NCERT Textbook - Virtually True | Literature Reader Class 10 PDF Download

 Page 1


CBSE
71
6 6
UNIT UNIT
F. 6    Virtually True
by Paul Stewart
Fiction
1. Before reading the story, attempt the following working in groups of four or five.
a. Do you play computer games? How many hours do you spend playing games on the 
computer as compared to outdoor games?  
b. Make a list of your favourite games. Have a class discussion on the advantages and 
disadvantages of computer games. 
c. Look in your dictionaries / computer to find synonyms for the word 'virtual'
d. Look at the K.W.L. chart given below. Based on the infomation you have gathered till 
now, complete the K and W columns. You may work with your partner. After reading 
the story complete the third column.
Virtual Reality
Virtual Environment 
3-D/ three-dimensional
Simulation games
Computer simulations
Interactive psycho- drive games
Teleporting
K-What I W--What I want L-What I learnt
Know to know
Page 2


CBSE
71
6 6
UNIT UNIT
F. 6    Virtually True
by Paul Stewart
Fiction
1. Before reading the story, attempt the following working in groups of four or five.
a. Do you play computer games? How many hours do you spend playing games on the 
computer as compared to outdoor games?  
b. Make a list of your favourite games. Have a class discussion on the advantages and 
disadvantages of computer games. 
c. Look in your dictionaries / computer to find synonyms for the word 'virtual'
d. Look at the K.W.L. chart given below. Based on the infomation you have gathered till 
now, complete the K and W columns. You may work with your partner. After reading 
the story complete the third column.
Virtual Reality
Virtual Environment 
3-D/ three-dimensional
Simulation games
Computer simulations
Interactive psycho- drive games
Teleporting
K-What I W--What I want L-What I learnt
Know to know
CBSE
Fiction
72
Now read the story.
1 Sebastian Shultz. It isn't a name you come across every day. But there it was, large and 
clear, at the top of the newspaper article in front of me. 
2 The reader of the newspaper was a big woman. I couldn't see her face, but I could hear 
1
her wheezy  breath. 
3 MIRACLE RECOVERY, the headline said. Sebastian Shultz, a 14 year-old schoolboy 
2 
from South London, awoke yesterday from a coma that doctors feared might last 
forever. 
4 It couldn't be the Sebastian Shultz I'd met. I leant forward to read the rest of the article. 
5 Six weeks ago, Sebastian Shultz was badly injured in a motorway accident. His 
condition, on arrival at the General Hospital, was described as critical though stable. 
Despite doctors' hopes, the boy did not regain consciousness. His parents were 
informed that their son was in a coma. 
6 At a press conference, Mrs Shultz said, "The doctors were doing all they could, but in 
our hearts we knew we needed a miracle." 
7 Now that miracle has happened ... 
8 At that moment, the woman's hand moved. I suddenly saw the photograph that went 
with the story, and gasped. The boy in the picture was Sebastian. There was no doubt.  
"But how?" I muttered. 
9 Sebastian Shultz, the boy I'd got to know so well recently, had apparently been in a 
coma for all that time. I felt nervous and shivery. It didn't make any sense at all. 
10 I stared out of the train window, and ran through the events in my head. 
11 It all started a month ago. Dad and I had spent the entire Saturday afternoon at the 
Computer Fair.
3 4
12 Dad's nutty  about computers. He's got a Pentium 150 Mhz  processor, with 256 of 
5
RAM, a 1.2 Gb hard disk drive and 16 speed CD ROM , complete with speakers, 
printer, modem and scanner. It can do anything. Paint, play music, create displays; 
even when my homework's rubbish, it looks fantastic. 
13 Best of all are the games. Tornado, MeBabash, Black Belt, Kyrene's Kastle -I've played 
them all. With the screen so big, and the volume up loud, it almost feels as if you're 
inside the games, battling it out with the Z or Bs, Twisters, or whatever. 
1 wheezy - to breathe with an audible whistling sound, with difficutly
2 coma - a prolonged state of deep unconsciousness
3 nutty - crazy about; has a passion for
4 Mhz - megahertz - one million hertz (the unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second)
5 CD ROM - Random-Access Memory compact disk with Read-Only Memory
Page 3


CBSE
71
6 6
UNIT UNIT
F. 6    Virtually True
by Paul Stewart
Fiction
1. Before reading the story, attempt the following working in groups of four or five.
a. Do you play computer games? How many hours do you spend playing games on the 
computer as compared to outdoor games?  
b. Make a list of your favourite games. Have a class discussion on the advantages and 
disadvantages of computer games. 
c. Look in your dictionaries / computer to find synonyms for the word 'virtual'
d. Look at the K.W.L. chart given below. Based on the infomation you have gathered till 
now, complete the K and W columns. You may work with your partner. After reading 
the story complete the third column.
Virtual Reality
Virtual Environment 
3-D/ three-dimensional
Simulation games
Computer simulations
Interactive psycho- drive games
Teleporting
K-What I W--What I want L-What I learnt
Know to know
CBSE
Fiction
72
Now read the story.
1 Sebastian Shultz. It isn't a name you come across every day. But there it was, large and 
clear, at the top of the newspaper article in front of me. 
2 The reader of the newspaper was a big woman. I couldn't see her face, but I could hear 
1
her wheezy  breath. 
3 MIRACLE RECOVERY, the headline said. Sebastian Shultz, a 14 year-old schoolboy 
2 
from South London, awoke yesterday from a coma that doctors feared might last 
forever. 
4 It couldn't be the Sebastian Shultz I'd met. I leant forward to read the rest of the article. 
5 Six weeks ago, Sebastian Shultz was badly injured in a motorway accident. His 
condition, on arrival at the General Hospital, was described as critical though stable. 
Despite doctors' hopes, the boy did not regain consciousness. His parents were 
informed that their son was in a coma. 
6 At a press conference, Mrs Shultz said, "The doctors were doing all they could, but in 
our hearts we knew we needed a miracle." 
7 Now that miracle has happened ... 
8 At that moment, the woman's hand moved. I suddenly saw the photograph that went 
with the story, and gasped. The boy in the picture was Sebastian. There was no doubt.  
"But how?" I muttered. 
9 Sebastian Shultz, the boy I'd got to know so well recently, had apparently been in a 
coma for all that time. I felt nervous and shivery. It didn't make any sense at all. 
10 I stared out of the train window, and ran through the events in my head. 
11 It all started a month ago. Dad and I had spent the entire Saturday afternoon at the 
Computer Fair.
3 4
12 Dad's nutty  about computers. He's got a Pentium 150 Mhz  processor, with 256 of 
5
RAM, a 1.2 Gb hard disk drive and 16 speed CD ROM , complete with speakers, 
printer, modem and scanner. It can do anything. Paint, play music, create displays; 
even when my homework's rubbish, it looks fantastic. 
13 Best of all are the games. Tornado, MeBabash, Black Belt, Kyrene's Kastle -I've played 
them all. With the screen so big, and the volume up loud, it almost feels as if you're 
inside the games, battling it out with the Z or Bs, Twisters, or whatever. 
1 wheezy - to breathe with an audible whistling sound, with difficutly
2 coma - a prolonged state of deep unconsciousness
3 nutty - crazy about; has a passion for
4 Mhz - megahertz - one million hertz (the unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second)
5 CD ROM - Random-Access Memory compact disk with Read-Only Memory
CBSE
Fiction
73
14 Technology was advancing every day, and Dad couldn't resist any of the new gadgets 
6
or gizmos that came on the market. That was why we went to the Computer Fair. We 
came away with a virtual reality visor and glove, and a handful of the latest interactive 
7
psycho-drive  games. They're terrific. Not only do the visor and glove change what 
you see, but better than that, you can control the action by what you are thinking.  Well, 
cool! 
15 When we got them, I remember some of them were not new. 
16 Anyway, back at home, I launched myself off into the first of the games. It was called 
Wildwest. 
18 That's what I like about computers. The 
more futuristic they get, the better you 
can understand the past. I wasn't 
standing in the converted loft-the 
Powerbase as Dad calls it-anymore. I 
was really there, striding down the dusty 
track through the centre of town. There 
was a sheriff's badge pinned to my shirt. 
20 As I burst in through the swing doors of 
the saloon, everyone went silent and 
8
glared at me. I strode over to the bar. 'Sarsaparilla!' I said and a glass of fizzy red stuff 
came sliding along the bar towards me. As I took a sip, I heard a loud crash. I spun 
round. There, silhouetted in the doorway, was Black-Eyed Jed, the fastest gun in the 
west. 'This town ain't big enough for the both of us, Sheriff Dawson,' he drawled, and 
fingered his guns lightly. 'Outside. Just you and me.' 
19 I can remember grinning. This was really cool! 
20 I finished my drink and slammed the glass down on the bar. Jed had already left the 
saloon. All eyes were on me again. I wondered what sort of score I was notching up. 
21 All at once, something strange happened. Up to that point the game had been pretty 
much as I expected. But when the second sheriff appeared through the back door, 
shouting and waving his arms about, I realized that the game was more complicated. 
22 'Don't go out!' the second sheriff shouted. 
23 'And who are you?' I asked. 
24 He wasn't like the other characters in the saloon. For a start, he was about my age, and 
though he looked like a computer image, he somehow didn't move like one. 
6 gizmos - gadgets, especially mechanical or electrical devices
7 pscho-drive - driven by mental power
8 sarsaparilla - a carbonated drink flavoured with sarsaparilla root.
Page 4


CBSE
71
6 6
UNIT UNIT
F. 6    Virtually True
by Paul Stewart
Fiction
1. Before reading the story, attempt the following working in groups of four or five.
a. Do you play computer games? How many hours do you spend playing games on the 
computer as compared to outdoor games?  
b. Make a list of your favourite games. Have a class discussion on the advantages and 
disadvantages of computer games. 
c. Look in your dictionaries / computer to find synonyms for the word 'virtual'
d. Look at the K.W.L. chart given below. Based on the infomation you have gathered till 
now, complete the K and W columns. You may work with your partner. After reading 
the story complete the third column.
Virtual Reality
Virtual Environment 
3-D/ three-dimensional
Simulation games
Computer simulations
Interactive psycho- drive games
Teleporting
K-What I W--What I want L-What I learnt
Know to know
CBSE
Fiction
72
Now read the story.
1 Sebastian Shultz. It isn't a name you come across every day. But there it was, large and 
clear, at the top of the newspaper article in front of me. 
2 The reader of the newspaper was a big woman. I couldn't see her face, but I could hear 
1
her wheezy  breath. 
3 MIRACLE RECOVERY, the headline said. Sebastian Shultz, a 14 year-old schoolboy 
2 
from South London, awoke yesterday from a coma that doctors feared might last 
forever. 
4 It couldn't be the Sebastian Shultz I'd met. I leant forward to read the rest of the article. 
5 Six weeks ago, Sebastian Shultz was badly injured in a motorway accident. His 
condition, on arrival at the General Hospital, was described as critical though stable. 
Despite doctors' hopes, the boy did not regain consciousness. His parents were 
informed that their son was in a coma. 
6 At a press conference, Mrs Shultz said, "The doctors were doing all they could, but in 
our hearts we knew we needed a miracle." 
7 Now that miracle has happened ... 
8 At that moment, the woman's hand moved. I suddenly saw the photograph that went 
with the story, and gasped. The boy in the picture was Sebastian. There was no doubt.  
"But how?" I muttered. 
9 Sebastian Shultz, the boy I'd got to know so well recently, had apparently been in a 
coma for all that time. I felt nervous and shivery. It didn't make any sense at all. 
10 I stared out of the train window, and ran through the events in my head. 
11 It all started a month ago. Dad and I had spent the entire Saturday afternoon at the 
Computer Fair.
3 4
12 Dad's nutty  about computers. He's got a Pentium 150 Mhz  processor, with 256 of 
5
RAM, a 1.2 Gb hard disk drive and 16 speed CD ROM , complete with speakers, 
printer, modem and scanner. It can do anything. Paint, play music, create displays; 
even when my homework's rubbish, it looks fantastic. 
13 Best of all are the games. Tornado, MeBabash, Black Belt, Kyrene's Kastle -I've played 
them all. With the screen so big, and the volume up loud, it almost feels as if you're 
inside the games, battling it out with the Z or Bs, Twisters, or whatever. 
1 wheezy - to breathe with an audible whistling sound, with difficutly
2 coma - a prolonged state of deep unconsciousness
3 nutty - crazy about; has a passion for
4 Mhz - megahertz - one million hertz (the unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second)
5 CD ROM - Random-Access Memory compact disk with Read-Only Memory
CBSE
Fiction
73
14 Technology was advancing every day, and Dad couldn't resist any of the new gadgets 
6
or gizmos that came on the market. That was why we went to the Computer Fair. We 
came away with a virtual reality visor and glove, and a handful of the latest interactive 
7
psycho-drive  games. They're terrific. Not only do the visor and glove change what 
you see, but better than that, you can control the action by what you are thinking.  Well, 
cool! 
15 When we got them, I remember some of them were not new. 
16 Anyway, back at home, I launched myself off into the first of the games. It was called 
Wildwest. 
18 That's what I like about computers. The 
more futuristic they get, the better you 
can understand the past. I wasn't 
standing in the converted loft-the 
Powerbase as Dad calls it-anymore. I 
was really there, striding down the dusty 
track through the centre of town. There 
was a sheriff's badge pinned to my shirt. 
20 As I burst in through the swing doors of 
the saloon, everyone went silent and 
8
glared at me. I strode over to the bar. 'Sarsaparilla!' I said and a glass of fizzy red stuff 
came sliding along the bar towards me. As I took a sip, I heard a loud crash. I spun 
round. There, silhouetted in the doorway, was Black-Eyed Jed, the fastest gun in the 
west. 'This town ain't big enough for the both of us, Sheriff Dawson,' he drawled, and 
fingered his guns lightly. 'Outside. Just you and me.' 
19 I can remember grinning. This was really cool! 
20 I finished my drink and slammed the glass down on the bar. Jed had already left the 
saloon. All eyes were on me again. I wondered what sort of score I was notching up. 
21 All at once, something strange happened. Up to that point the game had been pretty 
much as I expected. But when the second sheriff appeared through the back door, 
shouting and waving his arms about, I realized that the game was more complicated. 
22 'Don't go out!' the second sheriff shouted. 
23 'And who are you?' I asked. 
24 He wasn't like the other characters in the saloon. For a start, he was about my age, and 
though he looked like a computer image, he somehow didn't move like one. 
6 gizmos - gadgets, especially mechanical or electrical devices
7 pscho-drive - driven by mental power
8 sarsaparilla - a carbonated drink flavoured with sarsaparilla root.
CBSE
Fiction
74
25 'There's no time to explain,' he shouted. 'Just follow me.' 
26 I did what I was told. We raced down a corridor, and through a door. We ran past some 
men and out through another door. 
27 'Come ON!' shouted the other sheriff. 
28 We went on through another door, and another,-and ended up back in the saloon. 
29 'NO!' screamed the second sheriff. Then he ran to the back of the saloon and dived 
through the window. By the time I climbed out after him, he was already sitting on a 
horse. 'Jump up!' he cried. 
30 He kicked the horse, and we sped off in a cloud of dust. 
31 'Who are you?' I asked again. 
32 But the second sheriff didn't answer. He'd seen the posse of men on horseback 
speeding after us. 'Keep your head down,' he said. 
33 At that moment, the sound of a gunshot echoed round the air. The second sheriff 
groaned, and slumped back against me. Ahead of me, in bright neon lights came a 
message. 
. 
34 As I slipped off the visor, the empty desert disappeared and I found myself back in the  
Powerbase. I took off the glove and headphones. I glanced at the score on the screen. 
21,095. Then I noticed the printer had come on. I picked up the piece of paper from the 
tray. 
35 At the top was a picture of the second sheriff. This time though, he was wearing jeans 
and a sweatshirt. Printed over the bottom was a message. I'M STUCK. PLEASE HELP 
TO RETRIEVE ME. TRY 'DRAGONQUEST'. Sebastian Shultz. 
36 I wanted to go straight into the game he'd suggested, but it was already half an hour 
after lights out. 
37 Next morning I was up and back on the computer, and was soon walking through the 
massive studded doors of the dragon's castle lair. 
38 The aim of the game was simple. I had to rescue the fair princess Aurora from the 
wicked dragon, and collect the wicked creature's treasure along the way. I'd already got 
loads by the time I reached the Princess, who'd been imprisoned at the top of a tall 
tower. She was a young woman with long golden plaits. 
39 'My hero!' she squealed. 'Take me away from all this.' Behind me I could hear the dragon 
roaring. 'Rescue me now,' the princess said urgently. 
40 'Never mind her,' came a voice, and a second knight appeared from the wardrobe. 'It's 
me who needs rescuing!' 
GAME OVER
Page 5


CBSE
71
6 6
UNIT UNIT
F. 6    Virtually True
by Paul Stewart
Fiction
1. Before reading the story, attempt the following working in groups of four or five.
a. Do you play computer games? How many hours do you spend playing games on the 
computer as compared to outdoor games?  
b. Make a list of your favourite games. Have a class discussion on the advantages and 
disadvantages of computer games. 
c. Look in your dictionaries / computer to find synonyms for the word 'virtual'
d. Look at the K.W.L. chart given below. Based on the infomation you have gathered till 
now, complete the K and W columns. You may work with your partner. After reading 
the story complete the third column.
Virtual Reality
Virtual Environment 
3-D/ three-dimensional
Simulation games
Computer simulations
Interactive psycho- drive games
Teleporting
K-What I W--What I want L-What I learnt
Know to know
CBSE
Fiction
72
Now read the story.
1 Sebastian Shultz. It isn't a name you come across every day. But there it was, large and 
clear, at the top of the newspaper article in front of me. 
2 The reader of the newspaper was a big woman. I couldn't see her face, but I could hear 
1
her wheezy  breath. 
3 MIRACLE RECOVERY, the headline said. Sebastian Shultz, a 14 year-old schoolboy 
2 
from South London, awoke yesterday from a coma that doctors feared might last 
forever. 
4 It couldn't be the Sebastian Shultz I'd met. I leant forward to read the rest of the article. 
5 Six weeks ago, Sebastian Shultz was badly injured in a motorway accident. His 
condition, on arrival at the General Hospital, was described as critical though stable. 
Despite doctors' hopes, the boy did not regain consciousness. His parents were 
informed that their son was in a coma. 
6 At a press conference, Mrs Shultz said, "The doctors were doing all they could, but in 
our hearts we knew we needed a miracle." 
7 Now that miracle has happened ... 
8 At that moment, the woman's hand moved. I suddenly saw the photograph that went 
with the story, and gasped. The boy in the picture was Sebastian. There was no doubt.  
"But how?" I muttered. 
9 Sebastian Shultz, the boy I'd got to know so well recently, had apparently been in a 
coma for all that time. I felt nervous and shivery. It didn't make any sense at all. 
10 I stared out of the train window, and ran through the events in my head. 
11 It all started a month ago. Dad and I had spent the entire Saturday afternoon at the 
Computer Fair.
3 4
12 Dad's nutty  about computers. He's got a Pentium 150 Mhz  processor, with 256 of 
5
RAM, a 1.2 Gb hard disk drive and 16 speed CD ROM , complete with speakers, 
printer, modem and scanner. It can do anything. Paint, play music, create displays; 
even when my homework's rubbish, it looks fantastic. 
13 Best of all are the games. Tornado, MeBabash, Black Belt, Kyrene's Kastle -I've played 
them all. With the screen so big, and the volume up loud, it almost feels as if you're 
inside the games, battling it out with the Z or Bs, Twisters, or whatever. 
1 wheezy - to breathe with an audible whistling sound, with difficutly
2 coma - a prolonged state of deep unconsciousness
3 nutty - crazy about; has a passion for
4 Mhz - megahertz - one million hertz (the unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second)
5 CD ROM - Random-Access Memory compact disk with Read-Only Memory
CBSE
Fiction
73
14 Technology was advancing every day, and Dad couldn't resist any of the new gadgets 
6
or gizmos that came on the market. That was why we went to the Computer Fair. We 
came away with a virtual reality visor and glove, and a handful of the latest interactive 
7
psycho-drive  games. They're terrific. Not only do the visor and glove change what 
you see, but better than that, you can control the action by what you are thinking.  Well, 
cool! 
15 When we got them, I remember some of them were not new. 
16 Anyway, back at home, I launched myself off into the first of the games. It was called 
Wildwest. 
18 That's what I like about computers. The 
more futuristic they get, the better you 
can understand the past. I wasn't 
standing in the converted loft-the 
Powerbase as Dad calls it-anymore. I 
was really there, striding down the dusty 
track through the centre of town. There 
was a sheriff's badge pinned to my shirt. 
20 As I burst in through the swing doors of 
the saloon, everyone went silent and 
8
glared at me. I strode over to the bar. 'Sarsaparilla!' I said and a glass of fizzy red stuff 
came sliding along the bar towards me. As I took a sip, I heard a loud crash. I spun 
round. There, silhouetted in the doorway, was Black-Eyed Jed, the fastest gun in the 
west. 'This town ain't big enough for the both of us, Sheriff Dawson,' he drawled, and 
fingered his guns lightly. 'Outside. Just you and me.' 
19 I can remember grinning. This was really cool! 
20 I finished my drink and slammed the glass down on the bar. Jed had already left the 
saloon. All eyes were on me again. I wondered what sort of score I was notching up. 
21 All at once, something strange happened. Up to that point the game had been pretty 
much as I expected. But when the second sheriff appeared through the back door, 
shouting and waving his arms about, I realized that the game was more complicated. 
22 'Don't go out!' the second sheriff shouted. 
23 'And who are you?' I asked. 
24 He wasn't like the other characters in the saloon. For a start, he was about my age, and 
though he looked like a computer image, he somehow didn't move like one. 
6 gizmos - gadgets, especially mechanical or electrical devices
7 pscho-drive - driven by mental power
8 sarsaparilla - a carbonated drink flavoured with sarsaparilla root.
CBSE
Fiction
74
25 'There's no time to explain,' he shouted. 'Just follow me.' 
26 I did what I was told. We raced down a corridor, and through a door. We ran past some 
men and out through another door. 
27 'Come ON!' shouted the other sheriff. 
28 We went on through another door, and another,-and ended up back in the saloon. 
29 'NO!' screamed the second sheriff. Then he ran to the back of the saloon and dived 
through the window. By the time I climbed out after him, he was already sitting on a 
horse. 'Jump up!' he cried. 
30 He kicked the horse, and we sped off in a cloud of dust. 
31 'Who are you?' I asked again. 
32 But the second sheriff didn't answer. He'd seen the posse of men on horseback 
speeding after us. 'Keep your head down,' he said. 
33 At that moment, the sound of a gunshot echoed round the air. The second sheriff 
groaned, and slumped back against me. Ahead of me, in bright neon lights came a 
message. 
. 
34 As I slipped off the visor, the empty desert disappeared and I found myself back in the  
Powerbase. I took off the glove and headphones. I glanced at the score on the screen. 
21,095. Then I noticed the printer had come on. I picked up the piece of paper from the 
tray. 
35 At the top was a picture of the second sheriff. This time though, he was wearing jeans 
and a sweatshirt. Printed over the bottom was a message. I'M STUCK. PLEASE HELP 
TO RETRIEVE ME. TRY 'DRAGONQUEST'. Sebastian Shultz. 
36 I wanted to go straight into the game he'd suggested, but it was already half an hour 
after lights out. 
37 Next morning I was up and back on the computer, and was soon walking through the 
massive studded doors of the dragon's castle lair. 
38 The aim of the game was simple. I had to rescue the fair princess Aurora from the 
wicked dragon, and collect the wicked creature's treasure along the way. I'd already got 
loads by the time I reached the Princess, who'd been imprisoned at the top of a tall 
tower. She was a young woman with long golden plaits. 
39 'My hero!' she squealed. 'Take me away from all this.' Behind me I could hear the dragon 
roaring. 'Rescue me now,' the princess said urgently. 
40 'Never mind her,' came a voice, and a second knight appeared from the wardrobe. 'It's 
me who needs rescuing!' 
GAME OVER
CBSE
Fiction
75
41 'Sebastian?' I said. 
42 The second knight nodded. 'Quick,' he 
said, 'while there's still time.' And with a 
pair of scissors he chopped off the 
princess's two long plaits. Then he tied 
them together, fixed one end round the 
bedpost and threw the other end out of 
the window. 
43 'NOW!' he screamed, as he leapt for the 
window and down the hair rope. 
4 4
At that moment the dragon appeared. I gasped, and leapt too. 
45 As I lowered myself down I felt the dragon's fiery breath. 
46 Across the moonlit battlements, we ran down a spiral staircase and through a secret 
passage on the other side of a tapestry. And the whole time I could hear and feel and 
even smell the evil dragon following in close pursuit. 
47 'The dungeons,' Sir Sebastian cried out. 'They're our only hope.' 
48 We went down the cold stone steps, swords drawn. Suddenly, the dragon appeared at 
the end of the corridor. Before we even had time to turn around, the dragon was upon 
us. 
49 I swung my sword. But it was no good. The dragon was only interested in Sebastian, 
and there was nothing I could do to prevent it getting him. 
50 This time, the message in the printer said: BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME. PLEASE 
DON'T GIVE UP, MICHAEL. OTHERWISE I'LL HAVE TO STAY IN HERE FOR EVER. 
TRY 'JAILBREAK'. I THINK IT MIGHT JUST WORK! CHEERS, SEB. 
51 I didn't even bother to read the rules of Jailbreak before going in. I knew that my task 
would be to rescue the boy. And sure enough, my cell mate was prisoner 02478: Shultz. 
52 'I've got to get out of here,' Sebastian sighed. 'Are you going to help?' 
53 'Of course,' I said. 'Have you got a plan?' 
9
54 Stupid question. With the help of a skeleton swipe-card , we were soon out of the cell 
and racing down corridors. Sirens wailed, guard dogs howled, heavy boots came 
tramping. Behind us, steel-barred doors slammed shut. We dodged the guards, we fled 
the dogs, we made it to a staircase and pounded upwards. 
GAME OVER 
9 Skeleton swipe-card - a plastic card on which data has been stored magnetically and that can be 
read by an electronic reading device.