Chapter 4

“Gloco’s Land of fun and wonders”

The huge animatronic portal looked menacingly haunted when still. It was only around nine in the morning but somehow Denzo managed to get in without anyone noticing. It was unusual for a teenage boy to be in a mall this early on a Monday morning but he has been longing to see the place after he finally found a post of it in an online forum. He spent a good week pretending to go to school just to find this place as the clues were a bit hard to decipher. This confusion led him to visit and thoroughly search specific malls around the metro which meant that he would spend an awful lot of time suffering through commutes. It also didn’t help that he was stocked full of chores by the old man during the weekend and he couldn’t go out without him noticing. Thankfully some of the people in the boards managed to pitch in some clues after bothering them non stop and so far the information he’d been given seems to be yielding some results.

He knows that by this time of the day he should be in school attending his classes, which is where the old man expected him to be, but as always once he had confirmed he had lost the sight of the old man he immediately jumps on a detour to pursue the place called Jack and Barry’s. He was quite prepared for his little trip as he already packs his bag with civilian clothing before leaving and would always stop by a nearby public toilet to change out of his school uniform.

He had already entered the mall flawlessly. These are the only times where he’d thank his genes for giving this advantage since up close, no one would suspect him for a highschooler as his height was too tall and his face was too mature. Some people might even mistake him for a college student. He had made his way up to the top floor and as he suspected it was empty. He peeks below the fourth floor railings to check if anyone was on his tail, thankfully there was no one around. Beyond the portal, dark figures stand lifelessly as the weak ambient light casts a vague silhouette over the distance, as each step the boy takes, slowly but surely, places things in perspective.

Gloco’s never looked so daunting, the lifeless smiles imprinted in each frozen figure seemed like they’re screaming to be freed from their mechanized entrapment. Coupled by the fact that the deeper he went the darker the surroundings became as the ambient light faded near the entrance of the indoor carnival.

‘Left at horses, right by the bay a clown’s gonna tell you what day is today.’

The boy murmured while he tried to remember the details of the post he saw. At first he thought it would be easy; that he'd know enough of the carnival’s floor as he’d been here before when he was still in elementary but that was a couple of years back and the memories have started to get rusty. It also didn’t help that the lights were off, with only the ambient sunlight from the hallway preventing it from being pitch black, as he took a couple of wrong turns before spotting the carousel.

‘Alright there’s the horses, now for the bay…’

He squints his eyes to see if he could spot any landmarks nearby and sure enough he sees one of the authentically fake street signs that point to the different rides in the carnival. This particular group of signs by the crosswalk display directions to other themed rides near the vicinity

‘Wrong one’ the boy whispered as he continued his search. Quite clearly he remembers the map he had as a child in this place, the carousel was the biggest most colorful drawing at the center of the whole map and from it the road would radiate into different areas of the carnival. He figured he’d just follow the round robin road until he could find the right signposting. The next one down the road had the same result and so did the next, it was until he saw a dark glimpse of the cartoonish toilet building that he had his “Aha” moment. ‘Here we are’ He said as he briskly walked in confident strides towards the path beside the said building. He recalls vividly upon seeing its cartoonish facade that looked familiar to him. Sure enough seeing it made him remember things as he easily led himself into the winding candy cane pathway through the bumper cars and the Whirl-a-Jet, as he now faced the similarly cartoonish facade of the maintenance area. He only needed to look to his right in order to find the signature blue - yellow and orange striped statue of Gloco the clown holding the sign “Thank goodness it’s Saturday” to all the unsuspecting public who don’t know any better about the secrets that it hides.

Through the double doors he went as he chanted repeatedly “Hallway, Gray, Left, Stairs” over and over as he briskly walked down the main office hallway, trying his best to remember the directions in the post. He sees the green paint by the end of the hallway and heads left opposite of it breathing a sigh of relief as he reaches the stairs.

‘Three floors up.’ He muttered as he began his ascent.

The smell of cigarette smoke began to reach the ends of his nostril but upon reaching the topmost floor he found himself alone in a dark hallway. He didn’t know why he expected to see a crowd on a weekday morning but he was just baffled at the emptiness that greeted him at the moment. Denzo creeps his footsteps forward towards the doors of the dark cushioned anteroom, now closed as the place seemed dreary of any activity fearing what he thought he feared the most and hoping for the best as he placed his hands on the door lever.

‘Shit’

He turned and pushed on the door but it remained shut. In frustration he gives the metal door panels a hard angsty kick as it stood still refusing to budge. ‘Hey who’s up there?’ Said someone from a floor below. Denzo shifts his gaze behind him as he scrambles for a place to hide. There seemed to be a path that tangents at the end of the hallway as he ran towards it and hoped that the gamble would payoff. He tries to make as little of a noise as he could, briskly walking towards the hallways’ edge, thankfully there was indeed a path at the end which led to the grimy looking bathrooms that looked unkempt and overused. He hears the steady climb of footsteps getting louder and louder, prompting him to peek his head out in curiosity. Finally the figure emerged from the stairwell, and it was far from his expected result as it was neither a guard nor the mall’s operations officers that appeared but a casual civilian who seems to be scouting the area for some new hideout of some sorts, as Denzo assumed. The person stops directly in front of the door as their eyes scanned the area for anyone suspicious, at this point he had already retracted his face back into hiding but after a few breaths he hears the rumbling of keys as the door locks clang open making him suspiciously curious about who the person was. He immediately followed its footsteps by the anteroom and waited for a brief moment to pass as he listened for any unusual activity through the seams of the cushion doors and at the moment he felt most opportune, cautiously opening the doors to reveal what lies behind it.

All the lights and sounds were all wiped silent and all the colors of the rainbow that seemed to emanate from the signs and games are all gray and lifeless as with most of the surroundings inside the sleeping arcade. Step by step he goes deeper inside the place as he keeps the silhouette of that person within his line of sight. He follows them until they disappear behind the doors of the ticketing counter, as he bursts into a sprint towards a specific place inside the Jack and Barry’s Arcade. Somewhere inside was a place called “Skalibad Pier” It was an area that served no function besides being a themed area for large cabinet arcade games. Designed to be a pirate themed dilapidated pier, It had real wooden plank floor boards, victorian era lamp posts and a wooden structured mezzanine floor for more games. The area also comes complete with different animatronic femme fatale costumed “pirates”.

“Hey Honey wanna take a stab at me!”

Denzo’s heart rate shot up to a million after hearing the animatronic pop from its slumber, as one by one the lights and games inside Jack and barry’s started to illuminate. He felt a kind of excitement one would feel when starting up a brand new computer after using a slow obsolete model for a long time, feeling that rush from imagining the possibilities that it can do but mostly the relief of being able to do all the things you previously can’t with the old “limited” model. Oncagain the place was starting to become alive as the bells and whistles from the plethora of games around him were starting to play out their tunes. “Are you ready for a challenge?”

The words had pulled him over to its side, the game that he never had a chance to play: ‘Maximum Attack 8.’

A racing game popularized by the japanese which has now spread globally and is now one of the games being included in multinational Esports competitions. Besides the games competitive player versus player (PVP) matchups and live online battles, one of its biggest appeal to the global audience is in its customizable vehicles which any player can invest time into making their vehicle the fastest amongst the rest. This can be stored conveniently in a game data card that the same cabinet produces which can be used in any other game cabinet in the world.

He had heard rumours of this game a few months ago but was banned across southeast asia due to a lot of parental complaints. In fact the only reason he ever found out about Jack and Barry’s was in an article about the abandoned game cabinets that were discarded after delivery because of the immediate ban.The post said that there were some game cabinets that survived the banning in the Philippines and one of the places that acquired it was a fabled place called Jack and Barry’s. From there he searched articles upon articles about the place which led him to find the directions for going here.

One of the reasons why the 8th installment of the game was banned was because of its new car damage system that mimics real life consequences. It would be up to the player whether or not to fix his damaged car for the next race for as long as it performs properly which led to some matches starting with beaten up cars as their respective players refused paying to fix cosmetic damage on their cars. With that said, if a player has gotten into an enormous wreck, the car would be deemed irreparable and is discarded from their virtual garage, hours of work spent, up in flames which added a layer of risk in the game.Sadly, because of this feature a lot of violent fights had risen around it’s release. Most of the fights were from players who claimed to be intentionally ‘taken out’ by their opponents which always ended up in a brawl. Some cases had led to players getting hospitalized from these brawls leading to the complaints and eventually the banning of the game.

The controversy only made Denzo more excited to get his hands on the game itself, but to his dismay there were things that prevented him from being able to do so. Nonetheless he already has a data card in possession as he anxiously waits for the game to update his data. Another feature of the game that comes in handy is that it automatically updates a previous save card from previous games and since Denzo was holding a card from Maximum attack 5, the game was taking quite some time to re - adjust his setting and achievements into the new game.

UPDATE COMPLETE

Ver.5 ---> Ver.8

System Change: All stats reduced to 600HP

Thank you!

‘What the hell?’ He gasps in shock after reading the small side note the game had made after the update.

‘It’s because you haven’t been playing that’s why.’ Said a voice behind him. He swiftly turns around to see a lady in the standard Jack and Barry’s black long sleeve formals with a crimson red bowtie smiling with a snarky look at him. ‘The game has a new upgrade system you know? So you’re gonna have to grind to get your horsepower back to eight hundred.’

‘Mind your own business.’

‘You are my business.’ The lady said as Denzo shut her off from existence. She walked away with a chuckle as she made her way back into the ticketing counter. ‘Hey Val you have a call from a certain Mister Asia?’ A man peeping out from a door behind the ticketing counter calls out to her. ‘What?’ She mouths the words silently as the man nods in response. Quickly she hops over behind the counter and grabs the phone from her colleague.

‘Yes Sir Asia this is her speaking…’

‘I see…’

‘Thank you Sir but--’

‘Yes…’

‘I understand Sir but I…’

‘I must decline…’

‘Things are… fine now.’

‘I’m sorry Sir… I don’t mean to waste your time.’

‘Thank you for understanding…’

She hangs up and leaves.

‘What was that?’ Her colleague asked.

‘Not good J2....’

The man stood up and joined her by the ticket counters. ‘Was this from the old times?’

‘Yes…’

J2’s eyes grew wide in surprise as he pats his pockets for something. ‘I need a smoke’

‘Fine…’ She replied. She knelt down to reach the bottom drawer of the cashier cabinet and retrieved a pack of cigarettes, handing them over to her colleague. ‘Here.. but...’

‘What?’ He replies after she revokes the cigarettes. ‘You still owe me a hardpack.’ She said as she looked at him with a wide grin across her face and her palm stretched open in front of his face making a “come hither” gesture that anyone indebted to anyone would understand.

‘Payday is in two days Val, I’ll pay you then…’

‘So you’ll take a pay cut?’

‘Godammit…’

The pair walked towards the still closed Tally alley, passing by some of the early bird cooks who were prepping their stations, disappearing behind the doors of the diner’s office where they greet the manager of the diner a good morning as he gives them a sound salute, disappearing once again behind another door with a do not enter sign. It was a semi gloomy day with thick grey clouds looming over one side of the horizon while the bright blue of the sky peaked on the other as a cold breeze blows across their faces making it difficult to light their cigarettes. They were standing on the metal grates of an exposed fire escape with nothing shielding them from a long drop down the back alleyways of the mid town metro besides a couple of metal handrails and a sense to preserve their own lives. If one were indeed was afraid of heights they would shiver on the mere sight of the platform which, although sturdy, looked flimsy at a first glance but the two of them didn’t mind as they leaned over on the handrails, puffing up smoke to wake their senses up despite the cold wind freezing their cheeks on this gloomy day.

‘D’you see the kid that sneaked in early today?’ Val Asked.

‘What kid?’ As Val shakes her head in light dismay while she chuckles at his ineptness in supervising. ‘Nevermind, I don’t care about the rules anyway…’

‘No if there’s a kid who’s here and not in school we should send him out.’

‘You send him out. It’s your job.’ She stressed as her eyes locked on intensely, a bead of cold sweat breaks out from his forehead. ‘I will, don’t worry…’

‘Ehh don’t even bother, he’s not even in uniform so maybe he’s one of those delinquents who quit school or something.’

‘A street child?’

‘Definitely not, otherwise he can’t afford to play here. Anyways how’s the backlot coming about?’ She asked, taking another deep breathful of nicotine in the cold dampness of the morning.

‘It’ll be done by next week I reckon, a few more finishing touches to go but I don’t understand though… Why build the place? No one’s interested in it.’ He said as he exhales a cloud of smoke that vanishes with the wind.

‘Cuz I love it, plus I get to store stuff in it which really comes in handy you know?’

‘Well I dunno, it seems like a pretty risky investment to me.’

‘It is… but it’s for the best.’

The hours soon passed and the patrons visiting Jack and Barry’s were at a staggering low as expected of a gloomy Monday. They usually peak around Thursday up until the early hours of Sunday where most of the delinquent students would go back to their “miserable lives” as Val would state but somehow at this early in the week, one resilient teenager kept coming back for more credits to play his games, which was starting to puzzle Val after the boy asked for another round of 700 peso credit on his game card.

‘Wow that kid’s loaded, that’s the fifth time he’s come back and such an expensive reload at that.’ J2 reacted as Val looked at him with a troubled expression. ‘Wait here.’ She said.

She goes over the ticketing counter and makes a direct path towards her first hunch on where he’ll be: the “Maximum Attack” cabinet.

He was all alone as she figured, the only one inside the “Skalibad Pier” area where the game was positioned and he looked like he didn’t mind. She crept closer to his seat, careful not to startle, as she tried to figure out what the boy was trying to achieve. He had just started the game and was now in the process of continuing its base career mode where you battle different rival cars in incrementing difficulty. Through this path the game rewards the player with either aesthetic or performance options based on what level the player character is on. At the moment the boy was on level 55 on his career, She knows for a fact that there are 60 career levels in the game, given that the update jumpstarted him halfway at level 30, it seems now he had been rushing the career completion in one day, a full 5 hour grind of non-stop driving. She leaves the moment he starts his drive as she walks towards Tally Alley with a puzzled expression.

‘Have you seen that delinquent kid stop by for a drink or eat any food?’

‘The delinquent kid? I think so?’ Said one of the cooks inside the diner as he answered with uncertainty written across his face.

‘You don’t look so sure. Are you sure you saw the boy? The one with the green hoodie?’ She asked once again with a stern stare.

The cook’s face grew pale as Val continued to stare intensely, waiting for an answer while he racked his brain for any memory of the person she was looking for.

‘C’mon cook we only have one customer today. Did you cook anything for anyone today?’

A faint “ding” could be heard inside of the cooks hat.

‘Ah yes “that” umm…’

‘He ordered a Tally with a grease monkey breakfast plate, and a Tally Alley combo for lunch.’ The cashier lady said in the nick of time as Val was about to whip some words across the cook’s face. ‘Oh thanks!’ Val said with a cheerful tone as she went back across the floor towards the boy, darting a sharp stare at J2 as she passed by the ticketing counter. She arrives at the middle of his play session looking as if he was bored of what he was doing. He was weaving and darting around unnecessarily through traffic even though he was barely in the lead of the race he was currently in. This behavior continued on until the last two kilometers in the race where he kept his driving straight until the finish line where he dominated the lead with a half mile margin.

His panda colored Toyota Corolla was now sporting 815 horsepower with a racing body kit package leaving his car looking like a far cry from what he started the day with.

‘Not much of an aesthetics guy I see…’ She sarcastically comments as the boy swiped another round from his game card.

‘Mind your--’ Denzo stops as he sees the same lady from earlier. ‘Nevermind…’

‘Oh don’t mind me, just passing by.’ Val replies with a vexing tone. She walks back towards the ticket booth looking oddly jolly as J2 couldn’t process what kind of expression she was trying to convey. ‘Why are you messing with him?’ He asked.

‘Nothing really… I just find it funny to mess with the kid’ She responds. J2 on the other hand still found her actions confusing and weird, but he chose not to pry as he kept himself busy working on harvesting his crops in one of his phone’s gaming apps.

‘I really love Monday’s.’ She sighed in relief as she leaned her arms on the ticket counter beside where J2 stationed himself. ‘Yep…’ He replied monotonously, his eyes still glued at his screen.

It was already nearing 5pm and Denzo had just finished the career mode in his game. Fresh from crossing the finish line, he leans back on his chair exhausted as he exhales deep, his hands and legs are shaking from exhaustion and his head feels light and dizzy as he struggles to focus his eyes to form a clear picture of his surroundings. The last 2 races took a toll on him as the A.I had put up a horrific fight, he felt his concentration slipping in various moments and it took every ounce of focus to keep his reactions in top form. It has been a while since he had played the game and although it was devastatingly difficult, it was a welcome surprise for him to be challenged by it as he felt highly satisfied with his unbeaten result. Although now he felt like his mind was at a different place, as his tummy started to complain for nourishment, he thought it was time to get some grub into his system. He thought for a brief moment about having his dinner by the Tally but the prices were a bit impractical given that he was already planning to leave so he thought he might just seek more affordable options elsewhere that he might pass on the way home. Backtracking his steps out to Gloco’s, he was surprised that the hallways remained empty at this time of the day as he expected a lot of students from various other schools would be done with their classes by now but as he walked back he only encountered four or five other students making their way into the hidden arcade which puzzled him. ‘I guess only a few kids enjoy Mondays.’ He told himself.

The trend continued as he exited back into Gloco’s and upon arriving on the mall’s main floor the shops were almost empty. It wasn’t until he descended onto the lower floors that the human traffic started to gradually increase as he neared the ground floor but he found it intriguing that top floors were mostly empty at the beginning of the week, an interesting find on human behavior for the young Denzo as he goes out in search of dinner in the treacherous labyrinth of the metro.

He wasn’t sure on where to go next, so he pulled out his phone as he walked to aid his search for something nice on the less pricey side. He goes to a site named frugalfellow.ph where there are countless reviews on different food places in the metro. It is a user friendly site where the rating system was a simple “Good” or “Bad” superimposed on the picture of their best selling item, it is a quick go to website for people on the run, perfect for Denzo’s current predicament. After a bit of scrolling he finally settles for a place nearby called “Go to porridge” where they serve buffet style porridge toppings with unlimited refills, he swipes over to check its location on the map and--

‘Ow!’

‘Oh sorry…’

Denzo was too preoccupied with his phone that he unintentionally collided with a student of a nearby school. Out of guilt and goodwill he helped the fallen student up on his feet, apologized and went on his way, but he only took a couple of steps away before he found his turn to be bulldozed by a large group of students with some giving him a dirty look.

‘Thanks for moving over goody two shoes…’ One of the students blurted.

He followed them with his gaze as he felt his blood starting to boil. He would have been more tranquil had he been full but he was famished and his fists were now itching for someone to hit. But then he saw one of the boys in the group put his arm around the kid he bumped on earlier and based on the body language he knew this was about to get ugly for the kid.

For some reason he felt that his hunger could wait, preserving his rage for a moment most useful. Afterall he’d been angry for weeks, he might as well blow some steam out today.