“So, I attacked you…” says Mae.
I nod.
There’s a dose of silence between us.
“Well,” says Mae as she runs her hands through her hair. “That was an adrenaline rush, wasn’t it? I guess that’s no more VR for us.”
“No more poisoned VR,” I correct her, examining the tears in my shirt. Luckily Mae’s spiked shoes only nicked my stomach slightly, and there isn’t very much blood. But, this shirt will need to be snuck into the house so that Mom doesn’t see it and, more importantly, get thrown away.
I don’t even want to imagine what those spikes would have done if they had connected with my face, or even my forearms.
Mae lets out a guttural sigh as she gets up and walks away a few paces. Then she turns back to me with heavy eyes.
“What did you want to meet with me about?” she says.
“Huh?” I mutter from my seat on the grass.
“Your text,” she says, holding up her phone. “You’re the one who asked me to meet up with you, remember?”
“Oh…” I say, suddenly remembering the reason. Even after being nearly sliced into coleslaw, the thought of asking Mae to the Winter Ball still twists my guts. My face goes red and I look away to avoid Mae seeing the color. “It’s not that important now, I suppose.”
Mae raises an eyebrow.
“What do you mean?” she asks, walking back towards me until she is standing next to me. “Something’s not wrong, is it? Is your mother all right? Your grandparents?”
“No,” I chuckle. “Nothing like that. Definitely nothing like that.” I get to my feet and reach into my pants pocket and struggle to get the flyer for the Winter Ball out in the open. The thick paper is now crumpled and partially ripped, losing all of its fanciness. I unfold the paper and hold it in my hands. “I wanted to talk to you about the Winter Ball.”
Mae blinks.
“The Winter Ball?” she says. “Why? Do you think The Drone is going to attack the dance?”
“No,” I laugh. “I was going to ask you to go to it with me.”
Mae’s breath catches in her throat. She brings a hand up to her chest.
“You were going to ask me to go with you?” she says. “Are you still going to ask me?”
I shrug.
“If you want to go with me.”
Mae wraps her arms around my shoulders with an excited gasp. Pain flares up as she presses against my stomach.
“Ow! Take it easy!”
Mae jumps back.
“Sorry!” she replies. Then a smile breaks out on her lips and she gives an excited jump in place. “I’ve been so busy worrying about our enemies that I barely had time to think about the ball!”
“That makes two of us,” I reply. Then I take her hand and lead her to the opening in the chain link fence. “Even with the dance, I’d say the coast is still not clear. If this app is anything to go by…which it is.” I lead Mae across the grass and out to the sidewalk. “Your eyes were lit up during the fight,” I say. “As if you were having a vision. Were you?”
Mae shakes her head.
“I’m not sure. Like I said, I can’t remember anything.”
“But, you might still be able to help us.”
We stop and face each other. I pull her phone from her pocket.
“This app might be the key to stopping Austin and Bill once and for all. If you can use your vision powers to get an address, we can take down Spire Tech - Virtual Solutions, whatever they are calling themselves and enjoy our winter in peace.”
Mae looks uneasy. She glances to the side.
“I don’t know…” she says. “We tried this before.”
“But this time we might get somewhere,” I argue. “We won’t know if we don’t try. Will you?”
17
The Hostage
“What’s the last thing you remember before blacking out?” I ask back at Mae’s house. We settle in and unpack the night’s events. Since she’s still visibly shaken, I hand Mae a steaming cup of black tea.
Mae takes the cup from me and stirs the two teaspoons of sugar that have settled at the bottom.
“I didn’t black out right away,” she starts, “but, I definitely wasn’t myself. It was like a sort of haze came over me. I almost felt like I was drunk and someone else was influencing my actions, manipulating me.”
“Some sort of hypnosis,” I mutter.
Mae nods, sliding the spoon against the side of the tea cup.
“The last thing I remember before losing all control was going through my bag of things from the convention,” she says. “I had some things I knew I was going to get rid of, so I piled a bunch of papers on my bed. That was when I found the box with the cardboard VR headset in the bottom of the bag, and I decided to take it out and put it together. It wasn’t hard, and I downloaded the app to try it out. Of course, the app was free, so who wouldn’t download it?” She gives a faint smile.
“We both know what happened with that,” she finishes.
I nod.
“It was Austin,” I mutter under my breath. “The Cloak… He’s using you to get to me.”
Mae lets out a laugh laced with irony.
“He’s using a lot more people than just me,” she says. “What about all the other people who picked up those headsets at the convention?”
I suddenly feel weak at the realization. I pull out my phone and do a quick search for any article that can tell me the attendance numbers of the convention. Within seconds I am staring at the number - and it’s massive.
“There were at least 30,000 people that attended that convention,” I say. “It could be as many as 50,000.”
“How many of those people got a headset?” asks Mae.
I meet her eyes with my own. I don’t even want to think about how many people may be brainwashed by Spire Tech’s app. The number is most likely a lot larger than the number of attendees at the convention, considering that if each person who got a headset recommended the app to their friends, that number will be inflated.
“It doesn’t matter how many people got the headsets,” I tell Mae. “All they need is just the app to become infected by Austin’s hypnosis. What was the name of the app?” I pull up the app store, my thumbs poised to type into the search bar.
“Uh…” says Mae as she pulls her phone out of her pocket and unlocks it. After a few scrolls through the different screens she comes to a stop and points her finger at a red and blue app from before. “Virtual Solutions - VR Worlds.”
I glance over at her screen.
“You need to try your vision powers on the app,” I say. “We can keep your phone on mute. That should stop the hypnosis.”
Mae doesn’t seem so enthusiastic.
“I don’t think that is going to work,” she says. “If I try to get a vision from the app, it’s just going to show me where my phone came from.”
“That’s why you’re not going to use the app. We need you to use it in tandem with the VR headset.”
This isn’t what Mae wants to hear, judging by the slump in her shoulders.
“I don’t want to touch any of that stuff again,” she says, but I take the headset off her desk and hold it out gently to her.
“Can you just give it a try?”
The headset - such an unassuming hunk of cardboard and plastic eye pieces - hovers before Mae’s eyes. She stares at it for a long moment. Then, unable to resist my request, she takes a sharp inhale and grabs the headset from me.
“Alright. I’ll give it a shot. But, you need to stop abusing my powers.”
“Abusing your powers?” I reply with a surprised laugh. “I would have tried to pull a vision from the headset myself if I had that ability -”
“Sssh!” Mae glares at me. “I need to concentrate.”
She closes her eyes and waits while I settle. With the sudden quiet I can hear the sound of my own pulse. It quickens as the silence stretches out.
The only sound is that of our own breathing.
I clench my hands and release them over and over, waiting.
“Are you getting anything?” I ask.
Mae shakes her head.
“Nothing. I wonder if the muted sound is affecting it. But, I’m not turning that on to see…”
I step closer to her.
“What about trying the trigger on the headset?” I ask.
Mae reaches up and her fingers barely brush the tiny plastic slider when her mouth drops open in a strained gasp. Her neck cranes backwards and an intense light fills the headset. Rays of white light stream from the cracks in the construction.
Her visions have kicked in.
I stand back, hands raised in preparation to defend myself. I don’t know if the sound is the thing that hypnotized Mae before, or if it was just the visuals of the app, but I am taking no chances.
I don’t have long to wonder about what’s going to happen because after about fifteen seconds Mae wraps her hands around the headset and yanks it off her face.
Her eyes continue to glow for a few more seconds, then she blinks and they return to normal.
Both of our breathing has quickened and it sounds like Mae has just run a marathon.
“Are you alright?” I ask.
My hand settles on her forearm and she starts, her head jerking around to focus on me. I can practically hear her pulse throbbing.
I take the headset away from her and encourage her to settle down. She sits on the edge of the bed and I crouch in front of her.
“Well?” I say. “What did you see? Did you get an address?”
It takes a moment for the question to register with her, then Mae shakes her head.
“No. There was no address.”
“Did you see anything specific?” I press on. “Anything we can go on?”
Mae closes her eyes, collecting the images.
“I saw their facility. It was like a great glass office. Somewhere like a business park.”
“Good,” I mutter, pacing back and forth now. “That’s all good. We can search online for all the business parks in the city and check them out one by one. We’re bound to get somewhere, even if their business is unlisted.”
“Shaun?” Mae says, stopping me in my tracks. “That’s not all.”
I turn to her. The look in her eyes is grave.
“What?” I say, my shoulders slumping. “What is it?”
Mae’s voice wavers as she replies.
“It’s Kimberly,” she says. “They have her held hostage.”
18
Jailbreak
When Kimberly’s eyes fluttered open, she didn’t know where she was. She was lying on a hard, flat surface. Her cheek was pressed against this surface and it was cold to the touch.
Sitting up was a struggle as her back ached and her muscles felt strained.
There was only a hint of fogginess left in her brain, but quickly Kimberly shook it away and was able to struggle to her feet with one hand propped against a rough nearby wall. Looking closer in the dimly lit space, she saw that the walls were made of some sort of unfinished Sheetrock.
Moving along the wall her foot slipped into a mop bucket that twisted her ankle and caused her to stumble.
Then she remembered being attacked by Austin. Her mind had been under some sort of control. She was manipulated and put under.
Now she was locked in some sort of storage room with no windows and odd bits of junk scattered in the corners.
A creeping fear settled in the pit of her stomach as she reached for her phone but found her pockets empty.
Her phone was confiscated. That’s right, and Austin had contacted her father. So nobody would be looking for her.
She was on her own.
Running along another wall, her hand felt the frame of a metal door. The handle was locked, of course, but this was the way out.
She pounded on the door, crying out for anyone that might hear her. She wasn’t positive that she was still in the same building as before, but even if she was, maybe there were other unsuspecting workers or volunteers moving things around.
With her ear pressed against the door she listened for any sound of activity outside - any sort of life.
Sadly, there was none.
She needed to get out of here before Austin or The Drone returned for her.
Now with her eyes adjusted, Kimberly glanced around for anything that might help her.
There was an old filing cabinet with a dent in the side, a mop along with the bucket she had just tripped over, and lots of empty electronics boxes. This had to be where Austin and The Drone left the remnants of their VR project.
None of these things seemed very helpful…until Kimberly glanced up at the ceiling, hoping for a light switch. To her chagrin, the bulb had been removed from the light, most likely in an attempt to keep her in the dark physically and figuratively. But, then she saw what the ceiling was made of and found hope growing in her mind.
Drop ceiling. All across the ceiling were white tiles, the kind you might find in schools and any office building. There was also an air vent in the far corner of the closet that seemed big enough for her to squeeze into.
It seemed like very crazy spy stuff, but there was no other way for her to escape undetected.
Gathering her wits, Kimberly pushed the incredibly heavy filing cabinet over to the air vent. The screeching was so loud that she was afraid someone really would come for her this time. After a few seconds listening, she decided that the coast was clear and picked up the old mop lying on the floor.
With that mop in hand, she jabbed at the air vent repeatedly until it loosened and slowly drooped on one side. This made it easier once she set down the mop and climbed onto the filing cabinet for her to get her fingers inside the vent cover and yank it off completely. It fell to the floor with a plastic fwap!
Things were looking good. It seemed all that time studying video games and visiting a few Escape the Room events was paying off.
It was the climbing up that was difficult. There was nothing to use as a ledge as Kimberly jumped up, so once she caught herself on the edges of the vent, she needed to use her upper body strength to pull herself up and into the tiny passageway. This was a lot harder than she expected, and as she squeezed into a horizontal position she wondered how James Bond made it look so easy.
After a good two minutes of trying, she was in.
Now came the fun part of finding a way out using the air vent system without being caught. Every time she moved, her hands pressed against the thin metal of the vent and it gave a popping sound. No matter how lightly she tried to do it, her movements were noisy.
She pushed on anyway and quickly found herself above a familiar room. Peering down through the vent cover, she recognized Austin’s office. That was the room she had walked by before being caught.
There was no one in there right now. Kimberly wondered if Austin and The Drone were off somewhere. Could they already be going after Shaun and Mae? She hoped not. Not yet. Give her a chance to fight back…
The vent turned right and she followed the tunnel to a light ahead. Could it be?
A few more minutes of struggling and Kimberly let out a cry of delight as she realized that she had found an opening to the outdoors. The cool air from the outside smelled deliciously fresh. She had never craved freedom so much.
The only bad thing was that the vent cover was screwed into the side of the building to prevent wild animals and trouble makers from getting inside.
No matter how much she pushed, the vent wouldn’t budge.
And yet, it was made of the same plastic as the interior vent covers. All it would take was enough force to break open the cover and pull herself through.
She struggled to curl into a ball and turn so that her feet rested against the opening. With all the strength she had, she brought her feet back and then rammed them against the cover. Over and over again she kicked until after a few minutes the plastic weakened around the screws and it broke free, sailing o
ut into the open air and clattering to the ground below.
She was nearly there!
Shimmying forward, she dangled her feet and then her legs over the edge of the opening, pushing carefully forward until her arms were the only thing holding her in place. From this position she could see that she was about two floors up, but there was a sloping roof just below her that led to the sidewalk. That had to be a roof covering one of the entrances.
The height got to her and Kimberly had to take a few deep breaths to prepare herself. It would be a tricky fall, but if she could lower herself partially, it wouldn’t be too bad.
So, she stretched out her arms, holding onto the bottom ledge of the vent, until there was only a few feet between her shoes and the slanting roof.
“Here goes nothing…” she said through gritted teeth.
Then she let go.
Her fall was brief, but her landing was anything but gracious or comfortable. Her sneakers slipped on the roofing and she landed on her side, sliding downwards rapidly as her clothing caught in the metal grooves of the roofing material. Her arms became a little scraped up, but that was nothing because as she caught herself on the edge of the roofing, she was able to drop down and land in a crouch that jolted her spine a bit. But, she was free!
Well, free from the building, at least. Now she needed to run.
With no wallet and no money, let alone her car keys, she would need to go on foot.
She had to find safety.
But, could she find her way to Shaun’s house? She had only been told the address a few times, and it was not enough to cement it to memory. Even if she could recall the address, she wouldn’t know where to start looking.
Hopelessness set in now as she hurried down the sidewalk and turned away from the Virtual Solutions building. She needed a landmark. They didn’t call cities like Boston the concrete jungle for nothing.
Then it occurred to her as she continued to run past another row of businesses.
The high school! Shaun said that he didn’t live far from the high school - East Boston. She couldn’t be that far from there.
The school was as good a landmark as any that she could think of. Perhaps if she made it there, she could find Shaun’s house among the surrounding neighborhood.
The Aberrant Series (Book 3): Super Villain Page 8