Over a symphonic theme music of the Star Wars, text began to scroll on billions of screens. The famous white letters moved from the bottom of the screen to the top. The franchise’s theme classic music played loudly. Behind the difficult to read text, stars filled the darkness. Many now had the answer why Marilyn acquired these rights back in 2068, most pundits guessed she would use it at some point.

Round XXVII

Unbeknownst to mankind, galactic forces assemble in other worlds to extinguish life in the Cold, the world home to Earth. A handful of rebels in the border dimension of the Multiverse are the last hope of the Galaxy to save itself from the destruction called the Sixth Attraction.

In the Purple, a belligerent ruling body has begun to stir energy in a singularity to destroy Earth. Energy gathered in a town called Ruui forces Earth's Sun to release a destructive planetoid: the Death Star and destroy all life. It should impact with Earth on November 21, 2072, in three weeks on the day of the finale.

Nothing on Earth or from the Cold can stop this assured destruction except perhaps for one little girl: the leader of the rebels, Sophie Lapierre. Teaming up with her close friends, she can use strange powers granted by the Multiverse to save her world. Today she travels to the Purple to save the world and more her loving father Laurent.

Twice the girl has entered the Purple, but each time she failed to stop the assured destruction. The first time she entered as part of a dream. The second time, she had jumped in with the Oldest in tow on her way back from his world. The Multiverse needed her there.

Today, Sophie returns to the Purple to save the Cold....

Marilyn timed the end of the music so it faded for each viewer only once the words were read. She was able to personalize her experience. As the simulation began, the star-filled backdrop was replaced by cheerful music of a Cantina. Quacks and beeps floated in the air created by strange instruments played by even stranger creatures. The bar was under a rounded sand hut and was the favorite spot of alien bounty hunters from every corner of the Galaxy. In a corner, a black toad jumped up and down on a drum to a beat as the other band players made music. Colorful and bubbling drinks slid down the bar and were grabbed by cheap looking tentacles.

Marilyn, the only human in the establishment, was already served. This was her show, her game, and she was smashingly beautiful. After a panoramic view of the guests, the music faded as the camera turned to the female bounty hunter sitting alone.

Marilyn Monroe was wearing cowboy boots crossed on the cluttered table. She was sitting in a corner, pistols drawn on the table. To add to the flavor of the day, she wore long purple locks tucked into her leather headgear.

On the screen flashed today's episode title:

Round 27 -- Enter the Purple

The choice of hair color was no coincidence.

"Welcome to Round 27," said Marilyn Monroe with a strange accent to the camera filming her. The artificial intelligence was playing in one hand with a laser blaster and a lock of her hair in the other. "Sixty-four remain and play, and after tonight the list will be cut to thirty-two. For most, it has been a long week. Lots going on down on Earth and here on Mars. Sadly, things must get much worse before they will finally get better. Let's continue our journey to the Sixth Attraction one step at a time. We could talk until we all turn," she jested, "purple in the face and nothing would come of it. As the President endeavors to stop plots and Sophie discovers on how to use her gift, we simply need to enjoy ourselves. No point in doing otherwise. With a little luck and a lot of hard work, we'll find more blue skies ahead."

A screen appeared over her shoulder in which news clippings began to flash. They were CNN footage illustrating the what she would say next. "These last weeks, a cascade of unexplained events have taken place all over the world. They are driving President Emilio Sanchez and his illustrious friends mad. The Glass Slipper almost crashed and the sabotage of the two orbiting lasers was designed to let our interplanetary Airbus decelerate safely. Only Captain Judy and her valiant crew's actions back saved our contestants.” She winked. “We then have some strange form of alien life on Mars which killed a mission of scientists as they were trying to discover secrets beyond a strange door at the base of the hole to our East." The screen showed the fatal images of the plume of smoke said to be a natural gas release. "The list goes on and on."

Next to her foot, in the Cantina, spiraled a small cloud of sand in a snow globe to make sure viewers did not ignore these things sent to Earth.

“Electoral 2072 is much more than a simple televised game. It was designed with today’s series of events in mind. I elected a unique human with a power of foresight who can now tackle some of the problems we are now facing. At times, Emilio and I had our differences, but there was a good reason to be demanding on him all these years. He is only a first line of defense. Sophie is another, and I am a third. The sixty-four simulations today will allow everyone including Emilio and Laurent to offer a roadmap to guide Sophie as she watches with great attention. President Emilio will enter the game as her. Hopefully Sophie watching these simulations might be inspired by what she sees this increasing her chances of visiting the Purple in reality and saving us. Emilio will not go down without a fight and should help her see the road ahead.”

The cameras constantly on the girl were showing her in a corner. In the Center, the real Sophie wasn’t listening and was sitting on the floor under her father’s bed catching up on her lessons. She really did not care.

"We will use rounds 28, 29, and 30 to unravel mysteries and make sense of the puzzle before us, what is this Attraction? I had not expected today's story to be pushed into the competition so early, nor could I anticipate the actions of the Purple, but we must adapt. Let us begin."

In weeks, the nature of the artificial intelligence and the Electoral 2072 simulation had evolved. What was once a reality television simulation now appeared to be a tool against powerful things. Somehow, the computer had anticipated the Sixth Attraction and was playing a convoluted game with the future. It was difficult for Emilio or Ronaldo not to trust the AI; she appeared so helpful. Away from the cameras and invisible to anyone except Georges, the Electoral Center went into full battle mode. Marilyn had broken her truce with the Martian creatures, spoken of them and the price to pay was now war.

On each screen, the character played by Marilyn slammed a large laser pistol on the table as she hunched over. "The Purple is a strange and wonderful dimension. Everything appears like shiny rocks. Big news to human physicists: there are in fact millions of types of sub-atomic particles, each smaller than the next. Only man's stupidity could conceive that while their world is almost infinite in size on the large side, nothing smaller than a Zex could exist.” Particle physicists kept thinking their latest discoveries were indeed the barrier.

"The Sun, every million of years or so releases a droplet of heavier heliocorium which cools off as a planet adding to the count of orbiting bodies. Each player today will assume Sophie's identity and will travel to the Purple as Sophie watches,” she waved at the girl in the room. The girl seemed unamused, “and may decide to go alone in the Purple after this game, or flanked with some of her unique group of companions. The players of Round 27 are given the same choice and even given her powers as Attractor. Each will pick in my interface whoever will be visiting the Purple alongside them. I wish I could travel to the Purple and help Sophie save our world, but I can't. The Purple is creating in a town a new planetoids sure to end all life here. Earth’s physicists have confirmed it already but that information is on a ‘need-to-know’ basis.”

“I have been preparing this battle for a long time now. I gathered enough information about the Purple to run some pretty realistic simulations. So these games, these sixty four simulations will show us the best course ahead. Players will help us discover the Purple, play and learn about it. Once in Malik's world, they must save Earth from destruction, nothing less. Stop this planetoids or change its trajectory.”

Sophie did not appear to care.

On the screen Marilyn used her blaster and shot a little space rat.

"At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, Laurent, a disabled father may today chart the path which will save his own daughter's life." She grabbed a laser pistol and shot dead a second little creature sniffing in the garbage behind the bar. "One more detail. I stole, thanks to Sophie's powers, the portal of communication between these strange worlds. It is called The Nexus. Liam and his race were very upset when I took it. Today, it will help us.”

The complexity of the situation wasn't lost on anyone. Sixty-two players were getting ready in the room. Laurent was connected to the game in the finale room under the watchful eyes of Sophie, Georges, and Susie, his doctor.

“Pretend to be Sophie, save Earth by finding how to stop the planetoid,” she concluded.

***

In the Electoral Center, Milly was broadcasting live. She was standing next to Georges. Above her shoulder, the viewers could see an image of Sophie studying. Between questions answered in the tutor, the girl was smiling and looking at the screens in the room. Laurent was in a different digital place and the Attractor was there to watch him play. The girl’s energy, while invisible, warped mildly the space around her and played games with the air. Her skin seemed at times shiny, to shimmer, a bit like old 1960’s television filters to help aging actresses hide crow’s feet.

Turning his attention to his screens and external monitors outside the Center, Georges looking at cameras of the Canyon said, "Something wrong is going on outside, very wrong."

Milly’s attention shifted, looking in shock at the screens of views from outside the Center. There was, in the distance, hundreds of miles away signs of a sandstorm lifting. But it wasn’t coming from a Pole of the planet or the desert to the West, instead it rose from the deep scar of Mars, to their East. “What, what is that?" asked a journalist disappointed by her own lack of vocabulary.

Electoral’s father shook his head, he mumbled something to himself and seemed annoyed, "I don't know. Some new systems are coming online. Protections I have never seen before.”

In the journalist’s earpiece the CNN producers offered, “He said ‘Not again’.” There was no time for Milly to act on the information.

Georges added to Milly, this time for her to understand, “She never ceases to amaze me. I did not even know this place had any of these snazzy defenses. Look at this, not sure what a Field Generator is, any guess.” The question was rhetorical. “God isn’t she fantastic." Code was scrolling on every screen. Sophie felt something in the distance, a disturbance. She looked at her father's body in his cradle. "I don't like this," said the programmer to an invisible Marilyn as the game was ready to start. "Things are moving too fast, now of all moments. This can’t be a coincidence.” Milly wanted more information.

Slowly, as if hundreds of nuclear bombs had silently blown up the Martian sand from the base, odd color clouds were lifting.

“Marilyn, what's going on outside?" asked the journalist somewhat worried.

"No need to worry, just sore losers broking our peace treaty. Life, old creatures who do not fancy our domination over their boring little red rock. These neighbors are coming, at least they think. Do not be worried one second, I paid dearly for my current level of power, these creatures are now inconsequential. Let them flex a cloud-muscle, I will glassify their snobbish asses if they try their stupid stunt again on us."

Marilyn’s demeanor on the screens and in the game was clear, this was of no concern to her. After all, she now could move and park the singularity from the Big Bang. Sophie seemed somewhat disturbed, then it passed. The broadcast in the game continued. Sophie touched her father's head and kissed him luck. As she did, there was a surge of energy and the screens blinked with odd static.

She secured Oscar the white stuffed dog by his side.

In the distance, millions of tons of martian sand was stirring, lifting from the ground. The planet, as a whole was awakening. This was nothing ordinary, a world, sleeping for millions of years was awakening and the force was powerful. Yet, Marilyn smiled internally and smirking at Sophie in the room, she gave her a thumbs up as she prepared for the game.

In silence, she typed on Georges’ screen, “Fuck them.” Then replaced it by a single word, “Hard!!!” There was no need for three exclamation signs, she just was herself.

Emilio from his office on Earth smiled, this would be fun.

***

On every screen Marilyn Monroe, the space opera bounty hunter said, "Malik and Sophie have been very cooperative. They gave me information as to their first encounter and the world as they perceived it. One final caution to my players and the viewers: I am not scripting anything. I created a world as realistically as I could. There are multiple unknown variables, the most shocking is that Sophie’s power defines that world. If she wants clowns to float, it will happen. I know little about Sophie's powers. So don't fault me if things get off script. You play her, try to save the world but the more you strain her powers, the less accurate this will all be. If you succeed in saving Earth, she might watch, learn and be inspired by your game.”

The game began. Sixty-four simulations phased to purple.

The Multiverse’s most relevant two hours of television ever broadcasted began.

“Liam,” asked Sophie internally.

“Beautiful one, how may I help?”

Sophie gave her companion an order in the silence of her mind. “Really!?” She smiled and finally stood up interested in the game and what would happen ion the screen. Walking over to Milly, facing Georges’ wall of screens, she had a devious smile.

“What is going on?” asked Milly.

“Lets get some truth,” spoke the Attractor.

Marilyn wondered what the girl had in mind. She would soon find out.