Chapter Thirty-One
Wherever a few feet of space happened to become available inside of Titan
Industries Software Division’s auditorium, camera crews from all the major TV
networks, high tech cable channels, and countless Internet high tech websites
quickly filled it.
For Joe Hegler, the software division’s President, the overflowing crowd seemed similar to the colony of ants he recently saw in his back yard after someone had dropped some potato chips.
However, despite the resemblance, this afternoon’s circus-like environment was justified. For today was the day he would make the announcement that not only hundreds of high schools throughout the United States was waiting for, many retailers and others with interest in the PC Gaming World were wanting to hear, as well.
In just a matter of minutes, the three top winners and an “honorable mentioned” of Titan’s annual High School Computer Clubs Software Contest was going to be announced. The First Place prize consisted of a $100,000 grant, which was required to be used for the advancement of computer literacy. Additionally, every member of the winning school’s computer club would receive a full college scholarship to a state-owned university of their choice within the state they resided.
The second-place prize was a $50,000 grant, and the third-place winner would receive a $25,000 grant. Whoever won “honorable-mentioned” would be awarded an attractive fourteen-carat gold-plated plaque that could be placed in the winning school’s trophy case.
Near the elevated stage located at the front of Titan’s grandiose auditorium, four Computer Club faculty advisers from various schools around the country nervously sat, fidgeting as they waited for the upcoming announcement.
Mr. Carl Thompson from Gibsonville – the computer club adviser from an 800-student K-12 school, literally sat with a plastered grin across his face that could have reminded anyone sitting nearby of Bozo the Circus Clown.
Wow. I can’t believe it, Carl thought while various executive-type gentlemen took their assigned seats on the stage in front of him.
Soon afterwards, loud festive-type music began to play.
This is amazing. Gibsonville School is finally going to receive a major recognition. Maybe even First prize. … I can only imagine how this is going to help my career. … Wow! Thanks Paul and Tim.
*****
Meanwhile, back at Gibsonville School the End of Fifth Period bell was scheduled to ring when unexpectedly their PA proceeded to blare.
“Attention all students. I repeat. Attention all students. Would the members of Gibsonville’s Computer Club please report to the Office Skills classroom instead of your regularly scheduled sixth period class. Thank You.”
Instantly, grins stretched from ear-to-ear on Paul’s, Tim’s, and Daniel’s faces as they turned in their seats and shared a high-five. Apparently, Mr. Skinner had approved their petition, which requested that they would be allowed to watch Titan’s Award Ceremony since today was the last day of school.
“Can you believe it?”Tim said, taking a quick glance in Paul’s direction as he stuffed his Advanced Algebra book inside of his backpack. “The man actually has a heart.”
Paul glanced backwards so he could see his friend and smiled.
“A heart?” Cathy interrupted as she came up beside them. “It’s more like, he’s got a daughter.”
“A daughter?” the boys repeated. They seemed to be puzzled.
“Why of course, silly boys,” Cathy continued, giving them a grin. “Don’t you think a girl knows how to get what they want from their father, especially when she’s a prominent member of the computer club?”
Both Tim and Paul laughed.
“You do have a point,” Paul commented as the four of them headed down the hallway. “They do have a way of securely wrapping their dads around their little finger. … I sure wish I could do that with my mother, life would become so much easier.”
A few minutes later when the four of them entered the Office Skills classroom, one of the first things they noticed before taking a seat was Mr. Little. The vice principal had rolled an old-fashion analog TV into the classroom and was currently setting it up.
“Do analog TVs still receive anything?” Tim yelled in his direction. “I thought all TV stations were only transmitting in digital.”
Mr. Little, at first, ignored him and continued to plug a black rectangular device into an electrical outlet. “Not by themselves, they don’t, Tim,” he answered. “But this analog/digital converter should do the trick.”
He then turned the television on and set the channel for WFMY Channel 2. About five seconds afterwards, a live broadcast of Titan Industries’ awards ceremony appeared on the previously greenish colored screen.
“Do you think we’re going to win?” Daniel E. Whitehouse the Third asked anyone who might have been listening, as one of Titan’s executives approached at the podium and began to ramble about what a great year the past twelve months had been for the game software industry. “You all know how much work we put into it.”
“You got that right,” a Russian foreign exchange student acknowledged while the other computer club members only nodded.
“I still even dream about working on it,” a black student said, whirling around to face him.
“You, too?” another student added.
Tim twisted in his seat, so he could face who was speaking. “Well. To be honest folks,” he began as if he knew what was what. “According to my Dad, even though he chose not to be one of Titan’s contest judges because I’m a member of this club … he said Titan Industries received quite a few really good entries this year. So there’s a possibly Gibsonville might not win.”
“You kidding?” Paul immediately blurted while folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in his seat. “Someone else actually submitted a game that could be better than ours?”
“I wish I was,” Tim retorted, looking straight at his best friend. “I know that everyone here, especially you, me, Cathy and Daniel, have literally worked our butts off in order to make the game a work of perfection. However, there are a lot of kids in much larger schools all over the U.S., who have been able to take computer programming courses ever since the sixth grade, and they know how to get a job done right.”
A Mexican student quickly raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. “Really? Back in the small town of Delicias where I came from, I didn’t even know how to turn a computer on until I started middle school.”
“Wow!” another student replied.
Cathy looked like she was about to comment, when suddenly everyone in the classroom noticed clapping coming from the TV. It appeared that Mr. Hegler was returning to the podium.
*****
Carl Thompson first shifted in his seat and then focused straight ahead while he rubbed his sweaty palms together.
“Thank you … Thank you … Thank you,” Joe Hegler kept repeating as the audience prolonged their standing ovation. “ If you would now please take your seat, we’ll proceed with today’s announcements. … And believe me, I’d like to see who is going to win just as much as you would,” he added with a smile and friendly wave of his hand.
As the lights in the room commenced to dim, the audience began to take their seats. And a millisecond later, a ten by twenty foot LED screen lowered a couple of feet behind and to the right of where Mr. Hegler was standing.
In respond, everyone in the room automatically lifted the inexpensive pair of passive 3-D glasses they were previously given.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Mr. Hegler’s voice started to roar through the semi-darkness, which now filled the auditorium. “Let me introduce to you – this year’s top four entries.”
Instantly, a blinding yellow and white nuclear explosion filled the center of the screen, and an accompanying deafening roar followed – Seconds before multicolored solar-like flares simultaneously formed the words “Titan Industries’ Top Four Entries,” both above and below.
*****
“Can you believe those graphics?” a Japanese Gibsonville Computer Club member remarked even though what everyone in the Office Skills classroom was viewing was only in 2-D. “That’s amazing.”
Paul momentarily gazed at him and raised his eyebrow. “You consider that amazing after what we recently completed? What Plutonium’s Revenge module did Cathy assign you to – the credit listings?”
Akio Chen cheeks rapidly turned a bright red, and his fellow students chuckled.
*****
“And this year’s third-place winner is …” Mr. Hegler continued as he pointed toward the screen which was now displaying a blood spattered, greasily scene that could have come from the Vietnam War era. “Hell-Born Warriors … which was submitted by Baden High School in San Francisco, California.”
*****
“Wow! That looks like it’d be a cool game,” Daniel said, staring at the TV screen as the audience within Titan’s auditorium clapped while a middle-age lady wearing an off-white business suit approached the stage and received her computer club’s trophy.
Tim turned and gave him a smile, while others nodded their agreement.
“I wonder what game is going to win second place?” Cathy asked, still focused on the twenty-inch screen before her.
*****
Within seconds, an enormous blaring sun radiated in the center of Titan’s spacious screen, and it seemed to be rapidly melting a gigantic iceberg below.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Mr. Hegler announced as the name of the program suddenly appeared in front the demo in fifteen inch, 3-D letters. “Let me introduce our second-place winner, an extremely advance interactive game where one tries to survive in a swiftly changing global warming environment – The Nth Degree … which was submitted by Coral Reef High School in Miami, Florida.”
“That’s unbelievable,” a red-haired female sophomore exclaimed as she continued to watch the demo. “A global warming game won second place. What is the PC gaming world coming to?”
Tim grinned as he turned to gaze at her. “Well, Sara. Some people really get into challenges like that,” he said before pausing. “After all, look how popular SimCity is.”
Sara displayed a pouty face, before answering, “I know, Tim. But it’s ridiculous. The game’s so boring you almost have O.D. yourself on caffeine pills just to stay awake.”
Paul laughed at the sophomore’s comment. However, his attention quickly changed when a demo of the remaining award winning PC games appeared side-by-side on Titan’s screen.
“PC Gamers everyone,” Mr. Hegler stated after a fellow executive handed him a three by five-inch index card. “Before you are both, Titan Industries’ National High School Computer Club Winner and our Honorable Mentioned.”
In front of each game, its name instantly appeared.
“On your left is the space-based warrior game, “Plutonium’s Revenge”… which was submitted by the Gibsonville School Computer Club, which is located in Gibsonville, NC – just a few miles east of here. … And on the right side of the screen is “Total Fiasco”– a game where you’re the President of the United States. And it’s your job to create economic progress during a recessionary crisis, while working with a Democratically control Senate and a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. … It was submitted by Roosevelt Senior High in Washington D.C.”
Mr. Hegler then paused as a recorded drum roll proceeded to play.
*****
“This is it. This is it!” Daniel shouted as all the students in the room kept their eyes glued onto the set in front of them. “We’re going to win!”
*****
“And the winner of this year’s contest is,” Joe continued with a large ear-to-ear smile before he, once again, paused for effect. “Total Fiasco!”
“Total Fiasco?” Paul repeated in disbelief, his mouth wide open as he slummed in his seat. “How did that happen? I was sure we had a winner.”
Tim gave his friend a conciliatory smile and patted him on the back. “I make a bet it had something to do with Krypton Software stealing our game and putting their modified version of it on the market.”
Paul looked at Tim and grimaced. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”
*****
The following day, which was a teacher’s workday since the school year for all students had ended, Gibsonville’s P.A. began to blare. “Attention all teachers … Attention all teachers … Mr. Carl Thompson. Please report to the principal's office. Thank you.”
When a knocking of the door resounded, Mr. Skinner took a deep breath, then grudgingly got up from behind his mahogany desk and slowly opened the door. This definitely isn’t going to be easy.
“Mr. Thompson,” he said as his Office Skills teacher and computer club adviser entered the room. “Please come in and take a seat. We’ve got some business, which has to be discussed.”
“Okay,” Carl replied, noting the unusual formal manner his boss and friend had addressed him.
“Mr. Thompson,” Raymond said, crossing his arms in front of himself after the two of them had taken their seats. “I have known and worked with you for several years now … and up to this point, have definitely held you in the highest regard. However, the report I received a couple of days ago from the Administration of Guilford County Schools is quite disturbing.”
“It is?” Carl’s eyes flashed wide open. “What report? And what does it say?”
Mr. Skinner smiled a very sad smile – as if he was about to lose an old friend.
“According to this report, Mr. Thompson … and the info it contains has been verified by our authorities … we have evidence that during this past school semester, you abused your position as Gibsonville School’s computer club adviser for your personal benefit.”
Carl stared at his friend and gulped. “But Ray," he stammered. “I didn’t have a choice. Krypton Software blackmailed me. … I had no alternative but to give them the information they wanted so they could steal a copy of the kids’ game.”
“Oh, really?” Raymond said, shaking his head while making a steeple with his fingers on top of his desk. “Didn’t you ever consider coming to me about it, Carl? If you had, I could have helped you.”
Carl Thompson sat, his mouth partly open as he gazed at his friend. “You’re right. I should have, Ray. But I thought that my career was on the line, so I wasn’t thinking too clearly. I just reacted.”
“It’s unfortunate you did. And in the worst way possible,” Raymond replied, briefly glancing downward. “Carl. What you did is something the Guilford County School system would never look happily upon. However, instead of following their initial recommendation of firing you, I have managed to convince them that you are really a good instructor, and the school system should keep you.”
“You have?” Carl said, barely upon a whisper while displaying a quivering smile.
“Yes. I have,” Raymond confirmed with a subtle nod. “However, because of this incident you will no longer be employed at Gibsonville School.”
Carl Thompson frowned and Mr. Skinner deliberately paused to let the words he had spoken sink in.
“Mr. Thompson, my friend,” Raymond continued. “Starting this upcoming Fall semester, your new position will be the Distributive Education instructor at Grimsley High School in downtown Greensboro. … Unfortunately, your days of teaching computer-related courses in Guilford County are now over. But on the bright side, my friend, you’re still going to have a job.”
Carl smiled a perfunctorily smile. However, the glimmer, which seemed always present deep within his eyes, no longer was visible.