"I've never played Virtual King's Quest before.  We've never gotten a holocomputer before."  At the time, King's Quest was most likely the most popular game series.  When holocomputers came out (computers that switch between holographic interface and manual interface using vocal commands, keyboards, mice, joysticks, monitors, printers, and speakers), Sierra, still a leader in computer gaming, released new versions of every single King's Quest game it had created in order to take advantage of the holocomputer's abilities.  The last game was King's Quest XV, which Ludwig had banned from the general public because its use of the 'Anonymous' Composers' music was quite integral to the adventure.  For the record, holocomputers were similar to holodecks, except that the message went into the person's brain rather than into energy for creating force fields to create three-dimensional figures and objects.  However, the energy could not possibly harm the user's brain.

            "Sure.  We have several holocomputers."

            "Okay.  Before we go, ah, I feel like doing something.  I haven't done it before, but. . . but I feel like doing it."

            "Me, too."  They kissed.

            "Oh, that felt great."

            "Yeah.  Want to go play Virtual King's Quest now?"

            "Yeah.  Let's tell my brother and your sister."

            "Okay, Antonio."  They got up and went over toward Chatonne and Guillaume.

            "We have holocomputers at my home," Chatonne said to Guillaume.

            "All right!" said Guillaume.  "You're very nice, Chatonne."

            "Thank you, you handsome young man."

            "Thank you for calling me handsome."

            "It's true.  I find you very attractive, Guillaume."

            "Do you love me?"

            "Yes, I love you."

            "That's good, because I love you too."

            "Well, let's tell your brother and my sister that we're going to my sister's and my home."  Gatinha and Antonio came up to them at that time.  "Ah!  Gatinha. . ."

            "I overheard, Chatonne," said Gatinha.  "Antonio and I were coming to tell you the same thing."

            "I see.  Same reason?"

            "Yes; Virtual King's Quest."

            "All the sooner that I can get this chip to Wilykit," said Antonio.

            "You've finished it?" Guillaume asked.

            "Yes."  He smiled jokingly.  "I can work even when you're pacing around and trying to distract me."

            "Hey!  I don't try to do it, Antonio!"

            "No need to get defensive, bro.  Just relax.  You're too hyper.  Calm yourself."

            "Yes.  Shall we leave?"

            "Of course.  Let's go!"

            * * *

            Control Room, Metroid, VideoLand, Milky Way Galaxy.

            Delving into his deepest emotions and most powerful intellect, Ludwig quickly composed his Fourth Symphony.  He was creating it from pure nothingness and effortlessly using Classical form; it would be entirely original and would surprise the Tygra-twins' socks off.  And it was completed.

            Still, something was going on inside him.  He suddenly realised that he was hungry. . . power-hungry!  It hit him like a starship.  He thought to himself, How can I be hungry for power?  I am Ludwig von Koopa!  I am not Napoleon!  MotherBrain was right in not letting me rule the universe.  Yes, I was too hungry for power.  Blast me!  I have been too smug!  That was too easy a thing for me to do.  But I won't let Wilykit subdue me!  "Do you hear me, Wilykit?" he demanded.  "You will not subdue me!"  MotherBrain came in.

            "Calm down, Ludwig," MotherBrain said.  "What is it?"

            "I have been silly.  I was hungry for power!  I can hardly believe it, but it is true.  You were right in not letting me rule the universe without your supervision.  Now I see some possibilities.  I see better now that I'm getting over my hunger for power.  And I see that you are Q-cubed as well!  No one has told me that."

            "Yes, because I have told absolutely no one, save for Larry not long ago.  You were becoming like Napoleon, Hitler, or Thorsen."

            "Yes, but no longer!"

            "I'm happy to hear that.  Do you know what Wilykit has done to you?"

            Ludwig felt.  She had blocked his barrier that was to keep Wesley out!  His face became a mask twisted between fury and fear.  "Oh, no!  Curse her!  She is too powerful for me!"

            "But not for you and me," MotherBrain said.

            "I understand!"  He showed her a booklet.  "My fourth symphony."  MotherBrain took the booklet with her right tentacle, then flipped through it slowly with her left.  From the first musical phrase to the final chord, she loved it.

            "What can I say?  It is perfect, I believe."

            "The Tygra-twins are probably not practising with the orchestra now.  Therefore, I'll go practise with them."

            "A good idea.  What shall I do?"

            "You ought to stay here.  I would like you to keep an eye on the N-Team, MotherBrain.  Let me know if they do something."

            "Certainly.  See you later."

            "See you later."  Ludwig left.  "Larry, come here!"  Larry warped into the room.

            "Yes, MotherBrain?" said Larry.

            "Your older brother has come to his senses."

            "Finally!"

            "He has also finished his fourth symphony."

            "Very good!  What is he doing?"

            "He has left to practise the symphony with the orchestra."

            "I understand.  What are you going to do?"

            "I am going to make sure that the N-Team is behaving itself properly."

            "The Tygra-twins were speaking with the Cerebra-twins.  They love each other."

            "I know that, Larry."

            * * *

            Casa di Tygra, New Thundera, Milky Way Galaxy.

            "You finished a ninety-minute symphony in two hours?" Wilykit asked.

            "Yes," Beethoven said.

            "That is good!"

            "Thank you.  I know.  It usually takes me longer to organise my thoughts.  I guess they were extremely well centralised in this case, for I wrote even more quickly than Mozart!  Where is the orchestra used by the Tygra-twins?"

            "In the Thunderian Musical Association building.  Today is one of the days when they regularly practise.  It is on those days when it is most convenient to practise a composition.  The building is reached by turning left onto the road toward town and continuing until you reach the building marked, 'Music Hall.'  It is on the left, past the traffic signals."  They had told him about the function of traffic signals and how to determine when it was safe to cross a signalised intersection.

            "Very well.  Thank you, Wilykit."  Beethoven left.

            "That guy is amazing," Wilykit said to Wilykat.

            "Sure is.  What do you want to do, 'Kit?"

            "How about we do something you want to do, brother?"

            "All right.  What can we do?"

            "I don't know, brother.  Do you want to play Virtual King's Quest?"

            "What a good idea!  How is it that you have such good ideas?"

            "Don't ask me.  It must be because of you."  Wilykat smiled.

            "Thank you.  You're too kind."

            "No, I'm not."

            "Yes, you are.  Shall we go?"

            "Yes.  Let's go."  They left Wilykit's temporary office and went to their room, where was a holocomputer of their own.  It consisted of a CPU much the same size as one on an ordinary IBM-compatible computer.  A sensitive place on top of the unit was where each participant put a hand.  The spot sent an impulse into the neural pathways of the hand to go to the brain so that the participants felt in all ways that they were actually in the program.  It was not dangerous at all.  If he or she wished, a user could choose to sense stimuli from the outside world, such as a chirping communicator.  All with simply a conscious thought.

            The Wilytwins had recently played King's Quest I:  Quest for the Crown and King's Quest II:  Romancing the Throne.  Each was a very hairy adventure.  In the first one, Sir Graham had to save the three treasures of Daventry to save the Kingdom of Daventry and become her king.  To accomplish this, Graham had to rid the kingdom of a terrible witch; retrieve Merlin's Mirror, which showed the true future, from a dragon; obtain the invincible Shield of Achilles from the leprechauns; and rescue the Golden Chest, always full of gold, from a giant in the clouds.  Without the three treasures, which had been stolen years before, the kingdom would have fallen.

            The second adventure involved King Graham's search for a wife.  No maiden in Daventry suited him; however, one day, Merlin's Mirror showed him a quartz tower and a maiden trapped at its top; this was Valanice of Kolyma, whom the exceeedingly wicked Dame Hagatha had kidnapped.  Upon arrival in Kolyma, Graham soon discovered the doorway to the Enchanted Island, where he would find the tower.  Actually, the portal consisted of three doors.  The first required a key of gold found deep under the sea in benevolent King Neptune's throne room.  The second necessitated a golden key ensconced in a cave located high in the unclimbable mountains (so Graham got to it with a magic carpet).  The final would only open to a golden key hidden in the darkest depths of Count Dracula's castle.  Graham had to avoid Dame Hagatha altogether.  His final challenge was getting past a lion, to which he fed a ham retrieved from the vampire Dracula's castle.  Then, he got married and returned to Daventry with his bride.

            "So," asked Wilykat, "what do we do in the third game, To Heir is Human?"

            "We aid Gwydion {gwih-dé-uhn} in escaping from the wizard Manannan {ma-nuh-nahn}.  Not quite eighteen years before this point of the story, Graham and Valanice produced twins, Alexander and Rosella.  One evening, the twins were left in their cradles on the shore of Lake Maylie while King Graham and Queen Valanice strolled through a nearby part of the forest.  Alexander was kidnapped by an evil wizard.  Now, about eighteen years later, Manannan has a slave boy who believes his name to be Gwydion.  At eighteen, the boy will be released or killed."

            "Ah, ha.  Might this boy be Prince Alexander?"

            "Yes.  It is a bit obvious if you read a little between the lines of the story."

            "Exactly.  I can't wait."

            "Good."  She put her right hand on the sensitive spot, while Wilykat put his left hand there.  Instantly, they 'arrived' in MS Windows.  They 'went' to the window marked King's Quest and opened it.  They 'touched' a program marked 'KQ3' and found themselves viewing the emerald Sierra logo, then the words 'King's Quest III:  To Heir is Human.'  They then saw a seventeen-year-old boy overlooking a cliff on top of a very steep mountain.  He was longing for freedom.  The computer told the players that Gwydion only remembered himself as being Manannan's servant, nothing else.  Manannan always seemed to find some small flaw for which to exact punishment upon Gwydion.

            The wizard came out the door of the house and found Gwydion.  The wicked look in his eyes nearly frightened the Wilytwins; the realism!  Manannan wore black robes.  Gwydion wore a shirt that was ripped in a few places, a pair of old trousers, and old shoes.  He needed a new selection, but he would get none.  "Gwydion!" cried the wizard.  "I require that you clean up the filthy kitchen floor in two minutes; the consequences of failure will not be pretty!"

            "Yes, sir," said Gwydion, wanting to spit in Manannan's face.  Ever since he was fourteen, he had wanted more and more freedom.  The wizard also became more and more demanding.  Thanks to Manannan's teaching, Gwydion was fluent in English and the other most common languages in the world.  Also, thanks to the wizard's tutelage, he could perform the basic arithmetical functions, simplify expressions with algebra, find areas with trigonometry and geometry, do a million things with calculus.  He could read and understand many pieces of literature handed to him.  He was not too familiar with history, since Manannan had held that back; for that reason, he wanted to learn it.  He was also desperate to escape.  The Wilytwins felt very sorry for his predicament.

            Gwydion followed Manannan into the house.  In the front room, the game began.  Wilykit directed Gwydion to the kitchen and had him clean it.  Five minutes later, at GT-0:05�, the wizard left on a trip.  Then, Wilykit took Gwydion to the wizard's bedroom to get a hand mirror from the vanity, rose petal essence from a dresser drawer, a magic map from within the wardrobe, and a key from on top of the wardrobe.  She also had him pick up the cat and take some hair.  [� - To mean, of course, five minutes from the start of the game.]

            Next, they went to the tower for Gwydion to get a dead fly's wings.  Down in Manannan's study, they obtained the wizard's wand by using the key to open a cabinet.  In the upper-right corner of the room, they moved books on the lowest shelf to find a lever.  Using it, they opened a door to the basement.  The wizard's lab!  They performed the spell for 'Flying like an eagle or fly.'

            * * *

            Around GT-0:55, they were back and creating a cat cookie.  They had done the following:  created the 'Fly as an eagle or a fly' spell; returned the wizard's study to its original state, including returning the wand to the cabinet; returned to the kitchen and taken three items of food and Gwydion's tools, the spoon, the knife, and the bowl; taken the wizard's cup from the dining room table; taken a chicken feather from the chickens on the cliff; gone down the treacherous mountain trail; gotten an eagle feather; spied on bandits as a fly in the tavern in town and learned where their hideout was; robbed the bandits of their ill-gotten treasure; returned at GT-0:27 after climbing back up the dangerous mountain path; stuffed Gwydion's things under the cot in his room so that the wizard would suspect nothing; fed the wizard bread three minutes later; listened to him complain about how the Three Witches from MacBeth had stood him, Mordack, and Alhazred up; seen the wizard go to bed at GT-0:35; retrieved stuff from under Gwydion's cot; used the magic map to transport back to town; used bandits' money to obtain a leather pouch, salt, fish oil, and lard in the store and pet Kenny, the dog, to get some dog hair; gotten mistletoe; used cup to get seawater; used the spoon to get mud at a waterfall; entered the desert; made Medusa 'reflect' on the situation using the wizard's hand-mirror; gotten a snakeskin; gotten a cactus; gone to the Three Bears' house; entered the house and taken the smallest bowl of porridge; taken a silver thimble; left and gotten dew from the flowers in front with the thimble; used the map to return to the trail to Manannan's house; gone to the study; retrieved the wand; returned to lab; and gotten mandrake root powder for creating the cat cookie.  Whew!  Dumb Medusa had cried that she was melting until Wilykat had Gwydion tell her that this was the wrong story!

            Wilykit had Gwydion recite:

                        "Mandrake root and hair of cat
                        Mix oil of fish and give a pat
                        A feline from the one who eats
                        This appetising magic treat."

            This was the spell for the cat cookie.  They then left the lab and the study as they had found them, including returning the wizard's magic wand to the cabinet.  Up in Gwydion's room, they shoved everything under the cot except the porridge and the cat cookie.  They crumbled the cookie into the porridge.  They then returned downstairs to wait for Manannan.

            "Gwydion!  I have just awakened.  I require sustenance immediately!"

            "I have it ready, sir," Gwydion said on Wilykit's order.  The wizard poofed into the dining room, where Gwydion gave him the porridge.

            "Thank you!  Sit down if you would like."  Wilykit had Gwydion sit down across from Manannan.  Upon re-creating the games, Sierra had also added in some fun stuff that was not possible in the originals.  It drew enormous popularity, even more than the originals did when they first came out.  The wiz ate with the manners of a pig.  "You know, Gwydion, I really hate the Three Witches.  Of course, that dummy Abdul Alhazred doesn't help any.  He's full of himself.  My brother goes to the trouble of getting a triple-date with MacBeth's future-foretellers, and what in world happens?  Alhazred reveals his powers aren't from wands at all!"  He was enjoying his meal.  "Mordack tells me Alhazred is just as dangerous as he or I, but I don't believe it.  Can't understand why Shadrack keeps him in the Society of the Black Cloak, either.  Bloody stupid if you ask me."  He finished the porridge.  "Mmm!  I've got to go visit Lolotte.  Rumour has it she just stole Genesta's Talisman.  You'd better know who Genesta is."

            "Good Fairy."

            "And Lolotte?"

            "Evil Fairy."

            "And where they live?"

            "Tamir, on the other side of the Impossible Mountains from Llewdor."

            "Yeah.  Good boy.  King Graham had better not interfere.  My sister is?"

            "Dame Hagatha."

            "Yes.  She held Valanice of Kolyma until Graham tramped in and saved her.  Since Mordack sent that dragon to Daventry, we've heard about no heroic deeds from King Graham.  Mordack and I have a plan, see.  The dragon is to fry one maiden per year until he gets Graham and Valanice's daughter; that's Mordack's half of the revenge.  Then, I'm to kill their son.  I'll show you who, Gwydion, right before terminating your employment.  In fact, since you will be eighteen next week, I might as well show you right now!"  Before he could do this, Manannan turned into a cat.  The spell had worked!  Gwydion, as mandated by Wilykit, wasted not a second in getting his things from his cot and returning to Manannan's lab with the wand.  He prepared the 'Understanding Creatures' spell, the invisibility spell, the sleep spell, and the storm spell.  Using the map, he then transported to a cave where a giant spider web was blocking the entrance.  Wilykat told Gwydion to become an eagle; as an eagle, Gwydion grabbed the enormous spider that had built the web and tossed it into the sea!  He entered the cave as a human and encountered an oracle.

            "Welcome, Gwydion," the oracle greeted.  "My crystal ball shall tell us what you need to know."  The ball showed what she recounted.  "Seventeen years ago, a wizard captured he who today escaped from captivity.  This is you, Gwydion.  You are in actuality a prince.  Four years ago, a three-headed dragon devastated Daventry, your homeland.  Each year, one maiden is sacrificed to spare the kingdom.  This year, your sister, Princess Rosella, daughter of King Graham and Queen Valanice, volunteered to be the victim.  The wizard has spoken to you about the dragon's killing of Rosella as a means of revenge against King Graham for saving Valanice from Dame Hagatha, the sister of Mordack and Manannan, the wizard in question.  Before dawn, you must return to Daventry.  Time is running out, since it is a few hours before dusk even now.  The rest of your quest shall be nocturnal across the sea to Daventry and then the Great Mountains.  Your name is Prince Alexander.  Here is an amber stone that may be able to help you.  I wish you godspeed."  She then fell into a death-like trance.  Quickly, Wilykit had Prince Alexander return to Manannan's house and create the 'Teleportation at Random' spell.  Then, she had him teleport to town and re-enter the tavern.

            There, they found a sea crew.  They were drinking and telling dirty jokes in slurred pirate-English.  Wilykit had Prince Alexander initiate a conversation with the captain.  "Excuse me, Captain.  Can I book passage to Daventry aboard your vessel?"

            The captain looked up at Alexander.  "Ay, for the right price.  Ye be havin' any gold?"  Wilykit had Alexander give the bandits' coins to the captain.  "Ay!  Ay!  Ya gots yerself a deal, me bucko!  Be at that thar wharf in half an hour!"  The pirates left.

            "Why?" asked the stunned barmaid.  "They're pirates!"

            "Oh," Alexander said.  "Well, I do need passage to Daventry."

            "Be careful."

            "Thank you.  Goodbye, ma'am."

            * * *

            The accommodations granted Alexander aboard the ship were less than comfortable.  The pirates had stolen his possessions and dumped him in the cargo hold.  Wilykit found a crate that would let Alexander reach the rope ladder.  She told him to go where it was; then, Alexander heard rats talking.  They revealed the location of the pirates' treasure to the prince!

            Alexander finally got to the rope ladder and climbed up one deck.  The captain's elegant quarters were not currently occupied.  Wilykit had Alexander go to a trunk at the foot of the pirate captain's bed and open it.  All of Alexander's possessions were there!  Quickly, Wilykit had Alexander take them, and Wilykat had him exit the room to the right.  This was where the lifeboats were.  They found a shovel, which Wilykat had the prince take.  Then, they again descended to the hold.  When the first mate cried, "Land ho!" Wilykat made Prince Alexander cast the deep sleep spell.  The ship fell silent.  This time, Wilykit had Alexander climb up to the top deck.  Land could be seen nearby.  She had him jump off and swim ashore.  (They bypassed a shark.)  There, he found the treasure five steps east of a palm tree, just as the rats had said.  Northward they went, arriving at a big boulder.  At this point, Wilykit decided to use a great option; the game would allow one of the players to climb in such a way that the main character would follow precisely.  So, she carefully climbed the boulder on the path that Alexander should follow.  Soon, they reached a stream through which they climbed.  Upon sight of the Abominable Snowman, both Wilytwins cried for Alexander to turn into a fly.  Safely, they took him east until they encountered a drop.  There, they ran out of the rose petal essence, the fuel for the spell.  They had to get Alexander through three caves to continue; between each, they had to climb the steep cliff face.  (Geometrically and algebraically, the slope of the cliff was pretty near to being undefined.  In layman's terms, the cliff was almost entirely vertical.)  So they did.  They followed an eastward path down the mountain after they had gotten past the cliff.  The going got too easy, and Alexander fell.

            Fortunately, it was not far above ground.  The shock at the sight of the kingdom was worse than the fall.  The place had been utterly wasted.  Deep, wide cracks in the ground; boulders from the mountain lying around; a large cave at the base of the mountain had remands of door hinges in the rock.  Having played King's Quest I, the Wilytwins surmised that this was the stairway to the mountain area where Graham had defeated the giant and retrieved the Golden Chest; the look was so much more similar between KQ1 and KQ3 here than with the original game versions.  The dragon, they realised, might very well be where the giant had been.  How ironic.

            Going westward, they encountered destroyed vegetation.  It had been beautiful in King's Quest I, when everything had still been alive.  Appalling, to say the very least.  Wandering north, they encountered an ancient gnome.  He sat whistling in a rocking chair on the porch of his shack.  His eyes showed vitality and intelligence.  "Welcome home, Prince Alexander.  You see this land?  It used to be extremely beautiful.  Beautiful, that is, until that goldarned dragon came along and destroyed it."

            "I have heard," Alexander said.  "I also happen to know that my sister, Princess Rosella, is a voluntary sacrifice."

            "Yes!  Your fearless twin!"  Wilykat was stunned.  He had been surprised to discover that he had cousins.  He could barely imagine what surprise he would have encountered had he learned about Wilykit at Alexander's age!  "Her time is almost out!"  The gnome indicated the hue of sunrise.  "She'll be fried as soon as the sun is above the horizon.  Your parents are so grieved that they've locked themselves in yon Castle Daventry.  They're receiving no visitors.  It is all in your hands, Your Highness.  Only you can save Princess Rosella and Daventry!"  Wasting no time, Wilykat directed Alexander into the cave and up the pebble-strewn stairs.

            On the mountain, the air was hot and humid.  The trees were charred and on the verge of decaying.  Wilykit had Alexander activate the invisibility spell, then had him approach the enormous three-headed dragon.  Smoke drifted out of six nostrils.  Corrosive fluid seeping from three mouths sizzled the ground.  Rosella was struggling, her muscles straining against her bonds.  Certainly, she was screaming, though she was not that type; who but a Vulcan would not when on the verge of being fried by a dragon?

            Wilykat quickly thought of the storm spell.  He told Prince Alexander to do it.  The ensuing storm exploded bolts of lightning and electrified the beast.  Alexander became visible once more.  Wilykit then had him untie Rosella.  "Who are you?" asked Rosella of Daventry.

            "Prince Alexander, your twin brother."  She did not quite believe him.  "I'll explain it later.  Let's return to the castle."  He hugged her happily and kissed her on the forehead.  They descended to Daventry, then walked toward the castle.

            "I know!" Rosella said.  "My parents told me I could recognise you by a cute little birthmark on your bottom."  Embarrassed, Alexander showed her the mark.  "Oh, Alexander!  I'm so glad to see you!"  She returned the kiss and hug.

            "It is so good to be home," Alexander sighed.  "I'll tell you and our parents what I went through to get back."  As they neared the castle, the old man gleefully ran ahead and announced their arrival.  Banners waved in the breeze.  A new day had brightly dawned.

            In the throne room, the king and queen happily greeted their long-lost son and rescued daughter. "Alexander," Valanice greeted, "it's so good to finally see you again!"  Everyone hugged and cried and hugged and cried some more.

            With a grand gesture Graham indicated the clearing Merlin's Mirror.  "Son, this is Merlin's Mirror, one of the three great treasures of Daventry.  Ever since you were kidnapped, it's been dark.  Now, however, it shines once more for a bright future."

            Alexander told his excited family about his adventure and said he would make an official account later.  In this ecstatic moment, Graham took his beloved adventurer's cap - the one with the bright red feather - and announced, "This hat has accompanied me on all of my adventures.  However, with this family reunited, my adventuring days are over.  It's your turn, my children."

            The game paused and asked, "Do you wish to continue into KQ4?"

            "Yes!" exclaimed the Wilytwins.  They were overwhelmed with joy, too.

            King Graham tossed the hat to Rosella and Alexander.  Everyone watched with wonder as it neared their outstretched hands.  Then. . .