Virtually True

Questions and Answers:

    Q1. According to the newspaper what had happened to Sebastian Shultz?

Ans:  Sebastian Shultz was a 14 year old boy from South London who was badly injured in a motorway accident six weeks ago. When he had been brought to the hospital, doctors described his condition to critical but stable. Despite doctor’s efforts, the boy did not regain consciousness and remained in the state of coma. Everyone had lost hope when suddenly he came out of the coma. His recovery was a miracle.

     Q2.  ‘Dad’s nutty about computers: What evidence is there to support the statement?

     Ans. Michael’s father was crazy about computers. He visited the Computer Fair along with Michael and bought computer of Pentium 150 Mh_z⁴processor, with 256 of RAM, a 1.2 Gb hard disk drive and 16 speed CDROM, complete with speakers, printer, modems and scanner. He was also very fond of gadgets and gizmos. He bought some interactive psycho drive games for his son.

    Q3.  In what way did the second game seem very real?

    Ans. The second was DRAGON QUEST. When Michael reached Princess Aurora she squealed “my hero” and  “rescue me now”. It  seemed very real. He  felt that he was really walking in the Dragon’s castle where they were being pursued by the dragon and he not only heard but could also feel and smell the dragon’s hot breath.

    Q4. The last game has tanks, jeeps, helicopters, guns and headings would you put this and the other games under?

    Ans. The last game ‘warzone’ was set in an unknown war zone. Everything in the game seemed real, with tanks, jeeps, helicopters and  guns. Even the rescue by a helicopter appeared authentic. The other games too were the same. This game in particular and all other games can be put under the category of ‘psycho drive games’.

    Q5. What was Michael's theory about how Sebastian had entered the games?
    Ans. Michael's theory was that probably at the time of the accident Sebastian  was using his computer to play one of the psycho drive games. He was plugged on to the com when his head banged in the accident. The computer had saved his memory in its own. Thus, Sebastian had entered the games but could not come out of it.
    Q6. How was Sebastian's memory stored on Michael's disk? How did Michael discover that?
   Ans. When Sebastian had met with an accident, he was playing on of the psycho drive games and his memory was saved in the computer and he went into coma. 
     Michael discovered later while playing the games that the game disk in which Sebastian's memory was saved had got stolen while he was in the hospital and Michael  had ended up buying those games at the Computer Fair.
    Q7.  Why did Michael fail in rescuing Sebastian Shultz the first time?

    Ans. In the first game Michael was confused about what he had to do in the game. The presence of another sheriff confused him further. He and Sebastian t tried their best to escape from Black eyed Jed and his men. There was a chase and both of them dived out of a window in the saloon and managed to sit on a horseback. But the men following them shot at them. A bullet hit Sebastian and he died.

     Q8. The second attempt to rescue Sebastian Shultz too was disastrous. Give Reasons.

    Ans. Michael’s attempt to rescue Sebastian the second time in the game Dragonquest also failed. The boys managed to flee from the tower by cutting the long plaits of the princess and tying them together to make a rope. But the dragon followed them closely. They could hear, feel and smell it. While they were headed towards the dungeons, the dragon caught up with them and attacked Sebastian. Michael tried to save but it was in vain. 
     Q9. Why did the news of the ‘miracle recovery’ shock Michael?

    Ans. The news article mentioned that a fourteen year old boy called Sebastian Shultz, who had gone into a coma after being involved in a motorway accident had miraculously recovered. When he saw the picture of Sebastian, he realized that it was the same boy he had met in the pschyo drive games and  had rescued him. Michael was shocked and couldn’t understand how he could have met Sebastian if he had been in coma during that period.
     
    Q10. What help did Sebastian Shultz ask Michael for? How did he convey this message ?

     Ans. Sebastian was playing a pscho drive games when the accident took place. As a result his memory got trapped in the computer. He met Michael when Michael played those games. He wanted Michael to rescue him. He sent a message to Michael which appeared on his printer.