What is a summary of the prose piece Virtually True by Paul Stewart?

Answer 1

1. The story starts with a boy named Michael who reads an article in the newspaper about a "Miracle Recovery." A boy whose condition was critical but stable had been recovered from coma.

2. Micheal recollects that the boy who was mentioned in the newspaper was in fact SEBASTIAN SHULTZ who he had met weeks ago while playing.

3. This all started in the Computer Fair, when Michael's father who was Nutty about computers, bought him a new computer preloaded with games.

4. When he plays the game WILD WEST, he becomes a Sheriff and is challenged by "Black eyed Jed" to a duel. He meets a Second Sheriff whom he was asked to go with. Unfortunately, the Second Sheriff gets shot by the villains and the game ends. Later on, he gets a printout which read "I 'm Sebastian Shultz try playing Dragon Quest".

5. In Dragon Quest his task was to save the Princess Aurora from the wicked dragon and collect the wicked creature's treasure along the way. He had the help of the second knight who was revealed to be Sebastian. Later on in the game, Sebastian was killed. The game ended with the printer displaying a message asking him not to give up and to try playing "Jailbreak."

6. In Jail Break, his mission was to escape with the prisoner, and he knew it was Sebastian again. They broke out of jail, ran to the roof as doors shut behind them. The helicopter arrived as they reached the roof. They got into the helicopter. As they took off, Sebastian fell off the helicopter and the game ends.

7. Later on, he plays the game many times but the print out does not come.

8. Then one day, the printer shows a message telling him that the helicopter was a better choice, try playing "War Zone", Sebastian had also promised not to trouble him again if this did not work out.

9. He jumped right into the game. He found himself in some kind of a city scarred by battle wounds. He knew he had to save Sebastian. They ran together to a abandoned Jeep they found amidst the rubble. They went towards a helicopter as a tank chased them. As soon as it came to their view, Sebastian stopped the car. The jeep went into a spin and Michael leapt into the helicopter. Sebastian does not enter the helicopter at this point. Michael waits and yells at him to come into helicopter but Sebastian does not move. Moments later, the tank collides with the jeep and Sebastian is thrown into the helicopter. They fly into clouds and the game ends, saving him. When he removes his visor he comes to know that he has got the High Score.

10. When he reads the article about Sebastian he knows that the games were stolen from him while they were coming to the hospital. And his memory has been saved in the computer.

11. When he checks his mail he finds a message from Sebastian stating that he was hit when he was playing that's why it had been saved and also asks him to keep the games for himself.