SERIES EDITOR: ANGIE WIJAYA
WHAT’S HER NAME AGAIN? AS TOLD BY: IRIS L. ILLUSTRATIONS BY: ANGIE W.
FIRST VERSION PUBLISHED 2018 WWW.PORTALPUBLISHING.COM DORSODURO 2910 VENEZIA, ITALIA 30123 (+39)324-816-6848
TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: WHO AM I? CHAPTER 2: WHAT’S GOING ON? CHAPTER 3: WHAT HAPPENS TOMORROW? CHAPTER 4: HAVE YOU HEARD OF RICKY THE ROCK? CHAPTER 5: IS IT TODAY? CHAPTER 6: WHAT ARE THE HOLES.? CHAPTER 7: ARE WE THERE YET? CHAPTER 8: WHAT ARE THE ODDS? CHAPTER 9: WHAT’S UP, RICKY THE ROCK? CHAPTER 10: CAN I SEE HIM? CHAPTER 11: WHERE AM I?
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CHAPTER 1: WHO AM I?
Oh hello! Didn’t see you there! I’m Wren. I am currently 17 years old and when I grow up, I want to be a mini-game designer. You probably have no idea what I am talking about, but before I explain all of that to you, let me introduce you to my family.
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I have a sister and a brother. My sister’s name is Wendi and my brother’s name is Wilber. We all live together along with our parents in something called the Downside Up.
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CHAPTER 2: WHAT’S GOING ON? Year after year, the sun inches closer and closer to our planet earth. Imagine a world of inescapable and unbearable heat. You know when you’re at the beach and the deeper you dig, the cooler it gets?
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The year is 4050, and now the only option left is to seek shelter underground. This is what we call the Downside Up.
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DOWNSIDE UP
Downside Up levels are complicated. The deepest level, therefore the one where temperatures are the lowest and the most ideal, simply cannot accommodate everyone.
To solve this problem, our leaders established a special system for downward mobility based on skills and also a little bit of luck.
LEVEL -1
LEVEL -2 LEVEL -3
LEVEL -4 LEVEL -5
LEVEL -6 LEVEL -7
LEVEL -8 LEVEL -9
LEVEL -10 LEVEL -11
LEVEL -12
LEVEL -13
LEVEL -14 LEVEL -15
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In order to advance a level, you have to earn stars. Stars are distributed upon completion of mini-games. They go into everyone’s personal star accounts and are only able to be spent by the account holder (unless of course, you are under 18 years old). My family and I have been comfortably living on level -7, living off around 10 stars a day. I have never been able to contribute to my family’s stars, but that is all going to change tomorrow.
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CHAPTER 3: WHAT HAPPENS TOMORROW?
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Tomorrow is my 18th birthday. This means that I will be allowed to start playing my very own mini-games and finally become a contributing adult. I am looking forward to play all of the famous minigames I have heard about growing up-- the ones that I am authorized to play, of course. Some mini-games are only unlocked when you
reach a certain level. I would say my favorite one is where the player matches and collects same-colored pillows together to form bombs. Each time you play, the objective is different, and if you collect all the necessary pillows, you win a star. My friend Ricky the rock also loves that mini- game.
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CHAPTER 4: HAVE YOU HEARD OF RICKY THE ROCK?
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I met Ricky the rock when I was just 4 years old. We have always lived together on the same level, but recently, he moved down to level -8. The moving process alone has made it increasingly difficult to spend time with him. The long distance has made our friendship sort of rocky.
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Simply getting from one level to another requires many stars. There is an entire application process for a temporary stay. Back when we lived on the same level, we would spend all of our afternoons
together—going to the park and swinging on the swings with our favorite strawberry milkshakes from our neighborhood diner. We had the most fun together. I miss it dearly.
I would say that my long term goal, as I will soon be able to play my own mini-games, is earn enough stars and visit him as often as I can. This means that I will have to earn 50 stars each week. I know it seems very ambitious but my bond with Ricky the rock is so strong, I am willing to do anything to see him.
The good thing about just now starting to play my own mini-games is that the difficulty for all of them is set on the default: easy. For example, I will have the bumper setting on for the bowling mini-game and a net underneath me for the jumping mini- game.
LEVEL SETTING: EASY
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CHAPTER 5: IS IT TODAY? Every year on my birthday, my level lets me take first pick of my daily vitamin supplement. Allow me to explain. Because of our lack of exposure to sunlight in the Downside Up, every day, everyone has to take one vitamin supplement. Each level receives a set amount of vitamin supplements containing a variety of flavors. Unfortunately, 15
we do not get to choose the flavor we get because then, the whole process becomes too complicated. Birthdays are an exception. You can probably guess my all-time favorite flavor. It’s strawberry! I happily eat my strawberry vitamin supplement as I turn on my brand new portable mini-game device. 16
Regular mornings do not look like this, but like I said, birthdays are an exception. Normally, I would have to help out with shoveling. Why do we have to shovel, you ask? Because of the inherent crumbly nature of Downside Up dirt. Living here is a great way to avoid direct sunlight, but dirt conditions are not always ideal. Doorways tend to fill up overnight. This isn’t a huge problem, unless of course, Grounder traffic is particularly heavy. Grounders are those who live above ground. I have heard many
stories about Grounders, but never very detailed ones. I often wonder what life would be like as a Grounder. My parents told me that Grounders are those who have trouble getting their hands on mini-game devices because of their criminal records. Anyway, when a large crowd of Grounders gather, more dirt accumulates in the Downside Up where we are. When that happens, shoveling can be really tiring. I am just glad I don’t have to do any of that today!
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LEVEL -7
My family surrounds me as I select my very first mini-game. I remember doing the same for Wendi 3 years ago. It was a huge celebration and everybody gathered around to watch her play. Now it is finally my turn. My heartbeat speeds up and moisture accumulates in my clammy hands. This is my moment! The first step to my reunion with Ricky the rock. 18
The only way to communicate with others on different levels is through the Holes. Holes are transparent tubes drilled
CHAPTER 6: WHAT ARE THE HOLES?
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from ground level all the way down to the deepest one, level -15.
HOLES
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In order to even step foot in the Holes, one must wear very heavy protection. The rays of the sun are so powerful and deadly that the tiniest exposure can risk severe burns. Sure, sun protection suits require fewer stars than Level Visiting applications (I will go into more detail about this soon, don’t worry!), but due to its popularity, lines for sun suits are always extremely long. Spending a mere 10 minutes with Ricky the rock could mean standing in line for hours. On top of that, there is no way to reserve a sun suit ahead of time, unless of course, you are a level -15.
However, on this special day, my 18th birthday, I have decided to spend some of my precious time in line, in order to speak with Ricky the rock. It was Wilber who initially encouraged me to plan a visit to the Hole and talk to Ricky the rock. As I made my way to the dirt-less front door of my house, I think about what Ricky the rock could be doing. I could not wait to tell him all about my very first mini-game. Hopefully, he remembered my birthday and it is ready to come to the Hole and congratulate me on this big milerock.
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welcome back wren!
GAMES
The walk from my house to the Hole is thankfully, a short one. My exit is bombarded by a wave of happy birthdays as I grab my belongings and rush out. The line for the Hole is long. No surprise there. Except this time, I suddenly remembered that my waiting experience would be different. Now I have my mini-game device with me! I turn it on for my second ever mini-game.
MENU
Which one should I choose? I decide to take on the pillow- matching game. It had always looked so difficult and time consuming when I watched other people play it, but standing in line, I had plenty of time to kill.
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CHAPTER 7: ARE WE THERE YET?
Just as I open the mini- game, I hear some commotion behind me. I turn around slightly to get a view of what was going on. It was a group of rocks laughing. I smile but cannot help feeling sad as I think of my own rock friend. The last time I talked to him was only a couple of weeks ago when I visited him for the first time after the move, but it truly has felt like years. I regain my focus and tighten my grip on my mini-game device. I tell myself that it is important I fully concentrate on my goal
in order to achieve it. The pillow-matching mini-game was as expected, not as simple as the bowling one I had just completed this morning. Nevertheless, I keep on hitting the restart button and trying again so that I get the star. 23
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All of the sudden, I hear a voice behind me. “First time matching the pillows?� I spin around only to see one of the rocks that was part of the group I saw earlier. I nod and laugh nervously, afraid he was judging me. Instead, he offered me advice on how to
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play the mini-game and even showed me some techniques and strategies. Not long after, I find myself fully immersed in a conversation with the rocks. They were very friendly and I thought to myself: what better way to make friends than during an hour-long wait?
We got to chatting about why we were in line for the sun suits in the first place and who we were going to talk to in the Hole. They told me they had some family down in -8 who had just recently moved over there. I responded saying I was waiting to speak to a good friend of mine who had
also recently moved down there. Each level houses thousands, but the circumstances seemed so similar, I did not hesitate to mention my friend was also a rock. One of the rocks widened her eyes and told me their cousin was Ricky the rock. I almost drop my mini-game device.
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CHAPTER 8: WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
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I was in complete disbelief. Ricky the rock has told me plenty about his immediate family, but his extended family members never came up. It did not occur to me that he had cousins living on different levels and that they even lived on mine! Ricky the rock’s cousins seemed just as shocked as I was and quickly asked me if I wanted to join them the following day on a trip down to the -8. I agreed without hesitation, but still felt the need to ask how in the world it would be possible to send in the application and get it approved in such short time.
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It was especially difficult because many more worms work on human cases at the Level Visiting Application Office. Worms are usually very harsh with visiting applications. They always ask for a lot of unnecessary information, which makes the process harder than it already is. The rocks, on the other hand, told me that they had a good family friend, a potato, who
worked at the office. They said that their friend, Patty the potato, has helped them fast track applications before. What a sweet potato!
LEVEL VISITING APPLICATION OFFICE
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At last, it was my turn. I carefully zip up my sun suit and enter the inflation chamber. This has always been my favorite part. The sun suit is made up of a silver inflatable material that acts as a reflective surface for the harmful sun rays to bounce off from. I am not going to lie, I look three times my size after my sun suit is inflated. As soon as the green light turns on inside my helmet, I know I am ready to enter the Hole.
sun
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CHAPTER 9: WHAT’S UP, RICKY THE ROCK?
sun
My talk with my Ricky the rock was made even more exciting as I detailed the events that happened while I was waiting in line. He seemed really excited as well. He then went on to talk about his new school and his new friends. I also 31
told Ricky the rock all about my first mini-game experience and how much fun my first day as an 18-year-old has been. We both got very excited about seeing each other soon and talked for what felt like hours.
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The following day could not have gone any slower. I took note of every single tick the clock in my bedroom made as I waited in anticipation to see Ricky the rock. Hopefully, my application got past the worms at the office. I remember a couple months back,
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my parents wanted to visit a high-end shovel store down in -9. It took a whole week for the office to approve their applications. It was ridiculous! If only we had known about Patty the potato. At the end, at least they got the shovels they wanted.
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CHAPTER 10: CAN I SEE HIM NOW?
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Today is the day! Ricky the rock’s cousins stopped by my house to tell me the good news and pick me up so we could head to the Undervator together. Each level has 10 Undervators. Undervators look like gigantic bowls connected to the upper most layer of the Downside Up. It does not see sunlight, but its speed and velocity poses another
danger. This is why all Undervators contain a type of pink jelly that we all have to be completely submerged in. The pink jelly prevents us from getting nauseous or feeling sick as the Undervator spins. One undervator can hold up to 20 Downside Up residents.
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We slowly made our way there as I followed closely in order to avoid getting lost in the tunnels. Walking in the tunnels can be really confusing, especially when you do not have the new Navi- tunnel technology. I was relieved to find out that Ricky the rock’s cousins had Navi-tunnel. It is a small chip that you place on the ground that lights up and leads you on the shortest and quickest route to your destination. It costs 10 stars, but seeing as I normally only need to walk between home and school, I did not plan on investing in one. Their Navi-tunnel made a high-pitched
beeping noise as we reached the Undervator. We had originally hoped to catch the 9:37 am one, but missed it by a couple of minutes, so we sat down on the nearest root and waited for the 9:44 am Undervator. I insert my ticket in the mushroom at the door, as all five of us plop into the Undervator. The jelly smelled like freshly made cotton-candy. This was only my 3rd time in one. I could not help but lick it. It was gross.
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R O T A V R E UND
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CHAPTER 11: WHERE AM I?
Ricky the rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He had been waiting for us just at the entrance to level -8. He rolled around happily and so did his cousins. I guess it is just something rocks do. Level -8 looked nothing like level -7. Even though the foundations of each level were built similarly, the themes and colors for each level are completely different. All levels are unique. My level, -7, is completely
pink. I scan my surroundings in awe at all of the green around me. Everything was green. Every tunnel we turned into on the way to Ricky the rock’s new house was covered in green. My dream, like many others, is to visit every single level.
LEVEL -8
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Ricky the rock showed me popular spots where he and his friends liked to hang out. His favorite spot was called “Carrots Are carrots are great Great�. They were famous for their carrot flavored desserts. I have tried the carrot cake once before when I was very little, but I had never had their carrot ice cream. Ricky the rock suggested that we drop by so that I could finally try the ice cream. Ricky the rock knew the way, so we did not need a Navi-tunnel.
He was rolling so fast, I struggled to catch up. I wondered why he was in such a rush. We arrived not long after only to find that the shop was empty. Ricky the rock insisted on going in to check if they were open. I, on the other hand, was very tired from running and decided to stay back and catch my breath.
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LEVEL -8 carrots are great
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Suddenly, all of the lights turned on and a flood of people, rocks and potatoes rushed out of the store. Ricky the rock was holding a beautiful carrot cake with endless scoops of carrot ice cream on top. I did not know whether to laugh or cry. I was just so overwhelmed and frankly, caught off-guard. How did they plan all of this? As if
Ricky the rock could read my mind, he yelled over the cheering crowd, “it was no coincidence you met my cousins! I even talked to Wilber to make sure you would go to the Hole.� I told Ricky the rock how impressed I was and thanked him for organizing the perfect 18th birthday party.
I take a deep breath and blow out every single one of my candles. I close my eyes and wish that the day would never end.
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