An online game, a clan of three, an empty chest and a player who was just a bit too friendly.
On Monday at half past seven in the morning, Marcos switched on his computer before breakfast, as usual. In Amber Kingdoms, the online game he played with his clan, The Lynxes, something was wrong: the clan chest, in the castle tower beneath the lynx banner, was empty. Not a single gem. Not a single sword. Three months of playing, gone.
The chest log made it perfectly clear: “03:12 · Marcos_Linx opened the chest (47 items)”. Marcos felt a chill down the back of his neck. At twelve minutes past three in the morning he had been fast asleep. And only three people had a key to that chest: him, his friend Jon, and Paula, his sister, who had founded the clan.
Jon messaged him straight away: “It wasn’t me! Look at the log: it says your name, not mine!” Paula couldn’t even reply: she was away on a school trip at a farm, with no phone or computer, until Tuesday. Then again, Paula did know Marcos’s password: she had watched him type it a thousand times.
Then Marcos remembered Elf_Guardian. He had turned up in the game on Friday, really friendly, handing out potions and asking to join the clan. On Saturday he sent Marcos a link: “To get 500 free gems, log in with your username and password.” The page looked exactly like the game’s. Marcos typed in his details at 19:35. The gems never arrived.
Marcos opened his email. Among the adverts there was a notice from the game that he hadn’t read: “New sign-in to your account from an unknown device. Saturday, 19:40.”
He looked for Elf_Guardian in the player list. His profile no longer existed. Marcos switched off the screen, took a deep breath and went to find his mum.
Activities
1 Detective Inference
Who emptied the clan chest? Tick the correct hypothesis.
- a) Jon, his friend, who also had a key to the chest and was always the first to log in every morning.
- b) Paula, his sister, who founded the clan and knew Marcos’s password from watching him type it.
- c) Elf_Guardian, the stranger, who got hold of Marcos’s password with the fake gems page.
- d) Nobody: it was a glitch in the game, which sometimes empties chests by mistake during overnight updates.
Which clue proves it? Copy or summarise the clue from the text that proves it.
2 The Loom Order of events
The story starts on Monday morning. Put the events in time order. Write the order number (1, 2, 3…) in each box.
- Someone logs into Marcos’s account from an unknown device.
- Marcos finds out the chest is empty.
- Marcos types his password into the gems page.
- Elf_Guardian turns up in the game handing out potions.
- Marcos reads the game’s notice in his email.
- Someone empties the chest using Marcos’s account.
3 The Missing Page Coherence
Which continuation fits everything we know? Tick only one option.
- a) With his mum, Marcos changes his password and writes to support with the gems link and the 19:40 sign-in notice.
- b) Marcos calls Paula at the school farm to ask if it was her, and Paula answers from her phone that same morning.
- c) Support checks the log and confirms the chest was opened from Jon’s account at twelve minutes past three in the morning.
- d) That afternoon, Elf_Guardian messages Marcos on the game chat to give him the 500 gems he had promised.
Why do you rule out the others? Explain one of them.
4 Spot the Contradiction Literal reading
Three statements don’t fit the story. Put an X next to the 3 statements that don’t fit the text.
- a) Marcos’s clan was called The Lynxes.
- b) The log said the chest had been opened by Jon.
- c) Paula was on a trip with no phone or computer.
- d) Elf_Guardian turned up in the game on Saturday morning.
- e) The gems page looked exactly like the game’s.
- f) Marcos received the 500 free gems.
5 The Gallery Visualisation
In the game you choose the illustration that answers this question: “Which screen did Marcos see when he switched on his computer on Monday?”. Here, you draw it yourself, with every detail the text gives you.