by Peter Telep
“‘Hood’ like neighborhood?” she asks.
“Yeah, it’s in the Community. No adults allowed. I assume you haven’t heard of it?”
We shake our heads.
“And I assume your parents never taught you about your persona? They never said that when you’re old enough you’d be able to use it?”
“Persona?” Julie asks. “I’ve heard the word.”
Keane laughs, dumbfounded. “They definitely wiped your memories. I didn’t know they could do that. That’s pretty messed up, even for them.”
Julie grabs Keane by the shoulders and talks a million miles an hour: “They didn’t wipe our memories. We’re not from here. That’s why we don’t remember this place. I can tell you everything that’s ever happened to me. My memory’s perfect. So let me say it again: we’re not from here!”
“Actually, no one’s from here. Everyone comes here.” He removes Julie’s hands and hardens his voice. “Look, if you want answers, then we need to leave. So both of you, take a deep breath and hold it. That helps when you’re a noob.”
We do as he says.
“Close your eyes, think about the end of the cave, and then exhale and push yourself there. Go now!”
I release my breath and feel that familiar aching sensation in my chest. Whoa, something’s happening all right.
With a camera flash and bass drum boom, I’m standing at the end of the cave, looking down at myself.
I lift my palm, and for just a second, it’s made of static. In the next, it’s flesh and blood but emitting that faint green aura. I touch my face. It feels real.
Julie and Keane stand opposite me. Keane looks normal, except for the aura.
But Julie...
I don’t believe it.
I’m about to comment on her persona when she critiques mine:
“Doc? Ewww, you look like one of those muscleheads from the football team. And what’s up with your skin? It’s like a glow bracelet or something.”
I glance down at my arms. This is the body I had while I was up in the tree, the absurdly handsome one. These are the biceps—the big guns—I’ve always wanted, and even better, I didn’t lift a single weight to get them. Nice!
“Julie...” Keane begins. “Your persona is… interesting.”
Julie touches her puffy cheeks, and then runs fingers through her greasy, matted hair. I won’t dare comment on her new case of acne; the thick, old lady glasses; or the rolls of fat visible beneath her white T-shirt featuring the goofy faces of some popular boy band whose name I’ve already forgotten.
“What the hell?” She wraps arms around her waist and cringes. “Don’t say a word!”
I take a step back. “I’m good.”
Keane gestures for us to calm down. “Okay, guys, so here’s what’s happening. You’re in your persona. It’s part of your essence, part of who you are as a person. You’ve basically detached it from your body. Once you gain more control of it, you’ll be able to make it look normal.”
I flex my biceps. “I kinda like mine.”
Julie snickers. “You would.”
Keane gives me the once over. “So Doc, your persona is obviously influenced by your ego.”
“And mine’s based on my insecurities,” Julie snaps. “Which is totally unfair and sexist!”
“This is pretty common,” Keane says, beginning to melt under Julie’s gaze.
“So how long does this ridiculousness last?” she asks.
“Everyone’s different. You’ll get yours under control very soon, I’m sure.” Keane tips his head toward the back of the cave. “Now look at us.”
Julie and I glance in that direction, and there we are—or should I say our bodies—seated cross-legged with our eyes closed, just where we left ourselves.
“That part of us, the part we just call our person, will stay there,” Keane explains. “While we go on a little trip.”
“To the Hood,” I finish.
“That’s right. But first you have to accept my invitation. After that, you’ll be connected with me in the Community.”
“And the Community is...”
“It’s a network of everyone on the planet. You can meet with people in real places or virtual ones that you create together in your minds.”
Julie paces in front of us. “Can I get a second to deal with this?” She grabs the rolls of fat at her waist and shakes them.
Her persona is too hard to look at with a straight face, so I cross in front of Keane. “I have a few questions myself. Like how can we even do this?”
“Everyone does it. Well, almost everyone. Some people like ivies have birth defects. You know how that is.”
“I’ve never met anyone who does this.”
“Yeah, because they wiped your memory.”
“I don’t think so. Anyway, this persona thing. Is it like a super power? Can we fly? Are we like super strong?” I lean in close to Keane. “Can we use it to pick up girls?”
“Shut up, idiot,” Julie calls from across the cave.
I pretend to gasp. “Julie, was that super power hearing you just used?”
I know, I deserve the middle finger, but Julie’s too classy for that.
Instead, she fixes me with her meanest look, the one she used to persuade Mr. Haussler to raise her final grade in AP Lit after he docked her points for “over-participating” and not giving other students a chance to speak. “Doc, don’t test me. I’m very emotional right now.”
“Sorry. Truce.”
“To answer your question, projecting your persona is not a super power,” Keane says.
“Well that’s a rip-off. You tell me I have this ability, and it’s not even cool?”
“Oh, it’s cool. Like I said, you can take your persona into the Community, but eventually you can go anywhere on the planet.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, but only on the planet. It takes a lot of practice to make really far jumps.”
“Wow, that’s sweet. So... can I jump into my persona and have my phone? Because I really want that back.”
“I told you, this is a piece of who you really are—like your subconscious coming to life. You can’t just make a phone or a gun or a knife other stuff. It doesn’t work that way.”
“So I’m not getting my phone back?”
“No. Anyway, once you’re trained, you can be in your body and in your persona at the same time.”
Whoa. He’s not kidding. The Keane at the other end of the cave gets to his feet and comes toward us.
Julie’s voice trembles. “Doc? Are you seeing this?”
“Uh, yeah?”
Keane makes a face, even more annoyed by our ignorance. “Guys, this is all natural. Just biology. Let me you ask you a question. What do you use to breathe?”
“My lungs,” Julie answers.
“And what pumps the blood?”
“My heart.”
“That’s odd. You remember that stuff but you’re clueless about your persona, like they’ve picked certain memories to wipe. Anyway, here’s something every school kid learns. The organ that allows you to project your persona is called the wreath. It actually looks like a wreath, and it’s near your heart. It’s even more complex than your brain. Around the time you reach puberty, the wreath becomes active.”
“But that didn’t happen with us,” I say, glancing at Julie. “We didn’t know about any of this until now.”
Keane thinks about that. “Like I said, they did something to you. Erased all your memories or something else. I know there are drugs like wrrambien A and B that can shut down parts of the wreath. Maybe they gave you those...”
Julie crinkles her nose. “I don’t have an extra organ in my body. That sounds disgusting.”
I put a hand on my chest. “I think I can feel mine.”
At this point, two Keanes stand in front of us. Keane’s persona glows faintly, but that’s the only way you can tell them apart. They speak together, “While in my persona, I can do thin
gs together or separately.”
“I have a confession,” I say. “I think I’ve done this before.”
“Me, too,” Julie adds, looking scared behind her thick glasses. “This is so creepy.”
I blink hard. “No, this might be awesome. Maybe my father—”
“Both of you, shut up. No more time for lessons. You need to accept my invitation.”
“I’m in,” I tell him. “How do we do that?”
Keane extends his arms. “Grab my hands and make a very conscious decision to link with me. Again, you have to do this willingly. No doubts.”
The moment I touch him, I find myself standing in a dark alley between skyscrapers. The asphalt is slick with fresh rain, and I can even smell the dampness.
“Is this the outside?” Julie asks.
“No,” Keane answers. “We’re in the Hood. It’s part of a virtual city we create while in our personas, but it feels real. It’s like our home away from home.”
“But first we send and receive invitations?” Julie asks.
Keane grins. “Now we’re getting somewhere. So I’m linked to the Hood, and you’re linked to me, which is why you can see it. But right now there’s something wrong.” He looks confused.
“What?” I ask.
“Once you accept my invitation, I should be able to read your thoughts because you’re noobs, but I can’t.”
Julie frowns. “Why not?”
“Because you’re blocking me. Who taught you that?”
Julie recoils. “I’m not sure. I’m not doing anything.”
“Not consciously,” he adds.
“So Keane, should I be able to read your thoughts?” I ask. “Because I can’t.”
“That’s right, because I’m blocking you, but you shouldn’t know how to block me. Not yet. That’s amazing. But now we have to find Meeka and Steffanie—because with your guards up, you can’t tell me anything.”
Julie lifts her palms. “You guys have fun. I’m not going. Not like this.”
“Look, this won’t work unless you come,” Keane argues. “Besides, if something bad happens, you just close your eyes and go back to the cave.”
“I have a better idea. Why don’t you teach us to lower our guards? Then we don’t have to deal with them.”
He shrugs. “I’m not sure how. It’s supposed to come naturally, but it’s like someone’s put a temporary lock on yours. Anyway, we’re wasting time. They know something about you. Let’s find out what it is.”
“He’s right,” I tell Julie. “And besides, they can’t hurt you again, not with me here.” I kiss my bicep.
Julie pretends to vomit. “I’m not worried about being hurt again. I just don’t want to hear their crap about how I look—and you know they’ll say something...”
Keane pushes between us. “You won’t hear them. Look, let’s just do this. I know where they are.”
He offers his hands.
CHAPTER TEN
Imagine yourself and two hundred of your closest friends renting out the roof of a skyscraper and throwing the most ridiculously awesome party ever.
So this party’s even more awesome than that.
I’m serious.
Everyone’s dressed in the most over-the-top, revealing, badass clothes—and they look even cooler because their personas glow in the dark.
The insanity doesn’t stop there. The dance floor is some kind of projector, displaying images of giant canyons and waterfalls and even outer space, so it appears the dancers are floating in mid-air.
And music? Hell yeah, it’s similar to the EDM Julie listens to, and it’s pumped out through walls of gigantic speakers. Those electronic dance vibrations get in my chest, and I’m already nodding to the beat.
At the same time, I’m scoping out more cleavage than I’ve seen in my entire life. And high heels, along with legs that are super toned and as smooth as ice cream.
“Daayyuummm,” I tell Julie. “I love this place.”
“I hate it. Are these people serious?”
“What’re you talking about? It’s like prom gone wild.”
“Actually, it’s a nice diversion,” Keane says. “Especially for people like Meeka and Steffanie.”
“You feel sorry for them?” Julie asks.
“They’re my friends. We’ve heard it’s really bad outside now. Lots of attacks. They might die soon.”
Julie and I share an uneasy look. We’ll ask him about that later.
Keane leads us deeper into the crowd. He’s easy to spot because he’s a head taller than most kids, all neck and lanky torso, a radioactive green bean.
Along the edge of the dance floor, more kids huddle at tables, sip drinks, and munch on blue stuff that breaks apart like chocolate.
Near one corner lies a lounge with oversized sofas and several knee-high tables.
There, Steffanie and Meeka sit with four muscleheads in tank shirts that resemble solar panels. They all sip from the straws of a globe-shaped pitcher filled with a red concoction that bubbles and smokes and flickers like electricity.
Floating before them is a holographic slideshow of the girls making silly faces. The group laughs as the images paint themselves across the sofa.
Keane ducks away before Meeka and Steffanie spot us. We hide behind some dancers.
Julie catches me staring at one girl’s butt.
She rolls her eyes. I just shrug.
“I’m the only one who can talk,” Keane says.
“Why?” asks Julie, removing her glasses. “Because now that we’re here, I have a few things I’d like to say.”
“I’m sure you do, but you’re not connected, so you can’t hear them. Just lips moving.”
Now that he mentions it, I realize I can’t hone in on any conversation. Not a single word. Just music. White noise of the crowd.
Julie’s shoulders slump. “Well, that sucks. I was ready to tell them off. So now what? We wait here?”
“No,” Keane answers. “They need to see you. They’ll lower their guards and try to connect, and that’s when I’ll get in their heads and see what’s up.”
“You’re sure they can’t hurt us?” I ask.
“What happened, Mr. Badass?” Julie squeezes my bicep.
“Uh, I’m just checking?”
Keane sighs, growing more impatient. “Like I said, if they try anything, you close your eyes and go back to the cave. Or you could fight them with your super powers.”
“Whoa, thanks, wiseass. And this had better work.”
He steps back, clearly insulted. “Have I lied to you? No. I’ve told you more than anyone.”
“All right,” Julie says resignedly. “Let’s go.”
Keane raises a finger. “Wait, one more thing. So if you start feeling dizzy or weak, just go back to the cave. That’s really important.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Because doing this takes a lot of energy, and if you stay here for too long, you could die.”
“Now you tell us,” I say.
“You guys are noobs, so your bodies drain even faster.”
“How long do we have?”
“Maybe an hour,” he tells me. “But this shouldn’t take long. Remember what I said.”
We nod and fall in behind Keane.
And now I’m wearing a stupid grin. Why? Because despite all the risks, being in this persona is awesome. As I said before, all the aches and pains are gone. It’s a perfect body, and honestly, I do feel super strong.
If those girls try anything, they’ll fail. Miserably. And they’ll always remember this as the day that they got their asses kicked by Mr. Docherty Harrison, rogue warrior, the absurdly handsome boy they couldn’t train.
El hombre. The man!
Okay, I took that too far. Maybe it’s all an illusion, but I still love the feeling.
Meeka sees us first. She orders her legion of pumped up ogres to wait there, and then she and Steffanie rise like porn stars and strut around the table in their spiked bras and
G-strings.
Yes, my heart should be in my throat, but it’s not because I’m hypnotized. I’m caught in the stage lights like a boy at his first strip club. That’s right. Steffanie and Meeka are, in fact, smoking hot, and Keane’s caught up in their heat as well...
He backhands sweat from his brow and talks in a rapid fire, but the whole conversation is blocked, even his words. Julie mentions that I’m staring at Meeka and elbows me in the arm. Hard.
Steffanie points at us and speaks through her teeth.
“Julie, I know why they hate you,” I tell her.
“Because I’m friends with you?”
“Shut up. I think it’s because your mom used to work for my dad. That’s why they blame our families.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
“Yeah, and maybe this party’s about to get real.”
Meeka swats Keane aside and starts toward me, fangs out, wild eyes floating up from the dark plains of her face.
Steffanie goes for Julie. Ginger versus blonde in a battle to the death—
And poor Julie looks beyond geeky.
Keane says blah, blah, blah (close your eyes and go to the cave, probably) but it’s lost in the music.
I raise my fists as Julie and I retreat... and with just three more steps we reach the ledge.
Keane rushes forward to try to block Steffanie and Meeka, but the legion of ogres suddenly appears, seizing his wrists, and dragging him back.
The girls lunge at us—
And for a second, they seem made of fire and glass, and you can see the dance floor right through them. Meanwhile, the drums become the soundtrack for their attack.
Meeka collides with me, and then—
All four of us tumble off the roof.
Julie clutches Steffanie’s wrists as they plunge toward the asphalt. Julie’s persona shimmers to static and vanishes, leaving Steffanie clutching air.
Meeka grabs my shirt collar. “Follow me if you want the truth.”
Oh, no. I must’ve let down my guard and connected by accident—because now I can hear her!
She stares deeply—emphatically—into my eyes.
“I’ll show you everything,” she continues. “Everything they’re hiding from you.”
The street races up at us, faster and faster, our bodies reflected in the puddles.