by Terry Schott
“How old?”
“Two.”
Dalton nodded. “Go fetch him. I’ll wait, uh . . .”
“Daisy.” The woman smiled. “Thank you kindly. We don’t have a lot to bring, just a few suitcases.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have any room for suitcases, Daisy.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “I have pictures and some personal items.”
“We must limit what comes with you. Space at the sanctuary is limited for now.”
Daisy chewed on the corner of her lip, then nodded. “Okay, I guess it makes sense not to bring too much.”
“We can come back and get things,” Dalton said. “In a few months. After everyone has ultimately decided where they are going to spend their time.”
She nodded.
“You married, Daisy?”
“I am.” She shook her head. “I was.”
“I see.”
“My husband.” She looked toward the second storey of her house. “He plays.”
“Has he abandoned?”
“I don’t like that term.”
Dalton sniffed and ran a hand through his hair. “The press does. It’s an accurate way to describe what people are doing. Choosing death here in order to play a game.” He followed her gaze to the house. “He has a baby and a beautiful wife, yet he chooses Transition. What better to call it, if not abandoning?”
Daisy wiped away tears. “You’re right. I’ll go get my son.”
“Is your husband still alive?”
“Yes, but not for much longer.”
Dalton got out of the truck and retrieved her items. “Go get your boy and we will move on.”
She nodded and walked back to the house.
Dalton watched her open the door and enter, then turned and put the clothes into the back of the truck. “Your husband is an idiot, Daisy.”
#45
The elevator door opened and Shawn entered the sterile, white room which reminded him of a scene from a space movie. “Finally.” He looked around and nodded. “You’ve spent some money.”
Loredana laughed as she shook Shawn’s hand. “I’m glad we can finally begin to impress you.”
“To be fair, the press said you are worth hundreds of billions of dollars, yet you always seemed to live like regular people.”
“Trust me, we have spent a considerable sum of that money setting this place up. There are twenty levels built into this mountain. I could lock ten thousand people in here for a thousand years and we would not run out of food, water, or any of the other essentials. There are levels that house livestock, others that grow fruits and vegetables, and over two thousand people living here to maintain the place. There are ten levels that only myself, Ivan, and you will have access to.”
“Do you still intend to lock the place down?”
She nodded. “When the final people arrive, which will be soon.”
The elevator door hissed as it opened and Ivan entered. “Heya, Shawn. Welcome to the compound.”
“Thanks.” Shawn’s expression became sombre. “I really appreciate the offer to let me join you.”
“How weird is it that the three of us are all alone.”
Loredana nodded. “I have family, but they are all inside Transition. Ivan, you are an orphan, and Shawn, you are single.”
“We have each other.” Shawn smiled. “Can we still access Transition from this deep inside the rock?”
“Absolutely,” Ivan said.
“It’s quite the thing.” Shawn sat down on a plush couch. “So many dead in the world.”
“They aren’t dead.” Loredana plopped down into a chair and looped one leg over the arm.
“They live in Transition, but their bodies in this world are dead and gone.”
“Yeah.” She looked at a picture on the wall. “It’s not like they were really having much of a life here anyway.”
Ivan hissed. “Ouch. That sounds a bit harsh.”
“That’s why I didn’t do any interviews. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but there’s no way to talk about it positively without sounding . . .”
“Weird?” Shawn asked.
“People are calling this the worst massacre in history.” She leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. “Before Transition, people died and most believed they went somewhere. Everyone dies. I didn’t put a gun to anyone’s head to make them play or choose virtual reality as their new home.”
“Don’t worry about it, Lore.” Ivan patted her foot. “It’s only the Puritans that are slamming you. The rest are loving their new existence inside Transition.”
She nodded.
“So this is our base of operations from now on?” Shawn asked.
“I don’t expect we will be here much,” Loredana said. “But yeah, the world outside is no longer safe for us. This is our home when we are not in Transition.”
“Any plans to go over permanently?”
She shrugged. “Eventually, but there might still be things here that need attention. It’s too soon to know.”
“Better to keep the options open,” Ivan said.
***
Glen opened his eyes and lay still, listening for any sounds of movement in the house. He got up and went to the kitchen, poured himself some cereal with milk, and sat at the small table to eat.
“Last meal in this little house.” He said to himself as he looked around and dug into his food.
An hour later, Glen emerged, locked the door and started toward his car, but paused mid-step, turned around, and went back to the front door. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew his keys and removed the door key from the ring. He lifted the doormat and placed the key on the concrete before letting the mat fall back into place. “In case someone comes by who wants to use it and thinks to look for a key.”
He got into his black luxury sedan and pulled out of the driveway. He did not look back as he drove away.
Despite being the oldest Cyber attraction, Dream Park had remained the most popular right up until it had closed a few months ago. It covered one hundred twenty-one hectares of land and was filled with castles, villages, rides, and many incredible attractions.
Glen slowed his car at the front gate, waiting with his hands on the wheel and the window rolled down as a man with a shotgun walked toward him.
“Can I help you?”
“I hope so.” Glen smiled. “Word is that a community is forming here.”
The man gave Glen an appraising look. “That’s true.”
“Excellent. I would like to join you.”
The guard tapped the back of his neck. “You play?”
Glen shook his head. “I tried it once or twice, but it wasn’t for me.” He tilted forward to show the back of his neck.
The guard leaned in and looked, then nodded. “What’s your name?”
“Glen.”
The man waited for a second, then grimaced. “That what it says on your driver’s licence, Glen?”
“Yes.”
The guard laughed. “No last name then.” He waved his hand. “Let’s see this license which has only a first name written on it.”
“Oh. Sorry, I thought you were doubting if my name was Glen.”
“It’s hot out. Stop playing with me.”
“Glen Dranton.”
The guard’s eyes widened and Glen nodded. “That’s right, I used to run Cyber Inc.”
The guard opened the driver side door. “I’ll need you to surrender your weapons and then you can go on in. Don’t worry, you’ll get them back later.”
“I don’t have any weapons.”
The guard’s eyes flashed. “Either you’re lying and think I’m stupid, or you have no weapons and it’s you whose stupid. I’m gonna search the car. If I find any weapons, I will lead you over there”—he nodded in the direction of a ditch—“and shoot you in the back of the head.”
Glen shrugged. “Okay.”
The guard shook his head. “If the car is clean, you can go in after we’re done
here.”
Glen stood back and waited for the guard to search the car.
Ten minutes later, the guard closed the car door and tapped the window sill. “Sorry ‘bout that, Glen. Had to make sure you weren’t no threat.”
“I understand.”
“Head on in through the main road and park in Lot A near the main entrance. Someone will park your car for you. Tell them who you are and that I said to take you to the Light.”
Glen chuckled. “I better make sure they don’t think I say, ‘Send me into the light.’”
The guard laughed. “They won’t. I am certain the Light will be very interested to meet you. She’s always looking for more people that understand how the park is built.”
“I will be able to help her.”
“I’m sure you will.” The guard stood back. “Welcome to Purity.”
#46
Troy stood at attention in the empty space—a new zone ready to be developed—and stared straight ahead.
“What are you doing?”
He chuckled. “I swear, Sylvan, that if you had a face you would be frowning at me.”
“You know me well.”
He looked at the ground, then gazed upward. “Maybe this is how to access it.”
“Access what?”
Troy ignored the question.
“Oh, I see. You’re trying to get Home.”
“I’ve been trying to do that since I first saw it on the play menu.”
“Why must humans always want to go where it is forbidden?”
“I’m not human. Not in Transition.”
“Of course you are. Doesn’t matter if your avatar is digital. Outside, you call yourself a human. That means you are human to your core, regardless of where you play or what you look like.”
“Don’t try and distract me with philosophy, Sylvan.”
The spark laughed. “It was worth a try.”
“I’m on the right track, aren’t I?”
“Why do you think that I know everything?”
“Because you always do.”
“So far.” She tsked. “It’s possible that you have only managed to ask very simple questions and that is why I am always correct.”
“Will you get in trouble if I manage to access Home?”
Sylvan paused. “Why would you ask that?”
“I don’t know. I got this sudden thought that you might answer to someone. Maybe a grand tribunal of sparks or something.”
Laughter. “That’s very creative of you to think so, Dreamer.”
“Thank you.” Troy began typing commands into his arm unit.
“What are you doing?”
“Inputting some strange commands.” When he was done, he tapped a green button and the arm unit beeped.
Nothing happened.
“Well, you tried.”
The air in front of him turned to a quivering, white mist. A tiny circle formed and spread until it was an oval almost seven feet tall.
“Well I’ll be.” There was wonder in Sylvan’s voice. Troy smiled.
The vibrating mist disappeared, revealing a landscape beyond. White clouds floated in a sunny blue sky. Off in the distance, a large grey castle stood on a hill.
Troy stepped through the oval and laughed when his feet touched firm ground. He looked behind him. The portal was still visible.
“Sylvan?”
“I’m still here.”
“Good. Is this Home?”
“It could be.”
“You’re not certain?”
“I didn’t know if Home was anything more than a line of text on the play menu, Troy.”
“Oh.”
She laughed. “What do you want to do now?”
Troy looked at the castle. “I guess we can head toward that and see if anyone is home.”
***
Henry sat on the park bench and watched the brightly painted horses of the merry-go-round move up and down in time to the music playing from hidden speakers. A cool wind blew across his face, colourful leaves swirling on the ground in front of him before they were swept away.
Desdemona appeared out of the trees surrounding the ride and sat beside him, pulling her collar up so that it covered her chin. She crossed her legs and watched the riderless horses spin round and round.
“I never saw the appeal in the merry-go-round.” Henry continued looking at the ride. “In the beginning, it was the only ride in our first park and everyone loved it. Parents and children lined up for it.”
Desdemona brushed a wisp of hair out of her eyes. “I imagine it was a marvel to those who had never seen such a thing.”
“Technically, it was very well-built.” Henry shook his head. “But as a ride to provide amusement?” He shrugged. “I never understood how something going around in a circle and moving up and down could deliver so much delight.”
“Maybe not for you.”
“That’s what I realized.” He waved his hand and the sound from the speakers muted. “It taught me a very important thing about the average person.”
“Which is?”
“They are simple. Easily amused and just as easily bored.” He flicked his fingers in a dismissive gesture and the merry-go-round disappeared in a puff of smoke. “People like to think they crave originality, but the truth is they want simple things presented to them in a basic manner.”
“Too much variety is bad for society.” Desdemona picked a leaf from her hair and dropped it.
“Exactly.”
Desdemona removed her glove and rubbed an eye. “I’m bored, Henry.”
“Of course you are.”
“Aren’t you?”
One corner of his mouth turned up as he turned to face her. “We all are, but Loredana refuses to let us out of this area.”
“I’m confused how she has any say in the matter.”
Henry pursed his lips. “The girl is extremely clever. She must remain on our side, and forcing her to do what she does not want to do will ruin that.”
“She may be clever, but she has served her purpose. There is no need to tiptoe arou—”
“No.” Henry raised a hand. “She is the best of us. Look what she accomplished that no one else could. The girl is our saviour, a culmination of hundreds of years of breeding. It is her talent and instinct, guided by my hand, that will move us toward our goal. I will not waste her talents or throw her away.”
“Fine.” Desdemona sighed. “We will sit here and play it slow while you work on bringing her around.”
Henry smiled. “There is nothing stopping you from searching for a way out of here on your own.”
“Yeah. About that.”
Henry laughed. “You’ve been trying and can’t?”
“Don’t make fun of me.”
“I’m too surprised to make fun. It is not like you to be so obedient. In a way I am pleased that you remained true to your way of doing things. I was a little worried that you might have lost some of your edge while we were in storage.”
She smirked. “Don’t worry, I’m still devious.”
“Good.”
“But I can’t break through the barrier.”
“I assume that since you are coming to speak to me about it, you have tried everything in your power?”
Desdemona nodded.
“I will use more aggressive methods to persuade Loredana.”
“And I wait?”
“Unless something happens to change our situation, yes.”
Desdemona stood and disappeared in a shimmer of air.
Henry continued sitting quietly on the bench.
***
Troy had just stepped onto a path near the castle when the air in front of him shimmered and a beautiful woman appeared. She was dressed in tight-fitting black leggings and top. Her black hair flared in a pixie cut. She stopped when she saw him. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
The woman looked around, her expression confused. “Who are you?”
“I’m Troy. Who are you
?”
“Desdemona.”
“Nice to meet you. Where is this place?”
She smiled. “This your first time here?”
He nodded.
“How did you get here?”
“I made a portal.”
Her eyes lit up. “Interesting. Will you be able to create another one to get out of here?”
“I think so.”
She approached him and put her arm around his shoulder. “Perfect. Let’s get to know each other, shall we?”
#47
“Visitor incoming, Loredana.”
Loredana continued to lie on the beach with her hands behind her head, eyes closed, and smile on her face as the sun shone down. Waves lapped her feet, kissing her toes with chilly flutters. “Who is it and how soon?”
“Shawn in a couple minutes. I think Ivan is searching the system for you as well. He is on a different server and will need to log out of that one before he jumps over here.”
“Thanks, Sparx. Can you bring up a table with refreshments a few feet behind us?”
“Of course.”
“You’re the best.”
“Remember that when I mess things up.” Sparx laughed and Loredana joined her.
She stood and walked to the patio chairs as they appeared. Loredana held up one hand and a white robe materialized in her grip. She put it on and sat facing the ocean. A cooler appeared in the middle of the table with six glass bottles filled with different-coloured liquids. She reached for a yellow beverage, twisted the cap off, and took a long drink.
“Here comes Shawn,” Sparx announced.
Shawn stepped out of thin air dressed in jeans and a collared shirt. He surveyed the land and smiled. With a snap of his fingers, he was wearing shorts and a tank top. He sat next to Loredana, reaching for a blue drink. “Beautiful setting, Lore.”
“Thanks.” She took another sip and set the bottle on the table. “You need a bit more practice. When you switched clothes, you were visibly naked for a moment.”
Shawn frowned. “Oh god, really?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Just kidding.”
“Ha ha.” He opened the cap on his bottle and sipped. “Ivan’s been looking for you.”
“Sparx said he is inbound, but before he gets here, I want to talk to you about something.”