In Beta

by Prescott Harvey

  On the floor below, he could barely see thick black wire snaking out the door and turning left. He followed it, past walls of cardboard boxes. The darkness was overwhelming. It felt like pushing through an underwater cavern. Boxes leapt out suddenly from the perimeters of gloom. He slammed into something and felt himself bounce back. Then a wooden door loomed straight ahead. Behind it, he knew, lay Liz.

  Jay buzzed around, searching. At the far end, he spotted a small sliver of black. He flew back, then charged the door. His rotors beat against it, slowing, and he felt himself fall. He pulled back before he hit the ground, then buzzed back up in the air. The crack was wider now, enough for Jay to buzz through.

  The room—his room—was dull, lit by a single lamp. The space was the same, but furnished differently. His shelves and posters were gone. The walls were white. It felt clean, clinical. It reminded Jay of the room behind the falls. A queen-sized bed took up most of the space, and medical equipment loomed over the bedside, hanging over its sides like mechanical trees. A nightstand held dozens of pill bottles, and there was a large trash can with a biohazard sign. Jay saw the black wire from the computer room disappear into a slithering pile of cords, then snake over the bedside, connecting to a human form lying beneath the sheets. The figure’s head was covered by a black helmet, and only its mouth was visible. It looked like something out of a nightmare.

  “I–I think I found Liz.”

  “Can you wake her?”

  Footsteps thundered behind him. Jay buzzed over to the bed and zipped over Liz’s face. He thought he saw her jaw tremble slightly.

  Jay heard Hal moving across the carpet. He swiveled to see Hal rush him. His face was flushed, and he was holding a broom like a baseball bat. He swung it, and Jay zipped out of reach. The broom smashed down into Liz’s lap. She stirred under the sheets, then stopped. Jay remembered what she had said about Hal’s VR device; how it fully engaged the senses, making it impossible to disconnect from the hardware.

  Hal stepped forward, swinging wildly. He hit a lamp and knocked over a medical stand. The broom swished over Jay, and Jay dove under the bed. He hovered under the box spring, swiveling left and right, watching.

  “Colin . . . now’s your chance. I’ve got him busy in here. Can you get on the table?”

  “Maybe . . .”

  “Try!”

  From under the bed, Jay could see Hal’s legs walk back and forth. He heard a grunt, then Hal’s arms appeared, followed by his head. He spotted Jay and his eyes narrowed. Jay watched Hal’s arm reach slowly for his broom. Jay hovered, waiting until the last second, then spun around and zoomed back out from the bed. He spotted a patch of light and rose higher, hoping that . . .YES! One window was open a sliver. Jay waited for Hal to reemerge from under the bed and see him, then he zipped out the window.

  The brightness of the world washed over him, blinding him, and it took a moment before everything was clear again. He was outside his house, in his backyard. There was the dead oak tree, missing a few more limbs. The raised vegetable beds his mom had kept were decomposed into little lumps of earth and dandelions. Beyond his house were other roofs, more densely packed than he’d ever seen. The surrounding houses were new—cheap townhouses that walled in his house and covered it in shadow.

  Jay flew into the air and down the thin corridor separating Hal’s house from the neighbors’. Out on the small cul-de-sac that was Northeast Scenic Street, Jay hovered for a moment. Where the Maganas’ house had stood was a three-story olive townhouse. All the construction—except for Hal’s house—was fresh. Jay hovered, appraising the neighborhood’s uniformity.

  The trees of Jewett Creek loomed over the end of the road, now carefully manicured into a straight edge. Lawns were the same: clean, without lawn flamingos, gnomes, or rusting engine blocks. His neighborhood was unrecognizable.

  The front door slammed shut. Jay spun around to look at his house. It was much the same as he’d left it in The Build, only now a dusty blue instead of white. There was Hal, standing on the doorstep, blinking in his wifebeater and boxers. He gripped his broom like a sword, searching the sky. Jay dropped down, strafing, and Hal’s face flushed purple with rage.

  Jay zipped away down the street. Suddenly, his screen flashed.

  Weak connection.

  Jay paused, hovering halfway down the street. A black-

  haired woman in tight pants was walking a corgi. As she passed Jay, she cast an annoyed glance at where he hovered in the air.

  “Don’t touch it! Stay away!” Hal screamed, and Jay turned in time to see Hal running at him, swinging his broom. Jay zipped up into the sky, then dashed down in front of the black-haired woman.

  “Halt. Halt. Follow me,” the helicopter demanded.

  The woman flinched and held up her hands. “Get away!”

  “Careful, hrmm.” Hal panted. “It’s . . . got a virus. Don’t let it get away.”

  The woman let out a muffled cry and ran up the sidewalk, her heels clicking on the pavement. Jay dodged another volley of broom strokes.

  “Colin?” Jay called.

  Back in Hal’s office, Colin was on Hal’s chair. It had taken him a dozen backflips before he’d managed to leap up onto the mesh seat. The spongy surface was softer than the floor and felt like walking on a trampoline. He craned his head up. The edge of the desk still felt impossibly far.

  “Yes?” Colin replied.

  “Are you up?”

  “Halfway.”

  He positioned a foot on the vinyl and a foot on the chair’s hard plastic frame, scrunched himself, and leapt. He sailed through the air and then hit hard plastic, clattering across the desk. He looked up. Three giant monitors loomed over him, covering the desk in blue light.

  “I did it!”

  “Can you stop the deletion?”

  Colin scanned the screens. The center monitor held a small console bar, and he swiveled his scanners to see the words deleting files. The bar was about a third gone. He took a step toward the giant mouse.

  “I think so.”

  Colin struggled across the desk. His body, made for backflips, did not walk easily. And there was another problem he hadn’t mentioned. His battery. In the bottom right of his screen, there was a battery icon. It was three-quarters gone.

  He concentrated hard on putting one leg before the next. The mouse was right in front of him. One more step. He pushed his body against the mouse, and the giant mound of plastic budged forward. He felt his motor groan in protest. Soon, he knew, it would seize up. He paused to check his progress and saw with satisfaction that he’d pushed the cursor toward the deletion bar. In the background, Jay’s questions were endless:

  “How’s it going?”

  “You there?”

  “What’s the status?”

  Colin finally answered, his voice carefully neutral: “Just fine.”

  Dead Batts

  Jay could tell by Colin’s voice that he was in trouble. Hal, meanwhile, was having his own problems. He stopped and placed his hands on his knees. Sweat poured from his face and he puffed in ragged gasps. Jay wondered whether Hal might have a heart attack then and there. A small crowd had gathered out on Scenic Street. It was early Saturday morning, same as it was in The Build. The commotion of Hal in his underwear, waving a broom, was drawing out the surrounding families. Jay watched three girls giggle at the flushed, panting man in boxers. Hal spun around at their laughter.

  “What are you staring at?”

  At this, the girls burst into peals of laughter, and Hal swung his broom in their direction, despite a driveway between them.

  Suddenly, Hal straightened. He looked at Jay. Then, without a word, he spun and stomped across the street, pushing past a tall scowling man with a mustache. The girls shrieked in delight. Jay watched in horror as Hal stormed back inside. He flew over Hal’s fence, returning to the backyard. He reached Li
z’s window and was about to dip in, when he saw Hal’s hairy knuckles shoot up from the inside. The window slammed shut, and he heard the sound of a lock. He was shut out!

  “Colin!” Jay cried. “He’s coming for you!”

  No response.

  “Colin?”

  He felt panic overtaking him. Colin was gone. Terrible thoughts crowded his mind, and he pushed them away. In the corner of his screen, he saw his battery flash red with only a single bar of juice left. He flew over the wooden fence of his backyard and hovered in the small corridor next to the neighboring house. Even if he got back into Hal’s house, there wasn’t enough battery left for him to stop the deletion. It was over.

  Suddenly, a loud, rhythmic beeping shook him awake. A smoke detector blared from the neighboring house. He flew over the wooden fence, into their backyard.

  The yard was a mess. He saw a kiddie pool filled with cigarette butts and murky water sitting amid overgrown tufts of crabgrass. A barbecue stood in the corner, next to a weight bench. A bulldog sat, licking its crotch. When it spotted Jay, it growled. The glass patio door slid open, and smoke billowed out. A figure ran out through the haze, and Jay saw a grizzled man with a thick beard and tattoo sleeves step out. Jay sounded his voice box.

  “Halt. Halt.”

  But the man, still coughing, lowered his head and disappeared back into the smoke. Jay zipped in after.

  The townhouse interior was ugly and small. Posters lined its walls: girls in bikinis, and bands Jay didn’t recognize. Past a small kitchen island, the man waved a dish towel at smoke that poured from his oven. He covered his mouth with an arm and coughed.

  The beeping smoke detector stopped, and the man relaxed a little. He reached into the oven, then quickly yanked his hand out.

  “Ow!”

  Jay buzzed forward and slammed into the man’s face. The man leapt back, staring at Jay with disbelief.

  “What the heck?”

  “Halt! Follow me.”

  The man didn’t move. Jay rammed him again. The man threw up his arms, and Jay felt his rotor dig in.

  “Oww!”

  Jay backed off. The man whipped at Jay with the dish towel, and Jay dashed out of range. The man stared at him, wary, and called back into the house.

  “DJ?”

  “Follow me,” Jay shouted. “Follow me. Follow me.”

  The man stepped around the kitchen counter. Jay flew back out the open patio door. The man moved after Jay, into the backyard.

  “DJ? Are you seeing this?”

  The dog was barking again. The man turned on it.

  “Luigi! Stop it!”

  Jay zipped down and again drove his rotor blade into the man’s face. The man leapt back and threw his dish towel.

  “Oh, that’s it.”

  He ran at Jay. Jay flew over the fence, then spun round, hovering.

  “Follow me!”

  The man leapt over the fence, landing in the corridor along Hal’s house.

  Jay saw his battery signal flashing. As fast as he could, he spun around the corridor, zipped past the front of the house, and smashed into Hal’s front door. He bounced back, falling, watching the ground rush toward him. He willed his rotor to spin and rose, back into the air. Again he hit the door, and then he heard muted footsteps on the other side. He spun around. The tattooed man rounded the corner, and Jay saw his eyes flash with anger.

  Behind him, Jay heard the front door swing open. Hal stood ready, broom in hand, but Jay buzzed past, into the living room. Hal stepped after him.

  “Hey, man.”

  Hal turned. The neighbor stood in the doorway.

  “Hrm?”

  The man pointed at Jay. “Is that your drone?”

  Hal grunted. “Yes. I’ll handle it.”

  Hal went to shut his door, but the neighbor put a hand on the door, holding it open.

  “Why was it in my house?”

  “Hrmm. It’s a long story. Won’t happen again.”

  Hal again tried to shut his door, but the man held on. “Don’t you gotta have a license for that? Where’s your license, man?”

  Jay hovered over Hal’s shoulder, watching the exchange, his hope rising. He zoomed past Hal’s head, and bashed the neighbor in the face, running his rotor into his nose. The man screamed.

  “Ow! Goddamnit!”

  Jay dropped down and zipped back through Hal’s legs. The man lunged at Hal, forcing the door open and pushing into the living room.

  Hal’s face contorted in rage. “Get out!” he screamed. “Get out, or I will call the police!”

  The neighbor pushed past Hal and grasped at Jay. Jay zipped back through the corridor of boxes, praying the neighbor was still following. He spun into the short hall that led to Liz’s room. Behind him, Hal was screaming.

  “Get out! Out of my house!”

  In the darkness of the hall, Jay flew forward until he hit something hard. He bounced back and could barely make out the faint outline of the door. It was closed. He spun back to see the neighbor fill the hallway.

  “Follow me! Follow me!”

  The neighbor’s hand shot out, and then the man held him in his hand, spinning Jay around until he was staring into the neighbor’s face. He saw a look of grim satisfaction on the man’s bearded face, and then his rotor stopped with a sickening crack. The man had ripped off his blades. Then Jay was being carried down the hall, back to the living room.

  “Halt! Halt! Halt!” Jay shouted desperately.

  But the man wasn’t listening. When Hal saw the man holding Jay, the rage washed from his face.

  “Hrmm. Good,” he purred. “You may leave now.”

  Jay felt despair wash over him. It was over. The man shook his head and moved to the door. Then he paused. From deep within the house, there was a low sound. A human moan. The man turned and took a step toward it.

  Color drained from Hal’s face. He pawed at the neighbor’s sleeve.

  “No, hrm. You’re trespassing on private property. You need to leave.”

  The man ignored him, moving down the hall. He pushed open the door to the back room. He froze. His face went pale as he stared at the nightmare contraptions lying around the bed.

  “What . . . the . . .”

  Hal stumbled into the room. “She’s sick. Hrm. She’s my sister. Hrm. Don’t touch her.”

  The neighbor stared at the black helmet covering Liz’s head. “Why is she wearing that?”

  “To protect her. She has cancer. You need to leave. Hrm.”

  Jay hit his voice module.

  “Halt! You’re under arrest. You’re under arrest.”

  The neighbor shook his head. “This isn’t right, man. This is messed up.”

  “Hrmm, this is my private residence. You need to leave. It’s the law!”

  The neighbor shook his head again. “I think I need to call the police.”

  Hal grabbed the neighbor’s wrist.

  “This is not your business!”

  The neighbor grabbed Hal’s hand and spun him around. Hal’s eyes bulged and he gasped.

  “I’m making it my business.” The neighbor dropped the drone, and Jay fell on the floor. From his tilted perspective, he saw the neighbor leaning over the bed, whispering, “Miss? Can you hear me?”

  Another soft moan. The neighbor loosened the strap on Liz’s helmet.

  “Don’t take that off!” Hal screamed.

  Jay saw Liz lift an arm. The neighbor held it, pulling her gently up by the elbow. She rose, eyes blinking in the lamplight. The neighbor took her hand, and Liz stepped unsteadily from the bed. Even from a distance, Jay could see thirty years had passed.

  Hal picked himself off the floor.

  “You’re both under arrest, hrm. Big, big trouble.”

  The neighbor ignored Hal to help Li
z hobble out of bed. Jay saw a look of steely determination grip her face. She pressed on the neighbor’s arm, stood, and punched Hal in the face. Hal shrieked, surprised, and collapsed against the wall.

  “Help me get out of here. Quick.” They hobbled together down the hall, and then Jay heard her muffled voice from the office.

  “Help. In here. Click that button.”

  Then Jay felt himself falling. His thoughts drifted away, and he knew the last of his power was draining. He’d done it; he’d beaten the final boss. He was happy for Liz, but a sadness overtook him. He’d never see Bickleton again. He thought of the giant oak tree at the end of his block, and how it swayed when the spring breezes picked up. Then his battery light blinked off, and his mind powered into darkness.

  Lab Results

  Liz stood outside, listening to planes roar and traffic buzz. She was at SeaTac arrivals with a single blue rollaboard bag. Waiting. A white Tahoe pulled up to the curb, its passenger window rolling down. A young man in a loose collared shirt leaned over.

  “Liz Knight?”

  She nodded. He got out and opened the door for her, and she climbed into the back seat.

  “I’ll get your bag.”

  “Thanks, I’d rather hold on to it. You with the university?”

  He shook his head in the rearview mirror. “No, with . . . another faction.” He flashed a smile that looked forced. “Homeland Security.”

  “Ah. I could have just taken an Uber, you know.”

  “We appreciate everything you’re doing for us.”

  Liz looked out her tinted window at the blue Seattle skies. She had forgotten how temperate it was in Seattle, even in the summer. Not at all like her home down in LA. She relaxed back into her seat. It felt strangely warm: The seat warmers must be running.