Bianca tried to calm herself during launch by telling herself over and over that the computers would do the job. She looked over at the compartment where her bear was stored. It was one of the only things she brought on the shuttle, and as she followed the countdown, it was the one thing that gave her comfort.
Lisbeth’s eyes were wide with excitement. She had been more quiet—reserved—since they had won the contest together. There had been times when Bianca thought Lisbeth was angry with her—but they had both won, why would Lisbeth be angry with her? She had begun to spend more and more time alone, and even when Lenna called their grandparents, Lisbeth would only spend a few moments on the phone with them. Bianca was afraid to ask how sick Lisbeth’s grandparents were, but she could see the answer in Lenna’s face.
“This is going to change my life,” Lisbeth said quietly, almost to herself.
“Yes, imagine all the opportunities in science and research we will have after this,” Bianca said.
Lisbeth started, as if she had forgotten that Bianca was there.
There was one minute left before they took off. Bianca’s heart began to pound against her chest, and for a moment she was worried it would pound itself to death. Everything around her fell silent as her panic grew.
Lisbeth smiled wide as the shuttle began to lift from the pad.
There was something wrong. Bianca felt it. As the shuttle lifted itself completely from the pad, Bianca felt a wave of nausea come up from her stomach. She looked over at the compartment that stored her bear. If she could just hear her parents one more time…
She could see Lisbeth’s mouth moving, but no sound was coming from it. You’re just having a panic attack, Bianca told herself. Calm down.
But Lisbeth’s face had changed. Her smile was fading, and all at once Bianca’s hearing came back, and she could hear a beeping in the compartment.
There was something wrong. Her heart was beating faster than she had ever thought it could beat. We’re going to die, Bianca thought to herself. She saw Lisbeth unfastening herself and her hands instinctively reached to unbuckle her own restraints. She could hardly lift herself up from the seat, the force pushing down on her was so strong. The shuttle began to tilt and Bianca knew that it would soon be pulled down by the Earth, into the water.
As she headed for the escape pod, she remembered her bear, turned and rushed back to get it. But when she reached the pod, clutching the bear, Lisbeth turned and started to shut the door.
“I’m coming,” Bianca got out. It was a moment before she realized that Lisbeth was smiling at her. “What?” Bianca asked, desperate.
“This is it,” Lisbeth said. “I know what they meant. I can see it now. ‘Teenager sole survivor of one of the first automated shuttle launches’.”
Bianca’s eyes widened. She clutched her bear close to her, the weight of everything making her head heavy.
“What are you talking about?” she managed.
“They’ll never let two teenagers back on a shuttle launch like this, not after it’s failed. But I can still be known by the world as the only one to have survived it.” Lisbeth stared at Bianca, not looking away.
Bianca shook her head. “No. No, you can’t. They’ll know,” she said, even as she realized that there had not been any acknowledgment of the problem, no instructions whatsoever, through their headsets. What had happened?
“Why?” Bianca asked.
“I’m supposed to be great, to reach new heights,” Lisbeth said. “I have to. I can’t go back. I want… I want everything,” she said.
Bianca wanted to cry, but what would be the point? She laughed bitterly. “You took it. You took the money those people were missing, on the bus when we first came here. You took my marbles, too,” she said.
Lisbeth looked down for a moment. “I’m tired of not having anything. I’m tired,” she replied.
Bianca stood straight. She handed her bear to Lisbeth. “For my grandparents.” Lisbeth reached over and took it, and the door slid shut. Bianca was alone as the pod was released.
❦
The world looked on as the pod separated, cheering for the two survivors they thought were inside.
The journalists swarmed the beach near the site of the crash. The first images of Lisbeth showed her clutching a small bear, crying. The debris from the shuttle was pulled onshore little by little, but there were no signs of Bianca.
Poor Lisbeth, the world thought. Her friend had suffered an attack and had been unable to move, unable to reach the pod. At least her attack spared her any suffering she may have felt upon impact, Lisbeth repeated in interview after interview.
The interview offers, and the money that accompanied them, continued to pour in immediately after the catastrophe. It was only a few days before Lisbeth was scheduled to meet with the President of the United States.
Lisbeth was sure she was set to receive an award, a medal of some kind. A plaque at least. She wore her best suit and was picked up at her aunt’s home, from where she would be driven to the space center for a live television appearance with the President.
As she walked in and shook hands with the President, Lisbeth could hear noise outside of the conference room. Her aunt pushed her way in, shoving reporters out of the way. Her eyes were wide and her face looked pale and sick. Her way was blocked by security, but instead of bothering to identify herself, she merely held up Bianca’s teddy bear and pushed the button on the back.
The cameras were rolling, the President’s smile fading from her face as the conversation between Lisbeth and Bianca in the shuttle played from the teddy bear’s recording box.
As Lisbeth was escorted from the room, she realized that the three sisters were never wrong.
❦
Lenna stood with Bianca’s grandparents in front of the tombstones. Three new ones had been erected: for Lisbeth’s grandparents, whose health could not take the news of Lisbeth’s actions; and for Bianca, although there was no body to bury in the soft dirt under her tombstone.
The tents were being erected around them, and soon the cemetery would be filled with people. Bianca’s grandparents clutched the teddy bear in their hands as they walked away, and Lenna knew that, though it broke their heart to hear it, they would never record over Bianca’s voice.
As darkness filled the world, footsteps approached the tombstones. Lenna looked up to see three women. They stopped under the tree, in front of Bianca’s tombstone, and set down a rolled sheet of paper. Then the tall woman in the center spoke.
“My sisters and I, we never got the chance to give this to Bianca. This belonged to her,” she said, and the sisters bowed and moved away.
Lenna kneeled down and picked up the piece of paper, the top part torn away.
From the keeper of sound
Your mother’s voice rings
From the keeper of sound
The Fates shall sing.
A Midwinter Night's Brainwashing
❦
ALLAN DAVIS
“If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber’d here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream . . .”
- PUCK, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
“Tuck, I really don’t know if this is a good idea...”
“Can it, Mitch. I know what I’m doing.” Robin Goodfellow Tucker—“Tuck” to his friends, for the obvious reasons—completed the key combination that would initiate the system bootload, and stepped toward the door.
In the next room, six people were reclining on medical couches. “First,” he said, without introduction or preamble, “stretch out on the couches so that we can get them aligned with your bodies. Then we’ll hook up your helmets and slip you into the simulation.” All six people relaxed back against the couches and waited patiently for Tuck to move down the line, clicking switches on each bed. Once all six had
been measured and comfortably arranged, he asked them to sit up again.
Tuck moved back down the row, offering assistance as his friends put on bizarre helmets that looked like something out of Doctor Emmett Brown’s wildest dreams... or nightmares.
“Look,” he said, “I really appreciate all of you coming out tonight.” If anyone noticed that he spent a few extra minutes helping Heather with her own helmet, they gave no sign.
“Glad to help out a friend,” Andrew said. “But why are we here at night instead of during the day?”
“Sorry. It was the only chance I had to squeeze in time on the system. I’m just an intern, you know?” Heather’s helmet was properly secured, and Tuck moved on down the line, double-checking the rest of the helmet straps and fastenings.
“Once I start the system, the helmet will use nerve induction to feed images into your brains. It will be like dreaming; you won’t be able to move at all in here, but you’ll be able to explore the virtual world however you like.
“I need for you to explore—and try things out. If you see something interesting, go for it—eat the food, drink the drinks, stuff like that. I’ll interview you after the simulation is over and get your full impressions on your experience inside the computer.”
“This isn’t going to be dangerous or anything, is it?” Andrew asked.
“Not in the least,” Tuck replied.
He hoped none of them noticed the very slight hesitation before he answered.
❦
Mitch had the sense to keep his mouth shut until the door sealed. “She is totally and completely out of your league, you realize this. She’s never even given her phone number to anyone.”
“That’s about to change,” Tuck said.
“And you think no one is going to notice that the most unreachable girl in the school suddenly falls head over heels for the science geek? Coincidentally, on the one night he invited her over to try out the new virtual reality simulation with deep dark government brainwashing subroutines built into it?”
“I’ve got that covered,” Tuck said. “Now, we just need to get her to drink the potion. Start it up.”
❦
Heather opened her eyes, and the lab was gone. She was now surrounded by trees, standing in a small clearing. There was a low table with something sitting on it just ahead of her.
A noise from Holly made her turn around, and she dashed out of the clearing, looking for her friend.
“No!” Tuck shouted. “Don’t turn around!”
By the time Heather found Holly, Andrew had found the table. He didn’t hesitate in the least; he scooped up the small bottle, downed it in a gulp, and continued exploring in the direction Heather and Holly had gone.
“Mitch, shut it down.” Tuck was focused on the screen, trying to track six people simultaneously as they wandered the simulation. “It’s a bust. Reset it.”
“Working on it,” Mitch grumbled under his breath. “I’ve got three other subroutines to pause, gimme a second.”
“You may not have it,” Tuck said.
Andrew stepped into the clearing, walking up to the two girls. They stood transfixed, staring in fascination at a crystal clear waterfall, over two hundred feet high. He shouted a greeting over the roar of the water. Holly heard him first, and turned around to meet his gaze.
“Yep. Too late.”
As soon as Holly met his eyes, the drink took effect. Andrew dropped to one knee, never taking his eyes off of Holly’s, and reaching up to gently take her hand. “Holly, my love,” he said.
“Got it,” Mitch said.
❦
Holly blinked in confusion at the helmet in her hands. She had the distinct impression she had just been somewhere else. But that couldn’t possibly be true, could it? She looked up, scanning her friends around the room, and Andrew’s eyes met hers. Why was he staring at her like that?
Tuck moved down the row, helping each of them adjust their helmets. Heather’s helmet seemed to give him some trouble, and he spent extra time trying to get it latched into place.
“I really appreciate you coming here tonight,” he said. “I’m sorry we’re doing this so late at night. Interns can’t get prime time on the servers, you know?
“The simulation should seem totally real to you, so you can explore, and you can eat and drink stuff. When you’re all done, I’ll review things with you, get feedback on the experience, that kind of thing. So, if you’ll lie back and relax, I’ll start the simulation in just a moment.”
❦
Tuck watched the screen as his avatar left the room.
“Do you think they had any clue that the simulation started as soon as their heads touched the sensors?” Mitch asked.
“No,” Tuck said. “I don’t think they even noticed.” He loaded the forest, placed the potion, and watched as the friends appeared in the clearing. The potion, again, was right in front of Heather, though not so much that anyone would get overly suspicious. In fact, every person had a low table in front of them this time around.
“Wow,” Holly said. “This is so totally cool. It’s like we’re really here.” She picked up the turkey drumstick that had appeared before her.
Heather held up the soda bottle. “This just seems so out of place here,” she said to Holly.
“Oh, I don’t mind,” Holly said. “Here, I’ll trade you? I’m not hungry, but I could definitely use a drink.”
Tuck stared at the screen, mouth agape, as Heather handed the potion bottle to her friend. Holly downed it, then swayed dramatically as the potion took hold. Andrew, just a few steps away, leaped to her aid, putting an arm around her waist to keep her from falling. At his touch, she opened her eyes and met his gaze.
“Reset it, Mitch.” Tuck pounded on the counter next to his keyboard.
“Tuck,” Mitch said, as the simulation cleared out and the six participants returned to their beds, “are you sure you know what you’re doing? I mean, this is some serious spook stuff here. You’re poking around at secret government subroutines and we don’t know all of the ramifications of—”
“Just restart the damn program, Mitch.”
Mitch shut up and reactivated the staging area.
❦
Andrew fastened the helmet to his head while Tuck went through his spiel. He noticed that Tuck spent a few extra seconds checking Heather’s straps, but barely even glanced at his.
His eyes caught Holly’s while Tuck was checking her helmet, and she scrunched up her eyebrows at him for some reason.
I think I need to ask her out one of these days, he thought to himself.
“The simulation should seem totally real to you when it starts,” Tuck was saying. Andrew realized he had missed a chunk of his friend’s instructions because he’d been too busy staring at Holly. To cover for his inattention, he blurted out, “So, do you want us to do anything while we’re in there?”
“Yeah, exactly,” Tuck said. “If you see anything you can eat or drink... well... eat or drink it, you know? I’ll talk to each of you separately when we’re done to get your full impressions.
“Now if you’ll relax, we’ll get ready to start the simulation.”
❦
“Mitch, you know what to do, right?”
“I’ve told you already this is a really stupid idea, right?”
Tuck glared at him, and he backed down.
“We give each of them a potion, they all drink. The only one that’s effective is Heather’s, and as soon as they drink it, we replace everyone’s avatars with yours.”
“Right,” Tuck agreed. “No possible freaking way anything can go wrong.”
Heather set the empty vial back down on the low table in front of her. Funny, she thought, how drinking something made her a little woozy and wobbly; she reminded herself to mention it to Tuck, in their talk after the simulation.
She looked up at Holly’s giggle, and couldn’t help laughing herself.
“Tuck,” Holly announced, in a very amused voice, �
��why does Andrew look like he’s got a horse’s head?”
“That’s not a horse,” Heather corrected, “it’s a mule.” And as her eyes met Holly’s, she realized that Holly’s head looked like a cat’s.
The cat-faced Holly brought a hand up, so that no one could see what she was whispering to Heather, and said, “You know, he still looks kinda cute.”
“Dammit, Mitch, what the hell happened?”
“Um... minor bug in the avatar routine. It’s not designed to change in the middle of the simulation, looks like. It flipped over to some dark mythological symbolism design. I’m trying to clear it up now.”
“Might as well end the simulation while you’re at it.”
“Yeah, doing that too.”
❦
Tuck worked his way down the line of beds, double-checking that each helmet was firmly attached. He fought with Andrew’s helmet for a moment, and barely even glanced at the straps for Heather’s before moving on, Andrew noticed.
“I’ll go start the simulation,” Tuck said. “Just...wander around, lemme know what you think of it when we’re done.”
Dude looks like he’s working too hard, Andrew thought. This was supposed to be fun, and he was treating it like a damn research paper.
As he stretched out on the table to start the simulation, he realized Holly was staring at him. Have her eyes always sparkled like that?
❦
“Tuck, you need to drop it,” Mitch said.
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