The Game Globe held perfectly still for a few seconds, frozen in the middle of a pulse. ‘Thanks for answering my questions, Jane! Now, hang on tight – your adventure’s about to begin!’
The Game Globe spun away, like a crazy spark. The light in the yellow space followed it. For a moment, there was nothing.
The nothing didn’t last long. So much stuff happened at once.
A bunch of colours burst all around her, big stripes of them stretching out farther than she could see. Two kids stepped through doors that appeared in the air. A girl and a boy. That was very exciting, because Jane hadn’t seen a boy except in the pictures Owl had showed her. But neither the girl nor the boy looked real. Their bodies were shaped wrong – big round heads, big thick lines along their clothes – and their colours were all the way solid, like paint. They were weird, but there was something nice about them, too. She liked looking at them.
The kids were opposites of each other, kind of. The boy had dark brown skin, and yellowish hair that was real fun, all curled in soft circles. The girl – the girl wasn’t like any girl Jane had ever seen. She had shiny black hair that fell all the way down her back, like a blanket but way nicer. She was brown, too, but a different brown than the boy. Kind of like Jane’s pink skin, but not really. Later, she would ask Owl for more colour words. There had to be better words.
Jane could’ve looked at the kids for a long time, but things went real fast after they showed up. An animal dropped down from somewhere way up high and landed on its feet. It wasn’t a dog, or a lizard-bird, or anything she’d seen. It had feet and hands kind of like a kid, was red-brown and furry, and had a tail like a dog did, but much longer and thinner. It had a silly face, too: fat cheeks and stick-out ears and a squashed-in nose. There was something in the animal’s hand – a curled, shiny metal thing, with a big opening at one end and a smaller one at the other. The animal blew into the small end, and a loud music sound came out: BAAAAAH-BAH-BAH-BAH-BAHHHH!
The kids threw their not-real hands up in the air. The colours spun and bounced. The kids talked music.
Engines on! Fuel pumps, go!
Grab your gear, there’s lots to know
Our galaxy is where we play
Come with us, we know the way!
BIG BUG!
From ground and sky!
BIG BUG!
By stars we fly!
BIG BUG!
We’re the Big Bug Crew!
The Big Bug Crew and YOOOOOU!
‘Hey, Jane!’ the not-real girl said. ‘I’m Manjiri.’
‘I’m Alain,’ the not-real boy said. Her — his, Jane reminded herself. Boys got a different word. His accent was different than Manjiri’s but the same as Owl’s. Jane didn’t know why that was, but it was interesting.
‘And this is our best buddy, Pinch!’ the kids said together, putting their open hands toward the animal. The animal did a silly jump.
Jane did not move. She said nothing. The rain was not the weirdest thing any more, not by a lot.
‘This is your first time playing a sim, right?’ Alain said. ‘Don’t worry. This is gonna be fun!’
Manjiri grinned. ‘We’re so excited for you to be with us on our latest adventure—’
The kids and the animal raised their hands up toward the air, where a bunch of red reading squiggles appeared, lit with yellow sparks. ‘THE BIG BUG CREW AND THE PLANETARY PUZZLE!’ the kids shouted.
‘Come on!’ Alain said. ‘We’ve got to get to the ship!’ He waved his hand over the air and a doorway appeared, not held up by anything. Jane couldn’t see anything through the door, either. Just colours swirling like smoke.
She felt weird, like she was wearing too little clothing. She wanted to go back to her room. She wanted a real task. ‘Um . . .’
‘Are you feeling nervous?’ Manjiri said. ‘That’s okay. Everybody feels nervous when trying new things. Would you feel better if I held your hand?’
Jane’s eyes went huge. Could she do that? Could they touch her? She nodded, once, hard.
The not-real girl’s hand felt like a memory of being held, but oh – oh, it was close enough! Something all knotted up inside Jane’s chest let go. She squeezed her hand; the made-up hand squeezed back. Holding hands was good, more good than not being hungry, more good than she knew how to say.
The furry animal ran up Manjiri’s back and hopped onto Jane’s shoulder. Jane jumped, but the animal just hung on and snuggled in, making silly sounds. The kids laughed. Jane decided the animal was okay.