"How did you remain sane Hannah?" Anna asked as they were washing up for dinner. "You've been more people in the past year than you were in 31 years, that has to be difficult. I think that I'd go insane if I was a different person every few days for a year."
"I kept focused on the reality I was in at the time" Hannah said. "Of course it didn't hurt that management kept me female. It's true that I feel more comfortable being female than male and I think that helped. The management even kept me female when they had me in the office during the last year."
"Where is this organization?" Anna asked.
"I can't reveal that" Hannah said. "The management doesn't want it to become public knowledge that reality is altered pretty much on a regular basis."
"Then how does one join?" Anna asked.
"The management sends someone to contact you if they want you" Hannah said.
As they had been talking they had arrived in the dinning room and sat down. In a few more seconds everyone was seated at the table except for Mike.
"Where's Dad at?" Jenny asked.
"He had to work late tonight" Diana said. "He said to go ahead and have supper without him as he doesn't expect to be home until after midnight."
"Why does he have to work that late?" Sarah asked.
"A virus invaded the computers and they lost a lot of data for an account" Diana said. "They have to reconstruct that data for a presentation tomorrow. Fortunately your father isn't one of those making the presentation and tomorrow is his day off."
"Well at least Dad won't have to worry about going to work with little sleep" Hannah said.
"That's about the only good news in this" Diana said. "Now let's eat."
Once they were eating Diana asked "How did your doctor's appointment go Sarah?"
"She said that everything is fine" Sarah said.
"So the baby is developing as it should?" Diana asked.
"Yes" Sarah said.
"Have you decided on names yet?" Diana asked.
"Anna had decided on a name for him for us" Paul said.
"How do you know that it's a boy?" Diana asked.
"Anna named him with the game 16 years ago" Hannah said.
"I remember catching Anna at the computer at that time" Diana said. "How could she have named the baby then? She was six and Sarah was four."
"It was in a different reality that you don't remember" Hannah said.
"Oh ok" Diana said. "So what's the name?"
"I named him Edmund" Anna said.
"You were dating a boy named Edmund weren't you?" Diana asked.
"Yes I was" Anna said, "but that was a different reality. Now I'm dating Greg and we'll get married someday."
"That's nice" Diana said. "So what are everyone's plans for tomorrow?"
"Well Paul and I are planning on going to see a movie since this was the last day of me being grounded" Sarah said.
"I hope that you understand why we had to punish you" Diana said. "At least you didn't try to hide that you were pregnant from us."
"I understand Mom" Sarah said.
"Good" Diana said. "Now Hannah, I don't want you getting pregnant. Same goes for you two Anna and Jenny."
"Why are you telling me this?" Jenny asked. "I don't even have a boyfriend."
"I know that you're getting to the age where you'll want to have a boyfriend and experiment with sex" Diana said. "You know that I want you to wait until you're 18 but I do know that may not happen. I've explained to you about safe sex practices and I expect them to be followed."
"You know I just thought of something" Sarah said. "Have you ever been pregnant before Hannah?"
"No I haven't" Hannah said. "It seems like the management didn't want me to get pregnant. Now though, they may let me become pregnant since I'll be me for a hundred years."
"Ok" Diana said. "What are your plans for tomorrow Hannah?"
"I was thinking about going to the mall and then swimming" Hannah said.
"How about you Anna?" Diana asked.
"I haven't decided yet" Anna said, "but a movie sounds like fun. Will you go to a movie with me Greg?"
"Sure" Greg said, "as long as I can be with you."
"How about you Jenny?" Diana asked.
"Well a boy did ask me to go to a movie with him before school finished" Jenny said.
"What's this boy's name?" Diana asked.
"His name is Dale Haliwell" Jenny said.
"How old is he?" Diana asked.
"He's 12" Jenny said.
"Are you going to go to a movie with him?" Diana asked.
"Well I told him that I'd call him tonight if I can go" Jenny said.
"You can go" Diana said, "though I expect you to be on your best behavior."
"I will" Jenny said, "and thanks Mom."
"How about you Tim?" Diana asked.
"I'm meeting a girl at the mall then we're going swimming" Tim said.
"What's her name?" Diana asked.
"Her name is Julie Watts" Tim said, "she's 12."
"That's nice" Diana said. "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Jenny. I want you to be on your best behavior with this girl."
"I will Mom" Tim said.
"Well it looks like all of you are going to start at the same place" Diana said. "I'll go ahead and drive you there. What time are you going to go?"
"I was thinking about ten in the morning" Hannah said.
"That sounds good to me" Sarah agreed.
"I'll have to ask Dale" Jenny said.
"Julie wanted to meet me there at that time" Tim said.
"I'm ok with that time" Anna said. "How about you Greg?"
"It's ok with me" Greg said.
"Well then we'll plan on going at ten" Diana said. "Jenny, make sure you call Dale after supper and tell him the time we're leaving."
"Ok Mom" Jenny said.
"I've been thinking about what to do with the game" Diana said. "We need some rules for it. Anyone have any suggestions?"
"We should make it a rule to keep our awareness on" Sarah said.
"That won't be a problem" Hannah said. "Management locked your awareness on. The only way your awareness can become unlocked is if an error occurs."
"What about your awareness Hannah?" Paul asked.
"I awareness can not be changed" Hannah said. "The management makes sure of that when someone joins. It's kind of hardwired into us."
"How do they do that?" Diana asked.
"They actually change your brain structure so that you are always aware" Hannah said.
"That doesn't sound like fun" Anna said.
"It isn't" Hannah said. "They keep you awake while they do it and it's painful. You can sense all sorts of realities while they perform the procedure. This in itself can make one insane. I've seen people kill themselves because they couldn't handle it."
"That's not something I'd want to go through" Diana said. "Why would you go through that?"
"Well you do get to be different people" Hannah said, "and that appeals to people. Of course others like to be a part of something important. Then there are those that like to help others. There are those that go for the secrecy."
"And people join for those reasons?" Diana asked.
"Yes they do" Hannah said.
"I wouldn't join if they came up to me" Anna said. "Not after what you just said no matter what they offered me."
"They don't tell you that before you join" Hannah said. "When you do join they give you a shot that relaxes you so much that you can't move for hours after the procedure."
"That's awful" Diana said. "Do they give you anything for the pain?"
"No they don't" Hannah said. "On a positive note though, you learn to handle pain real quick. I could cut off my arm right now and sew myself up without batting an eye."
"Why do you stay with them?" Sarah asked.
"The contract is for life" Hannah said. "It sounds pretty good at first until you realize that life means until you accidentally die, someone kills you, or you kill yourself. You don't get to die a natural death with this organization."
"So if you don't use the game to make yourself younger, they'll do it for you?" Diana asked.
"Yes" Hannah said.
"Why do you keep this organizations secret then?" Diana asked.
"Because of the punishment they hand out" Hannah said. "There is a reality were you die but you're still alive as a corpse. Just imagine dieing and instead of there being nothing or going on, you stay in your body. You're unable to move anything but can still feel. You feel your body decaying or having an autopsy performed. By the way, they lower your tolerance for pain to nothing for this punishment."
Everyone at the table shuddered visibly including Hannah.
"I don't want to imagine it" Sarah said.
"I don't need to imagine it" Hannah said. "You see, after the modify your brain they give you a little taste of that punishment."
"Won't you be punished for telling us this?" Diana asked.
"I was authorized to tell you this" Hannah said. "Now that you know you can't tell anybody unless you want yourself and the person you tell to join. I debated with myself about telling you this but it was hinted that if I didn't, I would be punished. I figure that you can keep this a secret."
"I don't think any of us will tell a soul" Diana said. "I'm done with my supper. You're all excused when you're done. Anna, it's your turn to help with the dishes. Tim, it's your night to take out the trash. Hannah, Sarah, you two have breakfast and shopping tomorrow. I'll have a list for you in the morning. Jenny, you'll be setting the table for breakfast."
Everyone got up from the table and went about their various chores they were assigned. Those that didn't have chores tonight went to their rooms to get ready for bed. Paul and Greg went home.
Anna dried the dishes while her mother washed them.
"Poor Hannah" Diana said, "she's had to endure so much."
"Do you think she's sane now Mom?" Anna asked.
"I don't know for sure but she seems to be" Diana said.
"Do you think that they will force us to join if we tell anyone their secret?" Anna asked.
"Hannah seemed sincere about it so I do believe so" Diana said.
"I don't want to go through what Hannah did" Anna said.
"I don't either sweetie" Diana said.
As their conversation died down they finished the dishes and Anna went to get ready for bed.
Anna and Jenny share a bedroom. Tim had his own room as he was the only boy. After Jenny and Tim were born, the attic was converted into a bedroom which Sarah and Hannah share. Each of them have their own computer.
Jenny was already laying in bed when Anna came in. "Anna" she said, "I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight."
"I'm not sure I'll be able to either" Anna said.
"I keep thinking about the pain Hannah had to go through" Jenny said.
"I don't want to go through that."
"Me either" Anna said.
"Will we go through it?" Jenny asked.
"According to Hannah we won't if we keep it a secret" Anna said.
"I'm afraid I'll tell someone" Jenny said and started to sob.
Anna went over and placed her hand on Jenny's shoulder. "I'm afraid of that too" she said.
Jenny sat up and hugged her sister. She then said "I don't know who to be mad at for this."
"Be mad at the people who made Hannah tell us" Anna said. "I'm sure
that they want us in their organization."
"What will we do though?" Jenny asked.
"We'll just have to be extremely careful not to tell the secret" Anna said.
"That's all we have to do."
Anna was able to calm Jenny down a bit and went to take her shower. While in the shower Anna thought 'This must be eating Hannah up inside. I know it would be eating me if it were me. I hope that we can keep this secret as I don't think Hannah would of told us it if she thought we couldn't. Those rotten people at that organization putting all of us through this. Why would they want us though? If they came up to me right now and asked me to join I'd say no. They must have known that we'd say that if we knew what Hannah told us. So why did they have Hannah tell us? There is something different since Hannah became our sister but I can't tell what it is. This is so confusing. First we learn that someone had messed with our lives and separated us by age and even kicked one member out. Then we learn that a secret organization that monitors reality wants us back together and made Hannah our sister. Something isn't adding up here. Who messed with our lives in the first place and why? Why did this organization make Hannah our sister and keep her here for a hundred years? There must be something that we're not seeing. I wonder if this organization could have had anything to do with the virus that got into the computers at Dad's work. They certainly knew that Paul
and Edmund would be here at the time they told Hannah. Or was Hannah lying about not having anything to do with that? Should we really trust her? She did say she had gone insane before. Was that a lie or the truth? Was she telling us the truth about joining this organization being so painful? Am I going crazy thinking about this? All I know for sure is that life just got a little more complicated.'
Anna finished her shower and went to bed with those thoughts still racing through her mind.