“Fine,” said Ryland. “I’ll shut up.”
Ryland was quiet for a moment before asking, “But, I mean, will it be obvious?”
“It should be.”
“It should be?”
“Look,” Aims said. “The beta world is weird and unpredictable, so I don’t know what to tell you. All I can say is that we can use that unpredictability to our advantage.”
Ryland nodded.
“And I’m going to be helping you from this side,” said Aims.
Ryland took a breath. “Okay.”
“Just remember,” said Aims. “Don’t let them catch you.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“And,” added Aims, “none of it is real.”
Ryland nodded. “Of course. Hey, can you give me special abilities or something?”
“I could,” said Aims. “But I’d need time to write up the code and we don’t have time, sorry.”
Ryland grinned. “Just thought I’d ask.”
Aims rolled her eyes and went back to concentrating on her computer.
“Are you ready?” Aims asked.
Ryland lay back on his bed and prepared to strap the VR headset over his eyes.
“I’m ready,” he said.
“Okay,” said Aims. “Don’t forget to let me know if you need me to pull you out, and I will.”
“Got it,” Ryland gave a thumbs-up.
“Alright, you’re good to go in,” said Aims.
Ryland started to pull on the VR headset, but then paused. “How can you pull me out? I thought to get out, I had to return to the location where I started playing the game.”
“Not exactly,” said Aims. “This time, we have a bit more control since I’ll be on the outside. Just think of it as if you had tied a rope around your waist. I have the other end of that rope. I can give that rope a yank and pull you out at any time.”
Ryland pulled the VR headset down over his eyes and powered it up. Inhabit began to play, logos spinning into Ryland’s view.
“Wait,” said Ryland. “How do I activate the beta world?”
“Let me worry about that,” Aims’ voice floated to Ryland.
Ryland waited for another minute, proceeding to play Inhabit normally.
“Aims, nothing’s happening,” said Ryland. “I don’t think it’s working.”
Aims did not respond.
“Aims?” Ryland pulled off the VR headset. He was alone. Aims was no longer sitting on the bed.
Chapter 5
Ryland looks around the room. He narrowed his eyes, looking for anything that seemed off, out of place, slightly skewed. Sunlight was shining in through the windows, lightly up his childhood bedspread, red and blue plaid. There were trophies on top of the dresser, some posters on the walls. Everything looked pretty much exactly the same. Ryland stood up slowly and looked out the window. The window looked out the front of the house and he could see the driveway below. What he saw made his stomach drop. Instead of seeing his dad’s black BMW parked in the driveway, he saw his mom’s car.
When Ryland was growing up, his mom had driven a bright yellow VW beetle. She had loved that car and refused to buy a new one, no matter how much money she made or how much Ryland’s father told her she needed to drive something more “professional”. Ryland’s mom would always respond with, “Well if I’m as brilliant and talented as they say I am, I should be able to drive whatever I want.” It was the car she had been driving when the accident happened.
Ryland hurried out of his room and down the steps. The house was empty and silent, his footsteps echoing from the high ceilings. Ryland pulled open the front door and stopped. The driveway was empty. There was no car parked there, especially not his mom’s yellow VW bug. Ryland’s heart was beating fast. He leaned against the doorframe for a moment and stared at the empty driveway. He felt like he was in a trace. He might have stayed there a long time, he might have slid to the floor and stayed there if he had not been jerked back to the present by the sound of his phone ringing.
He ran back upstairs. His phone was lying in the middle of his bed. Had he put it there? He couldn’t remember. It felt strange to be in the beta world and aware of the fact, to see everything as if a projection from his mind. Seeing his mom’s car must have been brought on by a memory that his head had projected into the beta world by accident. Ryland picked up his phone. He was receiving a call from an unknown number. He answered it.
“Ryland?” It was Aims.
Ryland felt relieved to hear her voice. “Hey,” he said.
“Are you in?” Aims asked.
“Yeah,” said Ryland. “Yeah, I’m in.”
“How is everything so far?” asked Aims.
“It’s fine,” lied Ryland.
“Okay good,” said Aims. “Are you ready for me to tell you what you need to do?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess,” said Ryland.
“Like I said, the place you need to go, isn’t like the rest of Inhabit,” said Aims.
“Okay.”
“A co-worker of mine was working on this project,” said Aims. “It was just a personal project, for fun, but he thought it would be funny to imbed it into the beta world. Like an Easter egg. A hidden level, that kind of thing.”
“That’s where I’m going?” Ryland asked.
“Yeah,” said Aims. She sounded uneasy.
“Okay, how do I get there?” asked Ryland.
“You’re going to need to get to a train station,” said Aims.
“A train station?”
“Yeah, any train station,” said Aims. “That’s how you access it.”
“Does the Metromover count?” asked Ryland.
“No, that’s not really a train,” said Aims. “It has to be like a real train station.”
“It’s similar,” said Ryland.
“Yeah, not similar enough.”
“Okay,” Ryland grabbed a backpack and then went into the kitchen and found the keys to his dad’s second car. The second car was always kept in the garage. It had been the car Ryland used when he was in high school, but his dad had refused to let him take the car to college with him. That car was the car his dad had owned before he had become wealthy. It was a dated Volvo. Ryland loved the car. He climbed in and started the engine.
“Tell me where the closest trains station is,” Ryland asked.
“You’re going to head Northwest,” said Aims.
“Got it.”
Aims told Ryland directions through the phone and soon, Ryland was pulling into the train station parking lot.
“So far so good,” said Ryland. “No one is following me yet or anything.”
“Good.” Something in Aims’ voice was worrying Ryland. There was an anxious edge to it that Ryland didn’t understand. Aims was usually sure, confident. She wasn’t usually anxious.
“You okay?” Ryland asked.
“Yeah.”
Ryland could tell Aims was lying. Aims cleared her throat. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Ryland didn’t believe Aims, but he decided not to push her. Instead he grabbed the backpack, got out of the Volvo and headed into the train station. There weren’t many people in the station. Just a few people sitting on benches or uncomfortable seats. The building was industrial and sparse. There was a counter at which to buy tickets, as well as machines that fulfilled the same purpose. There was a small snack counter, a bored attendant leaning on the counter, and some bathrooms.
“Okay, Aimes, what am I looking for?” Ryland asked.
You need to find the Employee Only door,” said Aims. “When you find it, go inside.”
Ryland didn’t see the Employee Only door in the main terminal. The only other place to go was out onto the train platforms. He headed toward the turnstiles that blocked off the main terminal from the train platforms. There was a security guard watching him closely as he approached. Ryland stopped. He considered just jumping over the turnstiles and punching the security guard, but he doubted that would be successful, eve
n in the beta world.
Instead, he turned and headed toward the automated ticket machines. He punched in the closest destination that the machine offered. The ticket was cost over $100.00. Ryland slid his debit card into the machine. He wasn’t sure how this transaction would work in the beta world, but the machine started whirring and then spit out Ryland’s ticket. Ryland breathed a sigh and took his ticket. He slid his ticket into the slot on the turnstile. The turnstile slurped in his ticket and allowed him to pass through the turning metal bars.
The security guard was still watching Ryland closely and Ryland could feel his pulse start to quicken. He looked away from the security guard and started walking down the long stretch of train platform. There were doors to more restrooms, benches and several trains waiting on the tracks. Then Ryland saw it, a metal door with the words Employees Only spray-painted on it in red letters.
“I found it,” he said.
“Go inside and go down the stairs,” instructed Aims.
Ryland opened the door. There was nothing on the other side of the door aside from a set of stairs leading down into complete darkness.
“Hey, you can’t go in there.” It was the security guard. The guard was moving toward Ryland quickly.
Ryland hurried down the stairs. As the door swung shut behind him, he was thrown into total darkness.
“If there a light in here?” Ryland asked Aims. He was feeling along the wall for a lightswitch.
“Shoot,” said Aims. “I forgot to tell you to bring a flashlight.”
“I have a light on my phone. I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t worry,” said Aims. “There should be light once you get to the bottom.”
Ryland had expected the door to be ripped back open by the security guard, but gradually he realized that the security guard wasn’t following him.
“I guess the security guard gave up,” said Ryland.
“Yeah,” said Aims, her voice taking on an anxious edge again.
“Or he’s just smart enough to not come down here,” said Ryland.
Aims did not respond. Ryland turned on the flashlight on his phone. The light lit up the staircase in front of him. It descended into darkness and the light wasn’t strong enough to reach the bottom. Ryland stepped carefully. There were cement walls on either side of the staircase. They seemed wet. Ryland could hear the sound of dripping water.
Gradually, Ryland sensed that there was another source of light in the darkness with him. At first, it was difficult to distinguish from the light on his phone, because the additional light had a bluish hue, but he started to realize that there was light coming up the staircase toward him. Just as Ryland was realizing this, his feet landed at the bottom of the staircase. He shone his light around. Stretching out before him was a long tunnel with walls of concrete. Ryland could sense movement, life of some kind. He could tell it was ponderous, slow, nonthreatening. He could also see glowing blue lights. The lights were spaced sporadically, with no discernable order. The light began about 100 meters down the tunnel and were spread across the ceiling, walls and floor. The light was more concentrated in some areas than others. Ryland stepped forward tentatively.
“I’m at the bottom of the stairs,” he said quietly into his phone.
“Great,” said Aims. “Now follow the tunnel.”
“Are there other people down here?” Ryland asked.
“It’s a maze,” said Aims, ignoring his question completely. “I will give you exact instructions. Just tell me whenever you come to a split or intersection.”
Ryland moved forward down the tunnel.
“And yes, there are creatures down there.” added Aims. “The blue things are harmless.”
“Huh?” Ryland stopped. “You mean the blue lights?”
“Yeah,” said Aims. “They’re very friendly and even helpful.”
Ryland moved toward one of the blue lights. As he drew nearer to it, he noticed it was moving, slowly, slightly. He got closer. His first instinct was to either run from the creature or crush it. It was about the size of Ryland’s fist, but as he looked around, he saw that they varied in sizes. It resembled a beetle of some kind.
“What are these?” Ryland asked.
“They call them, The Lux,” said Aims. “They provide light to the underworld.”
“Can I touch them?” Ryland reached his hand out toward the creatures, fingers bent to gently brush the smooth shells. The blue light came from lines and patterns along the creatures’ shells. Light could also be seen threaded through the six legs of the creatures. They had large dark eyes and small mouths. There were spikes that protruded from the sides of their faces.
“Be careful,” warned Aims.
“I thought you said they weren’t dangerous,” said Ryland.
“They aren’t,” said Aims “But you don’t want to scare them.”
Ryland carefully ran his fingers along the bug’s shell. The creature didn’t move. When Ryland pulled his hand away he noticed that is glowed slightly. He brought his hand up to his face, peering closely at it.
“Their glow rubbed off on me,” he said.
“Yeah, that’s normal,” said Aims.
Ryland turned from the bug and continued down the tunnel. His way was now lit with the blue glow from the bugs. He had to watch where he was walking to keep from stepping on the bugs that had settled on the floor. The blue light gave the cement hallway an ethereal feeling. There was something beautiful about it.
“Now listen,” Aims was saying. “I have security measures in place, obviously, to keep agents, and anyone else, away from this area.”
“What kind of security measures?” asked Ryland.
“I hired some...people to guard the area,” said Aims.
“Are they gonna try to kill me?” asked Ryland.
“No,” said Aims. “As long as you do what I say, you’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” said Ryland. Ryland had come to the first section of tunnel that split into two tunnels leading off in opposite directions.
“I’m at the first split,” said Ryland. “Should I go left or right?”
“Left.”
Ryland headed down the tunnel to his left.
“Why don’t you tell me now,” said Ryland. “So that when I meet these ‘security guards’, I’ll be prepared.”
“When you encounter them, they will probably surround you,” said Aims. “When that happens, hand them the phone. I’ll talk to them. I have a safe word.”
“Why don’t you just tell me the safe word?” asked Ryland.
“That wouldn’t work,” said Aims. “If they don’t hear it from me, they won’t accept it.”
“But you could have told it to me,” said Ryland.
“Or you could have tortured it out of me,” countered Aims.
“I guess,” said Ryland. “I’m at the next split. Which way?”
This second split led in three new directions. Left, right or center?
“Go left again,” instructed Aims.
Ryland followed Aims’ instructions. At the next split he went right. Then at the split after that he stayed in the center.
“How much further is it?” Ryland asked.
Ryland never heard Aims’ response because, at that moment, the phone was knocked from his hand. Something came flying from above Ryland. It landed on Ryland and knocked him to the ground. There was suddenly movement everywhere. Ryland could sense it surrounding him. This must be Aims’ security. Ryland scrambled onto his back, eyes darting around, trying to take in everything that was happening. In the dim bluish light he could see tall, hulking figures surrounding him. Somehow, the figures were glowing with the same blue light that the bugs had been glowing with. The figures were dressed crudely and held a variety of weapons whose blades looked like they were made from thin slivers of rock. The thing that had knocked Ryland to the ground, was one of the figures. He was shorter than the others and was crouched facing Ryland, teeth bared, a weapon clutched in his hand.
<
br /> “Wait,” Ryland cried.
The figures didn’t move. They remained circled around Ryland, weapons poised, eyeing him. One of the figures stepped forward. He had a large bare chest that looked blue, due to the light in the tunnel. On the man’s chest were patterns and symbols drawn in the blue light. This blue light had clearly been taken from the bugs and smeared onto the figure. He did not glow from within that way the bugs had. The man held a long spear which he now pointed at Ryland. The point of the spear come dangerously close to Ryland’s face.
“Who are you?” The man’s voice echoed down the tunnel.
“My name’s Ryland,” said Ryland. “Aims sent me. I’m a friend of hers.”
The man did not reply, and he did not move his spear. He stared at Ryland hard.
“Who do you speak of?” The man asked.
“Aims,” said Ryland. “You know, you know her, I think.”
The man stared at Ryland, uncomprehendingly. “She’s really good at computer hacking and things like that...” Ryland’s voice trailed off.
The man continued to stare at Ryland. His expression was harsh and unreadable.
“Look, you can talk to her,” Ryland glanced around for the phone. It was lying on the floor of the tunnel, out of Ryland’s reach. He moved to grab it.
“Don’t move!” The man looked furious. He pushed his weapon toward Ryland until it was pressing into the skin of Ryland’s shoulder.
“I promise,” said Ryland. “If you’ll just let me show you.”
“How do I know that is not a weapon?” the man asked.
“I promise, it’s not,” said Ryland. “It’s a phone.”
From the expressions on the faces around him, Ryland could tell they had no idea what a phone was.
“It’s a device to talk to people who are far away.” he continued to try to explain. Ryland’s hands were shaking like he’d just downed an energy drink. His heartbeat was wild and erratic. He glanced around the circle, willing the figures to believe him, trying to think of a way to prove what he was saying.
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