Kasie cleaned up after dinner and I retired to my room with Amber. We fooled around for a little while, but my heart wasn't in it. Part of me was thinking about what to do about Carter. Another part of me was thinking about what to do about Kasie. I'd never had a better chance at hooking up with her. Over the past couple days, she was showing signs of interest that, before then, I'd only dreamed of. It wasn't my imagination, either. Even Amber confirmed that Kasie was sending me all kinds of signals.
But I didn't just want to hook up with Kasie. I wanted her to be my girlfriend. And if that happened, I'd have to turn away all the other women that were throwing themselves at me. I didn't know what to do about Kasie, Carter, or anything else and I definitely didn't figure any of it out that night. I fell asleep with a mind full of questions – questions that I needed to find the answers to sooner rather than later.
8.
I woke up early the next morning. Kasie and Amber were both still sleeping and it gave me a little time to myself. After putting the coffee on, I had a seat in the living room and sat there thinking about everything. More had happened to me in the past couple days than in the previous twenty-two years. Something strange was happening to me and I had no idea what it was – but I liked it.
My entire life, I'd been shy, passive, and weak. I'd always felt like my life had no purpose. For the past forty-eight hours, though, I was confident, aggressive, and strong. And for the first time in my life, I felt like I had a purpose – a real purpose. Before then, the only sense of purpose I felt was when I was playing video games. I'd rescued princesses, brought down drug cartels, and saved the world several times. As fun as all that was, it wasn't fulfilling.
But now my life had a real purpose in the real world. I was the only one who knew the identity of the guy who was robbing banks and killing anyone who got in his way. And it was up to me to stop him.
After getting a good night's sleep, I was feeling a lot more confident and optimistic than I had been the night before. Don't get me wrong, I was still terrified and there was a part of me that wanted to just forget about the whole thing. But I was starting to feel like this was my calling – my mission. If I didn't stop Carter, no one else was going to. I knew what I had to do. How I was going to do it, though, I still needed to figure out.
I knew that the first step would be to call Krystal. It was a little too early in the morning, but I planned on calling her after I had my coffee, something to eat, took a shower, and got ready for the day.
“Good morning, James!”
Kasie came out of her room wearing the same sweats she was wearing the night before. Her hair was all over the place, which I always found sexy. There was something about bed head that really did something for me. I don't know what and I don't know why – but it definitely did.
“Good morning,” I replied and smiled.
Kasie walked up to me, gave me a long hug, and a peck on the cheek which surprised me. It wasn't the hug that I found odd – her and I hugged each other all the time. It was the kiss. Never in all the years we'd been living together had Kasie ever hugged and kissed me first thing in the morning. I was never one to turn down a hug or a kiss, especially from someone as gorgeous as Kasie, so I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed her as hard as she was squeezing me.
“Mmm,” she said.
“What's with the early-morning affection?” I asked.
“What? I can't hug and kiss my best friend first thing in the morning?”
“Of course you can – but you never have before. What's different about today?”
“I don't know,” Kasie answered and the look on her face made me believe her. “I just felt like hugging and kissing you.”
“Is that all you feel like doing to me?” I asked in as seductive a voice as I could muster, surprising myself. I'd never really been flirty with Kasie like that before. It just came out.
“Hmmm,” she replied, smiling, and ran a finger down the middle of my chest. “I can think of some other things I'd like to do to you. And I can think of a few things I'd like you to do to me.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked, taking a step toward Kasie so we were almost touching. “Like what?”
She put her hands on my hips, looked me in the eyes, and said, “Maybe we could...”
“Good morning!” Amber chirped, practically skipping her way out of my bedroom.
Kasie and I took a step back from each other and she took her hands off my hips. I don't think Amber saw what was happening – or what was about to happen. If she did, she didn't act like it. Amber just waltzed into the kitchen and walked up to us.
“Morning,” Kasie replied.
“Good morning, Amber,” I said. “Sleep well?”
“It's hard not to with you by my side,” she answered and gave me a peck on the cheek in the same spot as Kasie. “Is the coffee ready? May I have some?”
“Yup. Help yourself.”
The three of us had breakfast together at the kitchen table. Amber and I had cold cereal – Cinnamon Toast Crunch, to be exact – and Kasie had oatmeal. None of us said very much while we ate. Every once in a while, Kasie and I would talk for a minute or Amber and I would talk for a minute, but the two girls didn't say a single word to each other. The tension between them was so strong that it was impossible not to notice. What I wouldn't have given to be a fly on the wall when it was just the two of them alone in the apartment. I wondered if they even talked at all.
We finished breakfast and I took a quick shower. The girls watched the morning news in the living room sitting as far away from each other as possible. It was almost comical, actually. Kasie was all the way on the left side of our couch while Amber was all the way to the right. They literally couldn't have been farther away from each other and still on the couch.
After I got out of the shower, I went into my bedroom. As soon as I was dried and dressed, I sent a text to Krystal asking her if we could get together. Her and I didn't have our philosophy class that day, so I hoped that she was free like I was. Fortunately, she was. A few minutes later, she messaged me back, agreeing to meet in a half hour.
“I'm off to go meet with Krystal, the girl from my philosophy class,” I said to the girls as I came out of my room. “Hopefully, she'll be able to help me find Carter.”
Amber got up off the couch and ran over to me. As soon as Kasie saw her get up, she hopped up, too. Both girls came over to me, each hugging me from the side – Kasie on my left and Amber on my right.
“Good luck,” Kasie said and kissed me on the cheek. “I'm so proud of you. I hope you're able to find this guy and put a stop to him.”
Not to be outdone, Amber gently turned my head, gave me a long kiss on the lips and said, “Good luck, baby. Go get him!”
“I'll try,” I said in a pessimistic tone. The girls both gave me an odd look. My usual insecure self reared its ugly head, but I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I was no longer the pathetic loser that I had been for most of my life – up until just a couple of days ago. Something changed on that day. A fire was lit inside of me. I couldn't explain it at the time, but I didn't have to. I just went with it. I embraced it.
With the breath I took, I summoned all the courage, aggression, and confidence that I possibly could. Those were all feelings that I'd only recently become acquainted with. But, for the past couple days, I got to experience how wonderful it felt to be powerful and dominant.
Confidence is built from experience. The more you succeed at something, the more your confidence grows. For the past forty-eight hours, I'd had all kinds of sex with multiple gorgeous women, kicked some ass not once but twice, and rescued a woman from a burning car wreck. I had every reason to be overflowing with confidence. I summoned that confidence and started talking again, squeezing both girls tightly and making powerful eye contact.
“I'll try not to hurt him too badly if I find him. But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Now, why don't each of you give me one
more good-luck kiss.”
I pointed to each of my cheeks and bent down so both girls could easily reach me. They each kissed my cheek with smiles on their faces. As I turned to leave, I gave Amber's butt a playful slap.
“Ooh,” she chirped in a short, high-pitched tone and smiled.
Kasie's face caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I couldn't remember the last time I saw such sadness and disappointment in her eyes. I hated to see her like that so, as I walked out the door, I gave her butt a playful slap of its own.
“Ahhh,” Kasie moaned, longer and just as high-pitched as Amber.
I looked over my shoulder as I walked out and saw a big, beautiful smile on my best friend's face. To be honest, I wasn't sure if she was going to smile or punch me in the head. I'd never even dreamed of slapping her ass before. Okay, maybe I'd dreamed of it, but I never would've actually considered doing it. I loved how Kasie was getting jealous and flirting with me. Loved it.
I met Krystal at a Dunkin' Donuts near the building where our philosophy class was held. She was dressed differently than I'd ever seen her before. Krystal was wearing a black skirt with a slit going down each of the sides. Every other step, I'd get a glance at her long, flawless legs and it drove me wild. We each got a coffee and sat down at a corner table. People were in and out like crazy but there weren't many people sitting down.
“So,” Krystal asked, taking a sip of her coffee, then looked up at me with her beautiful brown eyes. “What's up?”
“Have you heard about the bank robberies that have been happening all around Boston over the past couple days?” I asked, studying the details of Krystal's face.
“I've heard about bank robberies all over the city for as long as I've been living in Boston. They happen all the time, don't they?”
“They do, yes. But, I'll take your answer to mean 'no.' I'm talking about a specific set of robberies that have been all over the news.”
Just as I was talking, the flat-screen TV high up on the wall caught my attention. The news was on and they started talking about the robberies.
“Krystal, turn around,” I said, pointing at the TV. “Watch.”
“And the masked robber strikes again,” the news anchor said. “But this time, he brought friends. Within seconds of the bank's opening at eight this morning, four masked men rushed in and demanded all the money be put in bags. Like all previous robberies, the man who appears to be in the lead doesn't have a weapon. The other three, however, do.”
They showed a close-up shot of the unarmed robber. I tapped Krystal on the arm.
“Notice what's around his right wrist,” I said.
“One guard was shot and taken to the hospital this morning,” the news anchor continued, a video of the guard drawing his weapon playing over and over. He was shot a second later but they didn't show that footage. “His condition is still unknown. The robbers got away unharmed with an undisclosed amount of money. We'll keep you posted on any further developments about the unarmed bandit and his crew.”
Krystal turned back around, looked at me, and said, “So?”
“It's Carter,” I replied. “He always wears a big, red rubber band around his right wrist. That's why I pointed it out to you.”
“No, Carter's an asshole but he's not a bank robber,” Krystal said, then paused for a moment. “Or, is he? Hmmm, maybe he could be.”
“He is,” I said with conviction. “The timeline fits. The bank robberies started right after we all found that stupid scroll. I'm telling you.”
“Oh, yeah... The scroll!” Krystal said, her face lighting up. “I wanted to tell you: I found out who the fourth person to sign Professor Amundsen's research consent form was.”
“Who?” I asked, eager to hear the answer.
“Steven Burgeson.”
“Interesting,” I replied with a smirk, happy because I now knew what my next move would be.
“Oh? What's so interesting about him?”
“He's one of Professor Amundsen's undergraduate research assistants. He may have some answers about what's been happening to me.”
“To us,” Krystal corrected. “My life hasn't gotten any less weird since the last time we talked. Things have only been getting weirder.”
“Tell me about it. The past forty-eight hours of my life have been the weirdest, yet most amazing hours of my life. Any idea where Steven lives?”
“I do, actually. He lives in the same dorm as me.”
“Then why don't we go pay him a little visit,” I suggested. “See what he can tell us about the scroll and Professor Amundsen's research. You can tell me about some more of the weird stuff that's been happening to you.”
“Okay,” Krystal agreed. “Let's go.”
We left Dunkin' Donuts and started walking to Krystal's dorm. She told me about some of the stuff that'd happened to her since the last time we'd talked and I told her about what'd happened to me. I did my best to make eye contact with Krystal while we walked but it wasn't easy. My eyes kept traveling south, eyeing her flawless legs as she walked.
We got to her dorm and went inside. She didn't know which room or even which floor Steven was on but it didn't take long to find out. I asked a group of girls playing Cards Against Humanity in the common area if any of them knew which room he was in and one of them did. She told us that he was in room three-fourteen, so Krystal and I took the stairs up to the third floor. We found his room and I tapped on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
Krystal and I stood outside Steven's door, waiting to see if anyone answered. A few seconds went by and, just as I was about to knock again, the door opened. It was Steven. He was several inches shorter than me, skinny with curly red hair and pale skin. His eyes went back and forth between Krystal and I as a subtle smile appeared on his face.
“I was wondering if any of you were going to come looking for me.”
9.
Steven motioned for Krystal and I to come into his dorm room. We did and he shut the door behind us. It looked like a typical guy's dorm room: clothes all over the floor, empty Mountain Dew bottles everywhere, and posters on the walls. We all sat down on the well-worn couch in the center of the room with me in the middle.
“You were expecting us to come looking for you?” I asked, turning toward Steven.
“Kind of, yeah,” he answered.
“Why?” Krystal asked.
“It was only a matter of time until you started asking questions about what's been happening to you. It's no secret that I'm the professor's research assistant. I figured you'd come looking for me to see if I'd have any answers for you.”
“Well... Do you?” I asked.
“I'm sure I can answer some of your questions, but there's a lot that I don't know. Professor Amundsen has really gone out of his way to keep certain aspects of his research a secret.”
“What kind of research is he involved with?” Krystal asked.
“I don't know the details, but it has to do with virtual and augmented reality.”
“What role do you play as his assistant?” I asked.
“I'm only one of the professor's assistants. He has several and each of us work on different aspects of the project. That way, no one can see the big picture and figure out exactly what he's up to. Right now, my job is just to observe and report everything that's happening. His graduate research assistants know a lot more than us undergrads.”
“Are we in some kind of simulation right now?” Krystal asked. “Is that why all this weird stuff has been happening to me – to us?”
“I can't be one-hundred-percent sure but yeah, I think so. I don't know if it's some kind of augmented reality or if we're fully immersed in some kind of virtual world, but I strongly suspect the latter. And I don't know how we got here. Like I told you, I don't know much. All I know is that the three of us and one other person signed a permission slip that lets the professor use us for his research without having to explicitly t
ell us first. I've been instructed to keep track of everything unusual that happens to the four of us and report back to Professor Amundsen.”
“I was right,” Krystal said. “It all started when I found the scroll. I knew this had to do with that stupid scroll.”
Everything was starting to make sense – some sense, anyway. If I was in some sort of simulated, virtual reality, that would explain all the strange things that had been happening to me.
“So, if we're inside some sort of simulated reality, how do we get out?” I asked.
“I don't think you can. I don't think any of us can,” Steven answered, then paused for a moment before continuing. “You know, I probably shouldn't tell you this because I don't think I'm supposed to know it myself. But the professor's research made me so curious that I tried to figure out as much about it as I possibly could.”
“And what did you find out?” Krystal asked, slightly leaning over me, putting her hand on my thigh.
“I can't be sure, but I think this is how it works: The professor somehow manages to tap into your thoughts, feelings, and memories. He takes your biggest fears, dreams, and desires and crafts them into a narrative. As far as I can tell, the only way to get out of the simulation is for the narrative to come to its natural conclusion.”
That actually kind of made sense. Everything that'd happened seemed to be directly related to my biggest fears and desires. I'd always wanted to be strong and tough. For the past couple days, I had been kicking ass all over the place. And I always wished that I'd had more women in my life – well, any women in my life. Since I'd found the scroll, I was surrounded by gorgeous women who couldn't get enough of me. Steven's theory made sense.
“What's the point?” I asked. “What is the end goal of the professor's research?”
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