by Terry Schott
“Okay.”
“Henry and the others are pressuring me to let them have access to the rest of Transition.”
“I bet they are.”
“I don’t think I want to allow it.”
“Why?”
“Because of what you said. That they will try and destroy everything.”
Shawn grunted and drank again.
“What?”
“That’s already happened, Loredana. You take a look at reality lately?”
She looked away. “Yeah.”
“If your family is the Displaced from my books, then they wanted the regular capitalistic way of life to end. While they have been locked away, that exact thing has happened.”
“Thanks to me.”
Shawn shrugged.
“Yeah. So I’m just like the rest of them. It turns out that I’m not a quarter like you were hoping.”
“Maybe.” He leaned forward and patted her hand. “It’s not as simple as it is in the stories. You created Transition, which led to billions of people dying. At first that sounds grisly, but I can go hang out with any of those billions of souls inside Transition. Their bodies are dead and gone in one reality, but they live on in a different one.” He sat back in his chair and shook his head. “Does that mean you are the worst killer to have ever lived, or a prophet who has led her race to a better life?”
She watched the waves lap the shore. “I’ve not thought of it the second way.”
“It makes just as much sense as the first.”
“I still don’t like the idea of letting them loose in Transition.”
“I agree with you.”
Loredana frowned. “If I continue to refuse, things will become unpleasant.”
“I’ve learned that if things are going to become unpleasant, they were always headed in that direction anyway. Putting it off is a useful way to gain control of the inevitable conflict. The person who understands that usually wins the battle when it is finally joined.”
She sighed.
“Henry understands that for certain.”
She nodded. “How key do you think Desdemona is for them?”
“She was the one to create the process for storing them inside the Animatronix units, right?”
Loredana sniffed and pushed her hair back. “Did I tell you that already?”
Shawn shook his head.
“You’re right. It was her.”
“There is your answer. Desdemona is dangerous to you.”
Loredana finished her drink and threw the bottle into the air, wiggling her fingers to make it disintegrate. She reached for another bottle and removed the cap.
“Do you have a plan to deal with her?”
“Not yet.”
“Keep refusing Henry access to Transition until you’ve dealt with her.”
Loredana sighed. “I’m not sure that I can.”
#48
“Ready to go?”
Desdemona smiled and nodded.
Troy looked down at his arm unit and pressed a sequence of buttons. When he was finished, the unit beeped and he lowered his arm and looked at her.
“That’s it?”
He nodded.
“Nothing’s happening.”
“Wait for it.”
A mist-covered portal appeared in front of them, slowly forming into a clear oval which showed a different area beyond. Troy smiled. “There it is.”
“Can you stabilize it?”
“Certainly.”
“For how long?”
He frowned and looked at his arm unit, tapping a few buttons. “Twenty hours.”
“Twenty hours in here or out there?” Desdemona jutted her chin toward the portal.
He frowned and looked at his wrist unit. “Time is the same in both places.”
“Good.”
“Shall we go?”
“Wait here a moment.”
Before he could ask why, she disappeared.
Henry looked up from reading a book in the study as Desdemona materialized in front of him. “What is it?”
“I’ve found a way out.”
Henry closed the volume and set it on the couch beside him. “Excellent.”
“There is a portal. I am not certain how long I can keep it open.”
“I see.”
“I also don’t think I can re-open it.”
Henry stood and rubbed at his cheek. “Then we must prepare quickly. How long do we have?”
“I will be back to collect you all in the main study in five hours.”
She disappeared. Henry smiled and walked toward the study door.
She appeared beside Troy and patted him on the shoulder. “Okay, sorry ‘bout that.”
“No problem. Ready?”
“Ready.”
“Let’s go then.” He stepped into the portal and Desdemona followed him.
***
Ivan had joined Shawn and Loredana on the beach.
“That’s an interesting thought,” Ivan said. “I was thinking something along those lines the oth—” He stopped and sat up, tilting his head to one side.
“You okay?” Shawn asked.
Ivan held a hand up. “Hold on a sec. Something’s not right.”
Shawn looked at Loredana and she shrugged. Ivan sprang from his chair. “Both of you join me in Command Centre.”
“Is everything okay?” Loredana asked.
He waved a hand and disappeared.
“I don’t think everything is okay.” Shawn finished his drink and set it down on the table as he stood.
Loredana’s expression was serious. “See you in a minute.”
Shawn closed his eyes and pictured the interior of the Command Centre. He willed himself there as he waved one hand. When he opened his eyes, he stood in a large room filled from floor-to-ceiling with banks of old-fashioned computers with flashing lights and whirling tapes. A large monitor filled the front wall. It displayed a scene with a young man and woman strolling through a forest. Ivan sat at in the middle chair, his hands flying over the keyboard as he watched the monitor. Loredana stood over his shoulder and watched the monitor with a grim expression.
Shawn joined them. “Who’s that?”
“The man is a Dreamer named Troy,” Ivan said. “He’s currently ranked number one.”
Shawn whistled. “Number one Dreamer on a server is very impressive.”
Ivan’s eyes darted to Shawn and he shook his head. “Not his server. He’s number one over the entire system.”
“Damn.”
“You think he’s responsible?” Loredana asked.
“That’s my guess.”
Shawn sat down in one of the chairs. “Responsible for what?”
“For the woman who is walking beside him.” Ivan looked down at his keyboard, his fingers picking up speed as he continued to type commands.
“Who is she?”
Loredana pursed her lips and raised one eyebrow. “That’s Desdemona, and the two of them are not walking in her zone.”
“Oh my god.” Shawn stood. “She’s out?”
“Looks like,” Ivan murmured.
“This isn’t good.”
Loredana ignored Shawn’s comment. “Are you tracking backward, Ivan?”
“Of course.”
“Pan the screen to track your progress.”
He frowned and shook his head, but the view on the screen began to scroll away from the two, slowly moving in the opposite direction from which they were walking.
“Can you speed it up?”
“I don’t want to miss it.”
“Miss what?” Shawn asked.
“Whatever it is that tells us how this happened.”
Loredana and Shawn watched. Finally, Ivan swore and the camera sped up before coming to stop in front of a large oval shape. “That’s it.”
“A portal.” Loredana walked around the bank of computers and approached the screen.
“Who made it?”
“It must have been
the Dreamer.”
“Can you know that for certain?” Loredana looked back at Ivan, who was nodding.
“Yeah, it couldn’t have been her. I made it impossible for anyone in their zone to break out.”
“But you didn’t lock it up from the outside so no one could break in.”
Ivan slammed his hand down on the keyboard. “There was no need for that. No one should have known the zone existed.”
“Well, it looks like someone did learn about it.” Loredana looked at the ceiling.
“Now what do we do?” Shawn asked.
Loredana shook her head. “Somehow we must put her back where she belongs and close that portal.”
#49
Desdemona saw the portal ahead and turned to face Troy and grip his hand. “Thank you for the tour.”
“It was only a brief glimpse of what this reality can offer.”
“It was perfect. I now understand how to access the game centres where players select games to play and access other zones. You’ve told me all about the Dreamers and how they are key to creating new content.”
“I would have told you more about them”—he blushed—“but it sounded like bragging since I am one.”
She nudged him. “You are the best one there is.”
“At the moment.” He shrugged. “Creating new games to constantly entertain is a very competitive job. I achieved the rank a few days ago, and will likely lose it when the next set of rankings is announced.”
“You’re being modest.” She reached up and removed a thin, gold chain from her neck. “Here, I want you to take this as thanks for all that you have done.”
Troy looked at the chain. A round gold medallion hung from it, engraved with shapes and squiggles that he could not quite make out. “What do the symbols mean?”
“I’m not sure.” She draped the chain around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. “It was ancient when it was given to me, and that was some time ago.”
“You should keep it.”
She smiled, her grin suggestive as she batted her eyelashes. “Perhaps when you celebrate retaining your title as number one Dreamer, we can meet and I will reclaim it.”
Troy laughed. “Deal.”
“Now I must be off.” She started toward the portal.
“Wait.” He called out and she turned to look at him. “When can I see you again?”
“Soon.” She winked at him. He raised one hand and she returned the gesture, then blew him a kiss.
A cool breeze washed over him. It smelled like peppermint and he shivered. The medallion felt warm, and he looked at it. It was glowing with white-gold light. He held one hand out and looked at it. An aura of light covered his skin. He raised his other hand and it was doing the same thing. He looked toward the portal. Desdemona was stepping through.
Troy tapped commands into his arm unit and waited for the portal to fade. Nothing happened. He frowned. After five minutes, the portal remained in the middle of the path. He walked closer and typed the same commands into his arm unit. When he had completed the sequence, instead of beeping, the unit made a harsh alarm tone.
“What the—” Troy frowned.
“Close it,” a voice said from behind him. He spun and saw two men and a woman walking toward him. The woman was watching the portal, her expression angry. “Close it now.”
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean?” She nodded toward one of the men and he raised his arm. A unit identical to Troy’s appeared and the man began to type commands. When he finished the sequence, it made the same harsh sound Troy’s had.
He swore and came to stand beside Troy. “This is the sequence you typed, right?” His fingers flew over the keys and Troy nodded when the man completed the pattern.
“Yeah, but it won’t work for me either. I already tried.”
The man swore again and walked toward the portal. The woman followed.
“Why are you glowing?”
Troy turned to face the second man. “Hey, aren’t you Shawn Whitehurst?”
The man nodded. Troy smiled and opened his mouth to say something, but the woman called to him. “Answer his question. Why are you glowing?”
“I don’t know.” He held up the glowing pendant. “This started to glow and then I did too.”
“Did she give that to you?” the woman asked.
Troy nodded.
The woman looked at the other man. “What is it, Ivan?”
“She anchored herself to him, Lore.”
“What’s that mean?”
Ivan shook his head. “It means that we can’t close the portal before it wears out naturally.”
The woman named Lore looked at Troy. “How long ‘til it closes on its own?”
Troy looked at his arm unit. “Fourteen hours. Did he call you Lore? Are you Loredana Cyber?”
The woman rubbed her forehead. “Shawn? Any ideas?”
“Yeah.”
She looked at him.
“We run.”
***
Oscar came to stand beside Henry near the portal. “Everyone is here. All one hundred and seventy-two of us.”
“Good.” Henry looked at Desdemona.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t go through first.”
“I know.” Henry removed his jacket and let it fall to the ground. He began to roll up the sleeves of his fine white cotton dress shirt. “I’ll go first.”
“That isn’t wise.”
Henry scowled.
“I only mean that you are too valuable to risk.”
Henry chuckled. “I know what you mean, my dear, and I appreciate the sentiment.” He watched the portal, surveying the scene beyond. “I will deal with anyone on the other side. Wait ‘til I give the signal and then follow me through.”
“The portal is tied to my amulet. Once I go through, it will collapse. We will not be able to return to this zone, Henry.”
Henry finished rolling his sleeves up and extended his arms. He looked at their surroundings and snorted as he looked back toward the portal. “Once we leave, there is nothing of value in this zone. I don’t think any of us will miss it.”
Oscar and Desdemona nodded.
“Here we go then.” Henry strode forward.
***
“How much time left ‘til it collapses?” Loredana watched the portal on the monitor.
Shawn nudged Troy and he looked down at his arm unit. “Twelve minutes.”
“Perhaps we will get lucky and they will lose track of time,” Shawn offered.
“Heads up,” Ivan said and all eyes moved to the monitor.
A hand emerged through the portal. It made an intricate motion and an enormous wave of orange fire exploded in all directions. Everyone watching the monitor blinked.
“What the hell was that?” Troy asked.
“Death to anything nearby is my guess,” Ivan said.
“Glad we got out of there.”
“We won’t be.” Loredana shook her head as Henry emerged from the portal and looked around before making a signal toward the portal. Others began to emerge, men and women with similar bearing and features. The four inside the Command Centre watched silently. Finally, Desdemona appeared and stepped out of the portal, which closed behind her.
“That’s it then,” Ivan said.
“That’s it.” Loredana’s voice was barely more than a whisper. “Everything we built, destroyed.”
Troy frowned. “What do you mean?”
Loredana ignored him. Shawn sat down and put his face in his hands. “She means that things are about to get very bad in Transition.”
“It’s my fault,” Troy said.
“Yeah,” Ivan agreed.
“No.” Loredana sighed. “It’s mine.”
“You didn’t let them out, Lore,”
“We should have figured that someone would.”
“How did you do it?” Shawn came to stand beside Troy.
“Well, I started out wit—”
Loredana purse
d her lips. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“But—”
“You’ve destroyed Transition.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“What do we do about it?” Ivan asked.
“We deal with it as best we can.” Loredana looked at Shawn and he nodded.
“I want to help,” Troy said.
Loredana laughed. “You’ve done enough.”
“I’m sure that I can help. You have to let me try. I promise—”
Loredana waved one hand and Troy disappeared.
Ivan stood and Shawn looked at her with wide eyes. “Where did he go?”
“I ejected him.”
“What?” both men asked in unison.
“He won’t come back. We’ve got his signal and Ivan can lock him out for good in case he tries.”
They stood silently for a moment. “You realize,” Shawn said, “that the odds are good his body is dead back in real life.” Loredana did not answer him. “Loredana, you have most likely destroyed a man’s soul.”
“I doubt it.” She sank into a nearby chair. “But if I did, that’s a small price for him to pay, considering he has just done the same to billions.”
#50
Loredana made a selection from the menu and walked to the closest wall. A doorway appeared in front of her, the normally reflective wall transformed into a doorway showing a different scene beyond. She stepped through, feeling the familiar tingling as the costume fitting her new zone enveloped her. There was forest on all sides and a dirt path leading deeper into the battle area. She trotted forward, reaching up to unholster the pulse rifle on her back.
Her hand grasped empty air where the rifle should be.
She slowed to a stop and frowned. “Heads up display.”
Information appeared on the internal screen of her helmet visor, including details about which weapons and ammunition she carried. “No weapon or ammo?” She turned, listening for sounds of battle in the distance. “It’s quiet.”
“No signs of battle,” Sparx confirmed in her ear.
“Strange.” Loredana tapped the side of her helmet and a radar displaying nearby targets appeared on her heads up display. One humanoid life form appeared twenty feet ahead in the woods to her left. “Only one and it’s unarmed.”
“Are we exiting?” Sparx sounded concerned.