It still amazed Alessa how willingly her emotions had transferred from their true sources to the producers’ constructed ones. Shifting her feelings of sorrow at losing her real family in the outbreak to her imaginary parents in their car accident wasn’t too dramatic of a jump, but transforming her distress at losing Isaac into distress at seeing his ghost – without triggering her memory – was certainly a more complex feat.
Now that Alessa could remember her real life, the wave of emotions that had overcome her whenever she saw the ghost felt all too familiar. The fear, the hopelessness, the despair – these were Alessa’s constant companions during her time held captive in solitary confinement.
Listening to the cries of the other prisoners as they were interrogated had tormented Alessa, images of Isaac bloody and lifeless flashing before her eyes with the sound of each ragged wail. In her hours of idle time, she’d worried endlessly about what would become of Isaac, wondering what terrors they were subjecting him to and how, if either of them managed to make it out alive, they could ever move forward without the other by their side. It only made sense that these emotions would come back to her whenever she saw him, almost like a conditioned response.
And then, of course, there was the strange but powerful desire that had undercut even her most ravaging fear. A deep sense of allure had always drawn Alessa to Isaac’s “ghost” despite the troubling feelings that his presence had evoked, and this aspect of her reaction had been the most confusing to her. She’d been able to rationalize the anxiety and sorrow as natural responses or projections of the ghost’s, but the physical pull she felt towards him had always been somewhat of a mystery.
Until, of course, she recognized Isaac for who he really was. Just as their romance had emerged slowly from the ashes of Joe’s demise, so had a smoldering passion that had only grown more intense as their relationship progressed. And like a glowing ember, all Alessa had needed was a little touch of kindling to reignite that fire.
Alessa fumed at the way the producers had manipulated her emotions, using the attraction that burned between her and Isaac to drive her participation in their plot. If she hadn’t felt that attraction to Isaac, she probably would have reacted to the ghost by moving to a different dorm, just as any normal person would have done, and the show would have been over right there. But the producers had known that some deep part of Alessa would thirst for Isaac, and they’d used that knowledge to trap her in their game.
Even the general aura of depression that had settled on her in recent years had been convincingly worked into her character’s backdrop. Before her memories resurfaced, Alessa had thought she’d been disappointed in her college experience and frustrated with her own inability to take control of her future. In reality, these were feelings she’d developed while living in Paragon.
The collapse of life as she’d known it – and especially the loss of her family – had left Alessa questioning whether she even wanted to be alive at all. But as everyone in Paragon had settled into a routine, she’d allowed herself to be swept up in the comfort and predictability of structure. Those early years that she and Janie had shared together in Paragon had almost been happy. Alessa had come to accept that it was a different life, but an okay one.
However, once she’d discovered the drugs and started working with the rebels, Alessa’s contentedness had evaporated into thin air. With no one else to turn to, she’d trusted the society of Paragon to take care of its people. That betrayal had left her disillusioned and distraught. Then, after losing Joe, she’d valiantly fought alongside Isaac for justice, but inside, she’d privately grappled with the enormity of her task.
Someone had masterminded this plan to convert a simple government quarantine zone into a highly controlled multi-class civilization, which most of the inhabitants didn’t even realize they were living in. Alessa knew that she was outmatched, and with every setback that rattled the rebels, her confidence had eroded further.
Alessa did feel powerless and did feel alone, but not for the reasons she had thought. It wasn’t because, as she’d reasoned when she believed herself a student, the death of her parents had unraveled her plans for the future. It was because she had no future, and neither did anyone else she loved. If Paragon had any say in it, she was destined to live out her days in the same drab jumpsuit, eating the same lackluster food, working the same monotonous jobs to support some privileged upper class who barely even knew she existed.
And the knowledge that Paragon was not the refuge that everyone around her assumed it to be left her isolated and demoralized. She’d dutifully fallen in line each day with the medicated zombies around her, shuffling mechanically from work assignments to meals to nightly drama airings, and collapsing at the end of each long day into a stiff bed in her crowded bunk. But inside she was crying out.
She’d yearned to race from one citizen to the next, shaking them from their stupor and rallying them to the cause. But Alessa had known that that would only get her killed. Instead, she’d kept her head down and resisted Paragon’s schemes in subtler ways, like the careful diet she and her friends kept to evade the drugs.
But sometimes it all felt futile. After all, no amount of salad that she consumed was going to bring down whoever had put her here. Some days it seemed like it would have been better to just give in to the temptation of the hot entrée, to allow her mind to become vacant once again and finally accept her fate.
But she had pressed on.
Now that Alessa knew what Paragon was truly capable of – the nightmarish prisons, the indifferent use of mind control, the elaborate deceptions just to keep the populace subdued – she was torn between rage and despair. Something had to be done to right these wrongs, that much she was certain of. But how? Their enigmatic enemy had proven cunning and determined; taking down this opponent would be no small feat. Was Alessa really the one to do it?
The truth was that the rebels were failing. They had been for months, and when Alessa and Isaac had set out to scout for an escape, Regina had placed all of the alliance’s hopes on the shoulders of their mission. Now it was months later, and as far as Alessa knew, no progress had been made. If the plan to break them out failed this time, it could mean the end of the rebellion. It could mean the end of liberty for everyone in Paragon, whether or not they knew.
These thoughts weighed heavily on Alessa as the semester’s final days of class rolled around, bringing with them a sense of impending finality. Alessa privately relished her last days of comfort – she knew that once she went for Isaac, there would be no warm fluffy bed to return to, no closet filled with cozy sweaters, no cafeteria with tray after tray of satisfying food. They would be on their own, and there would be no turning back.
Finally, the day before Professor Liu was scheduled to leave, Alessa received word from Janie that the plan had been set in motion. As she stood near Janie’s shower stall brushing her teeth that evening, Janie whispered a hushed message through the plastic curtain, her voice concealed from the producers’ mikes under the cover of the spattering water.
“We’re executing tomorrow, so be ready. You’ll find a map of your escape route in your pocket when you wake up on Isaac’s set.”
Alessa continued to shimmy her toothbrush, listening carefully for Janie’s words. She felt unexpectedly calm.
“Be careful, Alessa. I’ll see you on the other side.”
29. EXECUTION
At the completion of her afternoon ethics seminar, Alessa zipped her backpack and headed off towards the science building to meet Janie. Jangling the keys to Professor Liu’s lab in her pocket, Alessa wondered what the producers had in store for her next. With any luck she would be on Isaac’s set by nightfall, but she knew from experience that things rarely went as planned in Paragon.
Janie had proposed that they smuggle the “wormhole capturing apparatus” out of the lab by daringly hiding it in plain sight, and as Alessa approached the front of the building, Janie was waiting for her and clutching a large box that
was labeled “broken equipment.”
Noticing Alessa’s approach, Janie smiled wickedly. “Let’s do this.”
Alessa led Janie up to the lab and unlocked the door. Once inside, they worked quickly in silence to disconnect the power and load each piece of the machine into the container. Sealing the top with tape, Alessa and Janie hoisted the box between them and strolled out of the building.
Alessa was surprised at how nervous she felt, her entire body shaking with adrenaline as she and Janie waltzed through the quad, doing their best to look unassuming. She knew the producers needed her to get to Isaac’s set to fulfill the climax of the show, but she just didn’t expect them to make it this easy for her. She kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.
At the edge of the quad, Alessa and Janie turned onto the wide cobblestone path that led to Z-E-Pi. Alessa’s heart skipped a beat as she noticed a security guard up ahead. She made to turn off the path and let him pass, but before she could nudge Janie in the right direction, the guard looked up and noticed them.
Janie swore under her breath and panic rose in Alessa’s chest. The guard was headed right for them. Had the producers changed their plans? Maybe they wanted Alessa to get caught, had decided to draw the show out longer. If that was the case, there was nothing Alessa could do but play along. She braced herself as the guard approached them.
“Good evening, ladies.”
“Hi,” Janie responded cheerfully.
Alessa just kept her mouth shut and tried to steady her racing heart.
“That’s an awfully large box you’ve got there – hope that’s not elicit contraband or anything.” The guard smiled.
Alessa just laughed nervously in response.
“I’m just kidding. Do you need any help carrying that thing?”
Janie jumped in. “Oh, how nice of you to offer. No, thanks, I think we’ll be okay – not too much farther to go.”
“All right, then. You have a good evening.”
“You too,” Janie replied. When the guard was out of earshot, Janie added, “Way to keep it cool, Less.”
Alessa exhaled. “Sorry.”
They continued quickly home and deposited the box on the bed in Alessa’s room. Closing the door, Janie turned to Alessa.
“So, where should we set this baby up?”
Alessa hadn’t really given this much thought – she suspected that the producers would make the device work no matter where they used it.
“How about right here?”
Janie frowned. “What if someone walks in? We should do it in the attic bathroom where no one will notice us.”
“Yeah, but I only had one encounter with Isaac upstairs – I’ve had tons in here. I think we’re more likely to snag a wormhole where they most often naturally occur, which means wherever I see him most, and that’s here.”
“Okay, fine,” Janie relented. Alessa knew of course that the whole dispute was for show – this close to the end, it was essential to stay in character to keep the producers’ suspicions at bay.
Unloading the three electromagnetic poles, Alessa positioned one on the bed. She placed the second on her desk and handed the third to Janie. “Put this in the other corner while I hook the power up, will you?”
Janie perched the final pole atop the fireplace mantle across the room while Alessa connected the power cord and plugged it into the wall.
She took a long look at Janie. “Well, here goes nothing…”
Janie nodded and Alessa flipped the power switch.
Alessa wasn’t sure what to expect when she turned the apparatus on, but if she’d been hoping for special effects, she wouldn’t have been disappointed. At first the device looked the same as it had in the lab, with waves of electric current – what Alessa had suspected was really another hologram – circling the globes mounted on each pole and connecting them in a triangle formation.
And then all of sudden sparks began to crackle at various points around the triangle, and a tiny dot appeared in the center, suspended in midair. As Alessa watched, the dot began to grow, slowly at first but quickly gaining speed, the edges of the expanding circle reaching toward the floor and ceiling. Through a long oval which now stood as high as Alessa, she could see what looked like the back of her house, only different, newer. Isaac’s house.
Again, Alessa marveled at the convincing visuals that the producers’ holograms could construct; she really felt like she was looking through a window into another time. Even though she knew it was an illusion, Alessa felt the urge to reach through the ring, to see if what she was looking at was real.
And then she heard a quiet hiss and her head started to spin. Were the producers flooding the room with gas? The wormhole continued expanding outward, reaching ever closer to Alessa and growing at a faster and faster pace. Out of the corner of her eye, Alessa saw Janie duck for cover against the wall. The last thing Alessa remembered before losing consciousness was the side of the hole racing toward her.
Alessa woke up face down on the lawn outside her house, or rather, Isaac’s house. Coming to, the first thing she noticed was the poke of a folded piece of paper tucked into her pocket – the map Janie had promised their ally would deliver.
Still sprawled on the ground, Alessa’s heart raced as she considered the magnitude of the task in front of her. She needed to convince Isaac to follow her, sneak off the set while avoiding the production team’s grasp, and set out into the wilderness beyond Paragon’s walls – where a deadly virus may still be lurking – to find something that would revitalize the rebel movement and give them hope for the future. She wasn’t quite sure how she would be able to manage all of this without getting killed, but she supposed it was too late to back out now.
Alessa stood up to take in her surroundings. The ground was bare, with no hint of the snow that blanketed the actual ESU campus. As Janie had expected, it seemed the producers had landed Alessa in what Isaac believed was springtime, the day before the fire to be exact – perfect timing for a dramatic conclusion to the show. But little did the production team suspect that they were about to get an even more dramatic ending than they’d hoped for.
She was alone in the backyard at dusk, a light shining from the kitchen of the nearby house. Peering in the window, she found Isaac sitting at the table whittling away against a block of wood.
The blood rushed to Alessa’s head as she registered that Isaac was only steps away. She watched him greedily for a few moments, fighting the urge to burst through the door and scoop him up in her arms right then. Her breathing quickened as she stretched her fingertips on the glass of the windowpane, struggling to contain her overwhelming desire to touch him.
First things first – she knew she needed to get a good look at the map before she could lead Isaac to their escape. How could she steal a peek without attracting the producers’ notice?
Just then the lights flickered, giving her the opportunity she’d sought. Perfect timing – Alessa guessed that her ally had somehow disrupted the power supply, but she knew that the producers would be scrambling to restore the cameras before they missed her reunion with Isaac. She hurried to unfold the map before they could.
Hidden in the shadow of the house, Alessa stole a quick glance at the plan and noted that her starting point was the foyer closet. Hastily shoving the map back into her pocket, Alessa choked down her fears and readied herself for what came next.
30. AWAKENING
Isaac stood at the kitchen window examining the small block of pinewood in his hand in the fading evening light. He switched on the overhead lamp to get a closer look, searching carefully for knots and noting each of their locations in turn. Satisfied, he withdrew a small, sharp knife from a drawer and made his way toward the heavy wooden table.
Even an hour after the servants had put the last clean pot back on the shelf, the hearty aroma of dinner still lingered in the air as Isaac sat down to begin his carving. He wasn’t much of a woodworker, but he hoped that keeping his hands busy for a few hours m
ight help his mind to focus on something other than his last encounter with the mysterious presence.
Though three days had passed since he’d last seen her, he’d had no success in shaking the troubling feeling that had settled in his gut after he’d failed to grasp the meanings of her frenzied gestures and frustratingly silent shouts. He’d replayed the scene over and over in his mind, but could not make sense of anything she’d tried to convey. All Isaac knew was that she was desperate to tell him something, and he was eagerly anticipating their next meeting in hopes of learning what that something was.
Isaac turned the block over in his hand as he considered what shape this particular piece of wood might best take to. With his mind so preoccupied over the past few days by his exchange with the woman, Jo was certain to be feeling snubbed, and he thought she would appreciate a gift.
Isaac withdrew the knife from its thick leather sheath and starting chipping at one corner. The soft wood gave readily under his steady hand and within a few minutes, a rudimentary resemblance of a horse had emerged. He held it up to the light to examine it and was pleased with his handiwork. However, with a painful cramp slowly creeping into his hand, he opted for a short break before continuing.
Carefully sliding the blade into its case, Isaac set the knife on the table. He allowed his mind to wander as he massaged the heel of his palm with his thumb to loosen the cramp. As usual, most of his thoughts revolved around the presence.
The strange woman had taken hold of him like nothing he’d ever experienced. For months now her mystery had dominated his waking thoughts, and he’d devoted an inordinate amount of time to anticipating their next encounter. He had hoped that he’d be able to learn more about her by now, but frustratingly, he was no closer to understanding who she was than he had been at the start.
After their last exchange, however, Isaac felt certain that he was on the verge of a breakthrough. She had tried to communicate with him, and it was only a matter of time before they figured out how to break down the barriers that stood between them. His body tingled as he remembered her burning emerald eyes and wondered idly what it would feel like to run his fingers through her thick, glossy hair.
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