The Mind Virus

  “What does this have to do with my grandfather?” Rain asked.

  Emory clasped his hands behind his back. “Your grandfather designed the City to be powered by the brain. The App World is quite literally brain powered—a combination of technology and the minds that connect to it. A mass, unplanned unplugging could be disastrous to the fabric of everything—which it was, in this case.” His gaze flitted around the room, darting and landing on each one of us.

  I took this in. Tried understand it. “So plugged-in brains power the App World,” I said. On one level that sounded crazy, but on another, it was logical. Smart, even. Marcus Holt had used the brain like a battery. I turned to Jude. “Did you know about this?”

  She glanced at Emory. “Not in so many words.”

  Lady Holt stepped into the conversation. “What Emory isn’t telling you is that none of us understood this aspect of Marcus Holt’s design until after the Cure was won. And the Cure is what caused the virus. What created it.”

  Emory huffed. “I did not create a virus!” He looked around wildly, then his eyes landed on me. “This is not all my fault! It’s your fault.”

  “No, it’s not,” my mother said, stepping into this back-and-forth. “It was when you started the research for the Cure that all the problems began. You are the reason we’ve gotten to this point, Emory. You are the cause of this virus.”

  Lady Holt nodded.

  “So, the Cure was the beginning of everything,” I said. “As bodies were removed, the App World was weakened, and it, it . . . caught a virus. Kind of like the body can catch a cold, right?” Lady Holt nodded again. “Then the Shifting App exacerbated the problem, because it further weakened things, and the virus spread faster.”

  Kit turned his attention on Jude. “But the Shifting App wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the Body Market.”

  Jude held up her hands. “I was as surprised as everyone else about this virus. We were just trying to take advantage of the Cure.”

  Lady Holt was shaking her head. “It’s true, the virus spreads and worsens when people unplug. It’s as though each time a brain is removed, the virtual fabric of this City gets weaker.”

  Emory threw up his hands. “Does any of this really matter? Regardless of how everything started, our virtual world is in dire jeopardy! And time is running out!”

  My mother stopped me from continuing. “Emory may be very misguided, but he is right about one thing: regardless of what started these problems—holes in the atmosphere, Death Apps, viruses, bodily death on the plugs—what I want to know is what we’re going to do about it.” Her eyes came to rest on Emory Specter. “Emory, you sound so fatalistic about the future. But is there really no turning back? No salvation from this?”

  “Unfortunately, I’m sure that we’re doomed,” he said. “For the time being, at least.” He returned my mother’s stare. “If you actually want to save the remaining people on the plugs.”

  “Yes!” everyone in the room chorused at once.

  “Well, then it’s the end of the App World as we know it,” Emory declared.

  Kit was staring at the man in disgust. “Maybe that’s for the best,” he countered.

  Jude turned to him. “That’s easy for you to say, since you have a body to go back to.”

  I winced at this reminder that my sister did not.

  “So what now?” Trader asked. “What’s our next step if we’re to salvage what we can from this broken-down virtual place? Especially if it’s soon to be a virtual graveyard?”

  Emory dragged his throne into the center of everyone and sat down. He looked over at Lady Holt. “You tell them.”

  “There is one thing we can try, though it will only solve one of our problems,” Lady Holt began. She turned to Rain. “Your grandfather was prepared, in case a day like this would ever come. The answer is both extremely simple and highly complicated.” Her eyes moved around the room to each of us. “The simple part is that we can reboot the App World. Shut it down, then restart it and . . . see what happens.”

  A look of fascination crossed Trader’s face. “That’s even possible?”

  “Anything can be done,” Emory cut in, “if you know what you’re doing.”

  Lady Holt inhaled deeply and took Rain’s hand into her own. “Marcus would always say, ‘If we created the App World, then we can uncreate it, if the need should ever arise.’ Sometimes I wondered if your grandfather ever meant for the City to last as long as it has. Or for so many people to abandon reality the way we did. Maybe he knew this day was ahead of us.”

  Trader was nodding. “So, assuming what you’re saying is true and we can reboot the App World, what would make it highly complicated?” Trader finished.

  Emory looked at him. “Well, there’s the issue of having to unplug every single citizen who still has a body before we shut it down. That is, unless you want them to die.”

  “Obviously not,” my mother said.

  “I figured as much,” Emory said. “So, the complicated part, then, is figuring out how to manage a complete and total exodus, when a total exodus will also hasten the virus and literally destroy this world in the process.” He sat back into his throne. Crossed his legs. Made himself more comfortable. “The issue is, we need to buy ourselves more time, and there isn’t any way to do it. Plus there’s the matter of a mass unplugging to manage.”

  “We’re going to use the Shifting App,” I said.

  Half the room erupted at this suggestion.

  “—too much for my daughter to handle—”

  “—Skylar would have to power it again—”

  “—no way—” Kit was saying.

  “Hey, hey!” I shouted.

  Everyone quieted.

  “There’s another way,” I explained. “One that doesn’t rely on me. I promise!”

  Kit, Sylvia, Zeera, Parvda, Rain, and my mother all looked at me skeptically.

  Emory crossed his arms. “You’re forgetting that the Shifting App is a Real World App. We’d need to first code it for use here, then mass-produce it, and there’s very little time left for this City. Maybe not even twenty-four hours!”

  I thought about Lacy’s plan, crossed my fingers that she’d come through. Her idea was nearly prophetic. “Someone is already taking care of that. And if it worked, the Shifting App should be adapted, mass-produced, and ready to download. Like, now.”

  “Really?” Emory actually sounded impressed.

  “How in both worlds did you manage that without my and Trader’s help?” Zeera asked.

  “I didn’t.” I held Rain’s gaze. “It was Lacy. She thought, well, with all the talk of a virus and the App World dying, that maybe we’d need it. So . . .”

  Rain sucked in a breath. “Lacy went to see her father,” he finished.

  Trader wore a look of admiration. “I’ve got to give that girl credit. She might be complicated, but she can be shrewd and smart when she wants to be.”

  “What does her father have to do with this?” Sylvia asked.

  “Lacy’s father can mass-produce just about anything,” Zeera said darkly. “He has a team of the best App coders at his disposal, ready and waiting, around the clock.”

  “Do you have any idea if she was successful?” Parvda asked.

  “Not yet,” I admitted. “But let’s hope.”

  Emory tsk-tsked. “Even so, now you’re forgetting that if everyone tries to go at once, then everyone will likely die. You would have to go in quadrants, and with each quadrant that shifted, the virus would spread and get worse, making it more dangerous for the remaining groups.”

  “I volunteer to go last,” I said. Before everyone around me could protest, I spoke. “I’ll be fine. And besides, Lady Holt already informed the citizens here that some people will have to stay behind. Hopefully, it will be enough to sustain everything until the last groups unplug.” I turned to her now. “Let’s say we shift in quadrants, and everything goes smoothly. Someone else will still have to stay behind to handle
the reboot, won’t they?”

  “That’s easy,” Jude said, with forced cheer. “Father and I will do it. We’ve nowhere else to go anyway!”

  My throat grew tight. I nodded. “And how long will the App World take to reboot?”

  Emory shrugged. “That’s difficult to say.”

  “A couple of hours? An entire day?” I pressed.

  Lady Holt was shaking her head. “Emory is correct, we simply don’t know. It’s never been done before.”

  Rain placed a hand on his mother’s arm. “Can’t anyone make an educated guess?”

  “If you forced me to guess,” Emory began, “I’d say . . . maybe a year? Maybe even two?”

  Gasps sounded throughout the room.

  “A year?” I repeated.

  He nodded. “If we’re lucky.”

  “But . . . but . . .”

  “But that’s very unfortunate?” he supplied, his voice light despite having lobbed this news into the room like a bomb.

  I stood there, gaping. “Unfortunate is one word for it.”

  “Tragic?” he tried. “Horrific? Do those work better for you?” He stood from his throne, seemingly energized by the dark drama of everything. “You have to remember, we’re not simply rebooting one of those pathetic little old-timey Real World devices people used to carry around. We’re restarting an entire civilization. Then again, taking a year or two is better than never and total oblivion.”

  My mother kept us on track. “What will be here when this world does restart? Do we even know? Will the City still exist? The buildings, the park, the neighborhoods? What about all the residents who no longer have bodies? Will their codes each reboot along with the App World itself?” She reached out to Jude, who didn’t reach back. “Will you reboot, too, my daughter?” She pursed her lips a moment, before adding, to Emory, “And will you?”

  “All excellent questions,” Emory said approvingly. “Yet without answers at the moment.”

  “But it is possible,” Lady Holt began, encouragingly, “that after the reboot, everyone’s virtual self will also reboot with the App World, albeit on a much smaller scale”—she glanced at Jude—“saving the virtual lives of those people who no longer have bodies to unplug. Saving the City. Everything. It will be just like the beginning, when Marcus Holt created this world to sustain itself before even he plugged in. Before it grew to be the way it is now.”

  “Father and I are okay with whatever happens,” Jude said.

  I nodded, impressed by Jude’s calm and her altruism in the face of potential virtual death. “But maybe things will be okay. Eventually. At least there’s hope.”

  Lady Holt walked into the center of our group, her elegant heels clicking against the tiled floor. “Yes, there is. But I also meant what I said in that emergency broadcast. Not everyone will be able to return to the Real World. The City will collapse on the last citizens who remain from loss of power—brainpower,” she reminded us. “The more people who shift, the shakier things will get. Some people still might not make it.”

  A long silence followed.

  Everyone looked at me.

  I knew what they were thinking because I was thinking it too.

  But I shrugged. “There’s nothing else we can do. We can’t all go at once.”

  “I’ll explain what will happen in another emergency broadcast.” Lady Holt called up a Mirror App and began primping in front of it. Ree emerged from the shadows and began darting around her, brushing off her shoulders and helping to straighten her jacket. “Everyone will have one last night to say good-bye to loved ones, our City, our favorite Apps, and then we’ll all just have to hope for the best.” With a wave of her hand the Mirror App disappeared. “So you’ll hear from me tomorrow morning, first thing. I’ll mind-chat you so we can divide up the City in ordered quadrants for the attempted unplugging. And I’ll let you know who’s going when, first, second, etc., all the way until you, Skylar dear.”

  The rest of us nodded.

  “Don’t forget to leave your brains open to communications!” Lady Holt gestured at me. “You’ll figure out if this Shifting App is indeed available?”

  “Yes,” I agreed. “We’ll make sure that it’s taken care of.”

  “In the meantime,” Lady Holt continued, “we’ll say our good-byes and good lucks to those we need to, do our last Apping if we should feel the urge, and hopefully survive the night to come back here in the morning and begin a City-wide evacuation.”

  “You mean apocalypse,” Emory corrected.

  “Not for everyone,” Lady Holt shot back. “Just for certain people. Either the brave and altruistic, like those who choose to stay behind, or the power-hungry and despotic, like you.” She brushed her hands together. “All right. Have a good night! I’m going to allow all remaining citizens free and unlimited Apps until it’s time for everything to end. Now let me get on with this broadcast so I can catch up with my son,” she added, summarily dismissing all of us.

  Meeting adjourned.

  While Lady Holt began her second emergency broadcast of the hour, the rest of the group began to dissipate. Everyone talked about who they needed to find, what needed to happen between now and the morning. Sylvia, Zeera, Parvda, and Kit were huddled together whispering, with Sylvia and Zeera eventually peeling off and heading out. Emory sat back down on his throne and was talking to my mother and Jude. The three of them seemed deep in conversation. I was about to go over to them when Rain appeared at my side.

  He was shaking his head. “How could you let Lacy do that, Skylar? Her father was always hateful to her, hateful of her. And you simply sat by and let her cross the border alone!”

  “There was no stopping her,” I said. “She was determined to go, regardless of my approval. She knew that she could do this one thing for all of us. I thought it would be better to help her than to let her do it alone. Don’t you agree? Shouldn’t we just be grateful to her for it?”

  Rain seemed conflicted. His big green virtual eyes were worried. “Is she still with her father?”

  “That I don’t know,” I admitted. “I assume so, but someone needs to go check so we can find out for sure if she was successful or not. Our plan tomorrow depends on it.”

  “I’ll go now.” Rain glanced at his mother, who was gesturing earnestly as she spoke to the citizens of the City. “Tell her I’ll be back later,” he added, and was off.

  The only other person missing apart from Lacy was Adam. Parvda was standing there wringing her hands, eyes distant, her mind obviously elsewhere. I went to her now and grabbed her hand, tugged her over to Ree. “Where’s Adam? Do you have any idea?”

  “Nice to see you again, Skylar,” she said wryly. “I didn’t know if I would!” She shrugged then, a bit guiltily. “I don’t know where he is. He said he had something to do.” Ree gestured at Parvda. “That’s the girlfriend?”

  Parvda didn’t look happy about this comment. “Yes, I’m the girlfriend,” she snapped. “And what are you, exactly?”

  Ree backed away. “Not the competition or anything, so no worries there.”

  I turned to Parvda. Red blotches were breaking out all over her virtual skin. “I have an idea where he might be.” I beckoned to Trader. “Will you take Parvda to your house in Loner Town? I think she might find Adam hiding out there.”

  He glanced back at Inara. “All right. Inara is going to see her parents anyway.”

  Parvda immediately grabbed his hand and dragged him away.

  I went to Kit. “I’m sure you want to try and find your parents one last time,” I said, but he shook his head.

  “I’m done trying. They’re lost to me.” He sighed. “Though maybe we’ll see each other in the Real World again. Some day.”

  There was sadness in Kit’s eyes, but acceptance as well. “You never know. They might come find you.”

  He shrugged his virtual shoulders. “I suppose they do know where I still live,” he said, though he didn’t sound like he believed this would happen eith
er, that his parents would magically materialize at the cottage one day.

  My eyes went to my mother and Emory. Jude was staring in my direction. “Speaking of family, I should . . .”

  His gaze followed mine. “Go spend some time with them?”

  I sighed. “Yes. Probably. But—”

  “—Skylar,” Kit interrupted, his eyes full of emotion. “I need you to make it through this.”

  He reached for my hand and took it into his.

  The sensation was strange. The fear and anxiety I’d felt over Kit, over loving him despite all that had happened between us, dissipated in that single virtual moment. I knew, I knew, that I’d love him no matter what world we were in, the real one or this one or some other that hadn’t been invented yet. That sometimes love could transcend divisions and differences, borders crossed and past betrayals, that whether I was a virtual girl or a real one or some other kind of girl I couldn’t even dream of, the love I felt for Kit would always be with me.

  I stared at our joined hands, our fingers intertwined. “I know. I will. And on that note, I have one thing to ask of you.”

  “Anything,” Kit said.

  “Later on, say around midnight? Would you meet me at the entrance to Main Park? There are some things I’d like to show you, places in this world that have meant something to me.” I blinked. “I really want to share them with you. Before this world comes to an end.”

  “Of course I’ll be there. I’d meet you anywhere,” he said. Then, quickly, in barely a blink, he leaned forward and kissed my virtual lips and was gone, leaving me to be with my family.

  39

  Ree

  last hurrah

  WHEN WE LEFT Emory’s compound, everyone went their different ways.

  I went off by myself. If it was to be my last night in the City, my only plan for this evening was to enjoy myself.

  Apparently, I was not alone in thinking this way!

  The second I was breathing in the fresh, though potentially virus- and glitch-laden atmosphere, this much was obvious.

  The App World was one gigantic party.

  The world was one big free App Store.