Dangerous Reality

by Malorie Blackman

  VIMS didn’t reply. It took me a couple of seconds to figure out why. I’m not at my best first thing in the morning.

  ‘VIMS, repeat the password.’

  ‘Have you heard the one about the painter, the decorator and the window cleaner?’ VIMS asked in his deadpan voice.

  ‘OK, VIMS, off you go – and remember, you’re not to move or do anything until I or someone else gives you that password first.’

  ‘Understood.’

  I would’ve loved to stay and watch VIMS make it to Bailey’s Point but it was over seven kilometres away from the Desica International building and I was already late for school. If I waited to make sure that VIMS got there safely, I’d get it in the neck from my teacher, then from Jack and my mum. Besides, I had every confidence that VIMS would get there. He didn’t need me watching over him. Him … I gave a start of surprise. I’d started calling the thing – ‘him’.

  Switching off the computer system, I got down to the next most important task at hand – wolfing down my breakfast. As I chewed my wheat flakes, I tried to work out what I should do next. I had no doubt in my mind that in spite of all of Mum’s precautions, the saboteur had still managed to get VIMS to ruin Mum’s demo yesterday. Someone seemed desperate to make sure that the VIMS project didn’t go any further. Or maybe I was looking at this the wrong way. Maybe it was more personal than that. What if someone was out to make sure that Mum got hurt? The thought turned my blood to ice water in my veins, but now that the idea was in my head I couldn’t get it out. Did someone on Mum’s project really hate her enough to do this to her? I shook my head. I couldn’t believe it. Mum didn’t have an enemy in the world.

  But then I thought of her with that drip in her arm and linked up to all the monitors in her room, and somehow my conviction that Mum didn’t have an enemy in the world rang false and hollow. So what now? How did I go about finding out who had done this to Mum? By the time I’d cleaned my teeth and left the house, I still didn’t have the answer.

  I didn’t meet up with Liam on the way – which was kind of a surprise. I usually walked to school with him. I glanced down at my watch, then realized why I hadn’t seen him. I was late. Not a little late but really late. Liam had probably set off for school, thinking I’d already left. As I approached the school gates, I must admit I was relieved to see that Matt Vinyl wasn’t waiting for me. I’d missed everyone this morning. It was weird.

  I set off around the grounds, looking for Liam. Unfortunately, I found what, or should I say who, I wasn’t looking for. Matt and his cronies were deep in conversation against the far wall. Well, they could stay there as far as I was concerned. I immediately set off in the opposite direction. I decided to go to the library and wait for the bell to sound for registration and the first lesson. I’m not a coward, but I’m not stupid either. There was no point in hanging around just waiting for them to pick on me.

  But I’d left it too late.

  I heard my name and, turning round, I saw Matt and the others looking directly at me. I went hot all over and suddenly it was quite hard to breathe. I looked away and forced myself to walk at a slowish pace. I didn’t want them to think that I was hurrying to get away from them, like I was scared of them or something.

  ‘Dominic, stop!’

  I turned to see them all come charging in my direction. It was like watching a herd of rhinos or elephants stampeding towards you, or a tsunami rushing up to sweep you away. I ran. I couldn’t help it. Matt had a look of pure and utter hatred on his face and I knew I was in for a pounding. I had no idea why – and I didn’t want to wait and find out either. But my leg started hurting and I was only three quarters of the way to the school entrance before I was surrounded. The next moment I was practically swept off my feet and pushed against the nearest wall. And there they all stood – Matt, Robert, Terry, Alan and Lawrence (‘Don’t call me Larry!’).

  ‘I know it was you,’ Matt hissed at me.

  I frowned at him but didn’t speak.

  ‘It was you, wasn’t it?’

  ‘What’re you talking about?’

  My shoulder got thumped. ‘You threw that plant pot through my window, didn’t you?’ Spit flew out of Matt’s mouth and splashed my cheek. But I didn’t wipe it away. I was too busy staring at Matt, trying to figure out what he was saying. What plant pot through his window?

  ‘That plant pot almost hit my sister. And you emptied our bin, didn’t you? I know it was you.’

  And all at once, it was crystal clear what he was talking about. I stared at him, astounded. For a brief second I wondered if I was dreaming, or maybe I was still running the VIMS simulation and all this was part of it. I wondered if I’d been swept somehow into a world of virtual reality (or was it virtual insanity!) – like Dorothy landing in Oz.

  ‘Come on. Admit it.’ Matt thumped me again.

  ‘Leave him alone. I was in Dominic’s house all evening. He didn’t go anywhere.’

  The mob parted slightly so that Matt could see who was speaking. Liam stood there. I tried to move away from the wall, but Robert pushed me back.

  ‘You can’t prove that,’ Matt retorted.

  ‘I don’t have to,’ Liam told him scornfully. ‘Who do you think you are? Scotland Yard? Dominic and I were playing with his computer all evening until his granddad came to pick him up and take him to the hospital. His mum had an accident.’

  ‘Don’t tell him that.’ I rounded on my friend. ‘It’s none of his business.’ I turned to Matt. ‘If someone chucked a plant pot through your window, then don’t look at me. I didn’t do it.’

  Which I knew was technically but not morally the truth.

  A frown of confusion crossed Matt’s face as he stared at Liam. Then he turned back to me.

  ‘I don’t know how you did it, but I know it was you.’

  ‘How on earth d’you think I picked up a great big wheelie bin and emptied it?’ I flung at him.

  His eyes narrowed. ‘How d’you know we’ve got a wheelie bin?’

  It took me a couple of seconds to work out that the throbbing, pounding sound I could suddenly hear was the sound of my heart trying to explode out of my chest.

  ‘All the bins around here are wheelie bins.’ Was it just to my ears that my voice sounded like a guilty squeak? I took a deep breath, then continued, ‘I was just assuming that yours was too. And if you do have a wheelie bin, how on earth am I meant to have picked one of those things up and emptied it? And even if you have an ordinary bin, d’you really think I can pick one of those up and dump everything out of it? Or was it just kicked over?’

  I was rambling. I knew it and yet I couldn’t stop. Don’t let him suspect me! I repeated that thought over and over in my head.

  ‘Er … what’s going on here?’ Miss Roy, one of the teachers, appeared from nowhere – and not a moment too soon.

  ‘Nothing, miss,’ Matt replied. ‘We were just talking to Dominic here.’

  ‘Is that the way you usually have a conversation?’ Miss Roy frowned. ‘With Dominic’s back to the wall and all of you surrounding him like that?’

  Matt and the others tried to shuffle backwards.

  ‘Go and find something more constructive to do,’ Miss Roy ordered. ‘And I’ll be keeping a close eye on all of you from now on.’

  Only three terms too late, I thought.

  After directing a bitter, suspicious look at me, Matt slunk off and his minions followed him like the sheep they were.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Miss Roy asked.

  ‘I’m fine. We were just talking,’ I told her.

  Miss Roy took a long, hard look at me, but I didn’t look away and I think I didn’t look guilty. I can’t have done, because she nodded and wandered off to sort out another fracas going on elsewhere.

  Liam regarded me as I straightened up from off the wall.

  ‘Well?’

  ‘Well what?’ I frowned.

  Liam took a quick look around to make sure that there was no one within eavesdropping d
istance.

  ‘I thought you said that VIMS was in simulation mode?’

  ‘I thought he was,’ I shrugged.

  ‘Is that all you have to say?’ Liam glared. ‘You could’ve killed someone with that machine. You heard what Matt said about that plant pot only just missing his sister.’

  ‘It wasn’t my fault. I told you, I thought it wasn’t real.’

  ‘Well, it was real. Very real. And what’re you going to do about it?’

  ‘What would you like me to do about it?’ I frowned. ‘I can’t go back in time and change things. Not even VIMS can do that.’

  ‘That machine is dangerous,’ Liam stated. ‘It ought to be scrapped.’

  ‘Who asked you?’ I raged at him. ‘And this is none of your business.’

  I didn’t need to bite his head off but it was too close to what Pops and Jack had been saying the night before.

  ‘It is my business when you make me your accomplice,’ Liam said, his voice giving me frostbite.

  ‘I didn’t make you an accomplice – at least not knowingly. Not deliberately.’

  Liam gave me a sceptical look.

  ‘That’s the truth.’

  ‘I wish I could believe you.’ Liam shook his head. ‘I think you knew that VIMS was really doing all that stuff.’

  I stared at him. I couldn’t believe what he’d just said and yet it was written on his face, as plain as day. Did he really believe that I would do something like that? Did he really think that I would get VIMS to hurl a plant pot through someone’s window in real life – when it could hit anyone, a baby even? Obviously he did.

  ‘If that’s what you think, then I’m not going to argue with you.’ I pushed past him.

  ‘If you can get VIMS to do all that stuff in simulation mode, it’s not that big a step before you can get him to do it for real.’ Liam ran round me to block my way. ‘After all, you never have to get your hands dirty.’

  It was several seconds before I could trust myself to speak.

  ‘Doing something as a game, a joke, something that you know isn’t real, is a lot different to really doing it,’ I told him. ‘I can play lots of fighting or racing games on my computer at home, without wanting to go and pick a fight with the first person I come to, or steal a car and race down the High Street.’

  ‘But this is different.’ Liam looked a little less sure now – but the point is, he still said it.

  ‘How is it different?’ I asked bitterly. ‘Because it’s Matt and VIMS and my chance to get even – and all from the comfort of my own home?’

  He didn’t answer.

  ‘And d’you really think that if I was going to do something like that, I’d invite you along as a witness? D’you really think I’m that full of myself?’

  Still no answer.

  ‘’Cause if you do, then go and tell Matt what I did. Go and tell the whole world.’ And with that I pushed past him again and walked into the school building. I felt sick and furiously angry and something else that was much, much worse. My best friend had hurt me more than Matt and his cronies ever had or ever could.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Proof

  LIAM TRIED TO talk to me more than once after that, but I just walked away from him. With Mum in hospital and Jack and Pops at her side and Liam thinking I could be as nasty as Matt, I felt alone and, yes, I admit it, very sorry for myself. As the day wore on, I found myself missing Mum more and more. And I began to regret giving Liam the cold shoulder. When I was away from him, I kept telling myself that the next time he tried to speak to me, I would answer, but when he did actually try to speak to me …

  Let me give you an example!

  ‘Oh, come on, Dominic! How many times do I have to say sorry?’

  What I should’ve said was, ‘Twenty million!’ or, ‘Once more with feeling!’ or, ‘OK, you’ve grovelled enough!’

  But instead, I summoned up the dirty-filthiest look I could and walked away from him, my nose up in the air like there was a pongy smell under it. Silly, eh? But I couldn’t get it out of my head that he thought I was some kind of monster. I guess the part of me that was hurt by his low opinion was bigger and stronger than the part of me that wanted to leave all the nastiness in the past. After lunch, he stopped trying to speak to me. I knew what that meant. If we were going to be friends again, then I was going to have to make the first move. Which of course made me resent him even more. Why should I be the first one to speak? Why should I apologize?

  And that’s how my school day ended. I walked home slowly, my whole body shrinking into itself like a folded-up telescope. For the first time, I couldn’t think of anything funny or sarky to cheer myself up. Being in the right was very lonely. In a way, I was sorry I’d ever laid eyes on VIMS. I found I was sorry Mum had even had the idea to invent the rotten thing. It had caused nothing but TROUBLE. But I couldn’t, I wouldn’t, believe that there was something wrong with VIMS’ programming. There couldn’t be, not with Mum in charge.

  ‘What you need to do,’ the ideas part of me muttered, ‘is prove that VIMS works!’

  ‘Oh, is that all!’ the sarcastic part of me replied.

  Goodness only knows what passers-by must’ve thought when they heard me arguing with myself, but I’m always doing it!

  I wondered if hiding VIMS in the sea had been a smart move. I could only hope that I hadn’t made things worse instead of better. Either way, I’d certainly complicated things. Had I been too hasty as far as VIMS was concerned? After all, Julie and Jack had only said that VIMS might be dismantled.

  ‘Dominic! How are you? I was just on my way to the hospital to see your mum.’

  I looked round to see Rayner, Mum’s friend, driving alongside me.

  ‘Oh, hi, Rayner,’ I said without much enthusiasm.

  ‘You mustn’t worry about your mum.’ Rayner stopped the car and jumped out, causing the car driving past him to swerve.

  ‘Oops! Sorry!’ Rayner called after the car.

  Judging by the sign language the woman driver used, I don’t think she was ready to accept his apology. Rayner ran over to me.

  ‘So how are you really?’ Rayner asked, ducking and weaving like he was in a boxing ring, his blond hair flip-flopping in his face as he moved. I was surprised he didn’t just slide over the bonnet of his car and do fifty press-ups whilst he was talking to me. Rayner was totally hyperactive.

  ‘Fifteen minutes in his company and I’m dog tired!’ Mum always said.

  ‘I’m OK,’ I replied. I wished he would keep still before I got a crick in my neck.

  ‘D’you want a lift to the hospital?’

  ‘No. Jack said I was to go home first. He’s going to pick me up there.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  I nodded.

  Rayner actually stopped dancing about for a moment, but it didn’t last long.

  ‘How’s Monica?’ I asked. Monica was his wife.

  ‘She’s fine.’

  We both shuffled about in silence, searching for something to say.

  ‘Would you really have Mum and Jack back at BFC Power if they wanted to leave Desica?’ I asked.

  ‘Like that!’ Rayner snapped his fingers. ‘And who knows, one day I might persuade your mum to come back.’

  ‘What about Jack?’

  ‘Jack!’ Rayner snorted. ‘Jack will never come back to BFC. Too many unhappy memories.’

  At my puzzled look, Rayner continued, ‘That’s where Jack met his first wife, Alison.’

  ‘Oh.’ I hadn’t known that. I knew that Jack and Alison hadn’t had a happy marriage. I guess when Alison finally upped sticks and disappeared, Jack must’ve felt more relieved than anything else. The fact that he now wanted to marry my mum after a disastrous first marriage said even more about how much Jack cared for Mum.

  ‘How are things at BFC anyway?’ I asked. ‘Are you still having problems?’

  At Rayner’s blank look, I continued, ‘Mum said you were having problems in a section of your pipew
ork at the power plant. Is that all sorted out now?’

  Rayner sighed. ‘I wish I could say it is, but no. Ever since we introduced our mechanical pigs a month ago, we’ve had nothing but trouble.’

  ‘Your what?’

  ‘Our pigs! It sounds funny, doesn’t it?’ Rayner laughed. ‘They’re little robots which move up and down the pipes checking for leaks and reporting faults. But the pigs monitoring sections A-5 to A-20 keep reporting problems that none of our other systems can verify. It’s driving me crazy. The last thing I want is an explosion caused by a blockage.’

  ‘So what’re you going to do?’

  ‘We’ll just have to close down that section of the pipes and start digging. It’s going to cost us a fortune and set us back months.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’

  ‘So am I!’ he said. ‘I was counting on your mum and her new super invention!’

  ‘I think Mum was counting on you too,’ I said.

  ‘What d’you mean?’

  ‘Mum’s been having a hard time trying to sell the idea of VIMS recently. I think if VIMS could’ve solved the problems you’ve been having in your pipes, it would’ve been a great advertisement.’

  ‘Well, there’s no point in speculating about it now.’ Rayner shrugged.

  ‘I guess not! I’d better get going,’ I told him. ‘Jack is probably waiting for me at home.’

  After waving bye to him, I turned to carry on walking home. And then it hit me! It was brilliant! Tremendous! STUPENDOUS!

  ‘RAYNER!’ I yelled, just as he was getting in his car.

  He frowned at me. ‘What’s the matter?’

  I beckoned him over. ‘I’ve just had a great idea.’

  ‘Oh yes?’

  ‘What would you say if I told you I could get VIMS to the power plant and if you’ve got an access way leading to the pipes then he could find out what your problem is?’

  ‘I thought your mum was still unconscious?’

  ‘She is … as far as I know.’

  ‘But you can operate VIMS?’ Rayner asked.

  ‘Yes, I can.’

  ‘And you could get it to the power plant?’