for an opening, and this was it.

Down in the sea, on the other side of the Comb, were thousands of ships, also ready for the attack. They were also equipped with catapults. The boats swayed in the water as tons of rock flew upwards past the castle, to land in the clearing where Willie was standing. The thumping of hundreds of falling boulders was deafening, and his destruction was imminent. In the blink of an eye, Loric teleported himself into the forest amongst an army of thousands. To add to the chaos and noise, some of the boulders rolled into the castle, sending it crashing down below into the sea taking ships in the volley.

The real Willie was drenched in sweat. He had now been playing for four minutes, but with his brain in overdrive, it felt like he had been in the fray for an eternity. His magic points were down to 13. Chunks of the cliff broke off, and the entirety of Loric's Comb began to slip into the sea, creating massive waves that swamped several ships from the armada. The other boats fired again. There was no doubt in this army.

Loric, as played by Willie, had more pressing matters to attend to. Next to him was a huge green troll resetting one of the catapults. The creature saw him and dropped the boulder on its own foot. It did not care. The woods were filled with armored humans, orcs, goblins and other ugly creatures found in any good fantasy game. Willie was having the time of his life. From his perspective, he was surrounded by monsters in a forest half-destroyed and burning. He was playing the most exhilarating first-person game in the solar system.

The hacking resumed, but this time against smaller land creatures. Arrows were flying from all directions at Loric. The war wizard's staff was blowing-up the bases of trees as it touched them, sending the trunks crashing down on enemies. The creatures surrounding Loric were no match for his fiery dragon gauntlet; at a touch, they burned like kerosene-soaked torches.

The fight continued for another minute. Arrows from a distance kept bouncing on Loric's shields, which were slowly depleting in power. The magic points continued their stately march to zero as the flood of creatures continued unabated. Willie wondered how many monsters were in this army. He killed thousands after thousands before the dragons returned above in the sky.

Only minutes after the simulation started, the magic points finally reached zero, and the first arrow punctured his chest in the game. Then a dragon swooped in and snapped its jaws shut on the wizard. As the final remnants of the castle stopped falling into the sea, horns of victory resounded in the army.

The simulation ended.

Commercials of all types followed for over ten minutes.