by Resa Nelson
“You can’t just let people die, Ben.”
“But she hurt your feelings. She said terrible things to you, and she’s been doing it for years.”
Zuri shrugged. “I might have walked away if she were a serial killer or a despot who tortures people. But that’s not who Karen is. She can be mean, but she’s not dangerous.” Tears welled in Zuri’s eyes.
“Is she someone special to you?”
If Benjamin had been real, Zuri would have made an excuse and brushed his question off with a laugh. But here in the privacy of her home—and in the wake of a terrible night that still left her hands shaking—Zuri caved in to the luxury of telling him the truth. “Not Karen. When I first got into this business, I was 14 and on my own for the first time. I met another designer online and we became friends. But she climbed fast and left for VainGlory. I spent too much time envying her instead of having fun with her. And then, three months later, she vanished. No one knows what happened, and it dawned on me that I’d never see her again. I wasted all that time envying her success when I could have stayed in touch. And if I’d done that, maybe she never would have disappeared. Or, at least, I might have had a clue what happened to her.”
“I’m sorry, Miss.”
“That’s why Mae Lin is so important to me. It’s why I have to get her to VainGlory, so we can succeed together. And that’s why Karen doesn’t bother me. Maybe only a handful of people get to the top, but it’s possible we can all get there sooner or later.”
“I take it your other competitors don’t think so. They ran away.”
“That’s their choice, Ben. They’re the ones who have to live with the consequences, not me.” Zuri groaned. “Speaking of which, it was nice knowing you. I guess I’ll be kicked out of VainGlory tomorrow.”
Although Benjamin’s face remained firm and metallic, sadness edged his voice. “I suppose so, Miss. VainGlory keeps a low profile. If you had run home as I suggested instead of helping your rival, that would have helped the city distract fans and convince them the designer launch had unfolded as planned.”
“I made a mess of it,” Zuri said, realizing her dream had been shattered before it had barely begun. “I drew attention to Karen and the shark instead of letting the city gloss over what happened.” She paused and frowned. “Benjamin, why would the city put a shark in a canal in the Carnival of Animals park?”
“I can’t say that I know, Miss,” Benjamin said. “But I’m certain the city has its reasons.”
A familiar ringtone that sounded like a rainstorm startled Zuri. “Mae Lin.” She hesitated, failing to answer.
A voice rang above the ringtone. “Zuri, where are you? I can’t find you anywhere. Answer me!”
It’s my fault. I made a mess of everything. It’s not just my dream I destroyed—it’s Mae Lin’s, too.
Zuri wanted to run away and hide so no one could find her. She wanted to crawl into bed and pull the covers over her head. She wanted to be left alone so she’d never have to speak to anyone ever again.
Mae Lin’s ringtone changed to the sound of her voice saying, “Answer me … answer me … answer me.”
For a moment, Zuri considered taking the contacts out of her eyes in order to get out of her Personal Bubble. That way, she wouldn’t be able to hear any ring tones, much less answer any calls.
But that would mean a total disconnect from the world. Zuri would have no idea what was happening at any of her favorite places. She’d be out of the public eye instead of taking a brief break from it.
What if something important happens, and I’m not there to know about it?
Zuri braced herself. She couldn’t blame Mae Lin’s disappointment or anger or dismay. Zuri would have to endure it.
She answered the call, and Mae Lin’s face floated directly in front of Zuri.
But Mae Lin didn’t look disappointed or angry or dismayed.
She looked excited and happy.
“Zuri!” Mae Lin shouted. “What happened at the launch?”
Without thinking, Zuri began to explain, “Karen took a second walk.”
“Yes, I saw her do that, but then everything was redacted. It filled my screen with overlapping black squares. I couldn’t make out anything.”
Of course. VainGlory wouldn’t let anything so horrific go beyond the city limits.
Zuri tried to explain. “When Karen came walking back, there was a—”
—REDACTED—
“Shark?” Mae Lin said breathlessly. “Was there a shark?”
With a start, Zuri realized that VainGlory appeared to have the power to edit her end of the conversation but had no control over what Mae Lin said.
Zuri gave a quick nod, hoping it would slip past before VainGlory could redact it.
“Haven’t you seen what people are saying?” Mae Lin continued, beside herself with excitement.
Zuri hung her head in shame. “I don’t want to.”
“Look!” Mae Lin said. “You have to look.”
Trusting her friend, Zuri grimaced as she brought her wall of icons back into view. The images waved and shouted for her attention.
Zuri returned her attention to Mae Lin, whose face still displayed front and center. “I thought everyone would hate me.”
Mae Lin laughed. “Not likely. Take a look.”
One by one, Zuri brought up the icons of her favorite places alongside the image of Mae Lin, surprised to see various emojis of sharks flipping belly up, getting black eyes, and suffering broken teeth. The icons began shouting, “Let her go! Let her go! Let her go!”
Zuri looked at Mae Lin in confusion. “I don’t get it.”
“I guess it didn’t get redacted in VainGlory. The people who live there are talking about it everywhere. No images are getting out, but people started talking about you before anyone thought to stop them.” Mae Lin paused to catch her breath. “I don’t know exactly what you did, but I’m getting the gist.”
Sitting back in disbelief, Zuri said, “I thought it would ruin me and you both.”
“You thought wrong. Orders are pouring in. So far, we’ve made more in the last hour than in the last ten years.”
More stunned by the moment, Zuri said, “What?”
“All of our fans want the black dress you wore. But most orders are from new customers—people in VainGlory. They want the ‘shark killer dress.’”
A new thought made the back of Zuri’s throat go cold. “If we’re getting that many orders, how long will they take to fill?”
Mae Lin grinned. “It’s no problem for our regulars. They know how long it takes for me to print the dress and ship it. But all of the VainGlory people want to print the dress at home. All of the VainGlory orders are filled automatically. Think of it, Zuri. I’m not the only one using the code you wrote to print the dress. Everyone in VainGlory is buying your code!”
Something Mae Lin said earlier finally registered with Zuri. “You said we already made more tonight than in the last ten years? How is that possible?”
“Remember how you told me to charge ten times the dress price for the code that prints it? I didn’t. I’m charging 100 times, and we’re getting thousands of orders from VainGlorians.” Mae Lin reached off-screen, pulled in a bottle of champaign, and popped the cork. The alcohol gushed out, and she took a big gulp. “Here’s to us!”
Even in terms of VainGlory wealth, tonight’s success had to be big, especially if orders were still pouring in.
“That’s it,” Zuri said, more to herself than to Mae Lin. “It’s what I need to get into the Gold Tower.”
“Tower? There are towers in VainGlory?”
Focusing on Mae Lin, Zuri said, “Yes. My supervisor said once I get to the highest tower, you can come to VainGlory. And this has to be big enough to get me into the Gold Tower.”
The excitement on Mae Lin’s face faded. “Does that matter anymore? We now have enough to get what we want. I’ll get my own house, free and clear, and so will you. What’s left over will be t
he kind of nest egg to last a lifetime.”
Zuri brushed off that idea. “Who wants to settle for that when we can get even more rich and famous here in VainGlory?” Her mind raced. “Who knows where this will lead? Remember all those years when we dreamed about making it to the top? The top is right here in VainGlory.”
Mae Lin took another swig of champaign. “I guess. I say let’s sleep on it and talk again in the morning.” She raised the bottle in triumph and then blinked out.
For the next several hours, Zuri bounced in and out of all her favorite places, awash in the glow of overnight success for which she and Mae Lin had spent the last ten years preparing.
CHAPTER 5
Zuri slept deeply that night, feeling fresh and renewed when she came awake.
Still surrounded by the icons filling the round wall of her Personal Bubble, Zuri noticed many of them were covered with “Z”s to indicate few people currently visited those places. For the first time, she noticed a Sound icon located above her head on the wall, covered with an “X” to show Zuri had all sound muted for now.
Moments after opening her eyes, Zuri blinked in surprise when the image of her Personal Digital Assistant hovered above her bed. “Good morning, Miss. I have quite a lot of good news to tell you.”
Apparently, Benjamin had the ability to override her Mute.
Zuri sat up in bed. She clutched the sheets to her chest, even though she wore her favorite pajamas, a background of bamboo shoots dotted with pandas. “Ben, please. I just woke up.”
The image shifted so that it appeared to sit on the far end of her bed. “I understand, Miss. But the news is quite exciting. I thought you’d want to hear.”
Last night’s success came back to Zuri like a picture coming into focus. “Right. So, go ahead and tell me.”
Benjamin’s amber eyes glowed brighter. “You have been moved to the top of the Silver Tower! That means you’re one step away from moving to the Gold Tower.”
Forgetting any inclination toward modesty, Zuri jumped out of bed. “Great! When do we move? Do I have time to get dressed?”
“Move?” Benjamin’s eyes blinked. “We’re already there.”
“We can’t be. I moved onto the first floor yesterday.” She squinted at Benjamin. “We were still on the first floor when I went to bed last night, right?”
“Of course. But during the night, we were moved to the top of the tower.” Benjamin stood and gestured for her to follow him. “Come see.”
Not believing him, Zuri grabbed a robe and shrugged into it as she hurried to keep pace.
Benjamin opened a door from the living room and walked out. “Remember to dim your bubble so you can see.”
“Right,” Zuri muttered to herself. She waved a hand to fade the icons enough to see through her bubble wall and detect the world outside it. Her apartment looked the same. She didn’t know if it had actually moved or if everything inside—including her sleeping self—had been moved during the night. If, in fact, Benjamin told her the truth, which she assumed he must always do.
Zuri caught her breath when she walked through the open door and onto a balcony that gave her a bird’s-eye view of the city below. She joined Benjamin at the balcony rail and clung to it. “We must be 50 stories high!”
Benjamin corrected her. “Fifty-eight. If you look up, Miss, you’ll see there are none above us. You have indeed climbed to the top of the Silver Tower. And in just one day!”
Zuri craned her neck. Just as Benjamin said, her floor stood the highest with only the building’s roof above it.
The wall of her Personal Bubble vibrated all around her, and Zuri turned to Benjamin for answers.
“You currently have everything—except for me, of course—on Mute. When all is Muted, your bubble will vibrate to signal that an official of VainGlory requests your immediate attention.”
Zuri rushed back inside, not wanting to risk forgetting her surroundings and falling over the rail by accident. Straightening her robe, she turned the Sound back on.
“Good morning, Zuri,” Donna’s voice said.
In her haste, Zuri had forgotten to dim the outside world. She now waved away the interior of her home and brought forward her icon wall.
The Incoming Connect icon came forward, where the image of a musical note gave way to the cartoon caterpillar that Donna had presented yesterday during another call. This time, her caterpillar shape took an orange hue dotted with black. Its delicate black legs investigated a pile of bright green leaves. “Your success has been quite surprising.”
Zuri couldn’t tell if Donna meant those words as a compliment or criticism. “I’m surprised, too.”
“I’ve monitored your sales, which are still trickling in. Your sales alone have been enough to lift you to the heights of Silver.” The black-dotted orange caterpillar chewed the center out of a leaf. “If you were to manage getting your first Endorsement today, that would qualify a move to Gold.” The caterpillar swallowed a mouthful of leaf. “First floor, of course, but Gold nonetheless.”
“I have plenty of endorsements from before. I can show you.”
The caterpillar chuckled. “Those hold no weight in VainGlory. The Endorsement I speak of must come from within the city, not outside it. Such an Endorsement is not easy to achieve, although I think you’re perfectly positioned if you act quickly.”
Zuri sat up straighter, her interest sharpened. “How? What do I do?”
“The spillover interest from last night makes it possible to promote a new product that can be seen as a companion to your successful one. The Bubble Brella, the equivalent of an umbrella for the Personal Bubble.” With dainty jerks, the caterpillar stripped one side of the leaf from its spine. “Take it to the water garden, where a shark will attempt to attack you.”
Zuri froze in fright. “You want a shark to kill me?”
The caterpillar laughed. “Of course not. It will be a simulation, not a real shark.”
Zuri sagged with relief. “So, I’ll tell people the umbrella keeps out simulations.”
“No,” the caterpillar said. “Everyone must believe the shark is real. The only reason I’m telling you it’s a simulation is so you know you’ll be safe.”
Zuri shifted her weight, suddenly uncomfortable. “But if a real shark attacked me when I had the umbrella over my bubble, would I be safe?”
The caterpillar stripped away the other side of the leaf and dropped the empty stem. “It’s doubtful.”
“If I don’t tell people the shark is just a simulation, they’ll assume they’ll be safe if a shark attacks them. But they won’t be. They could be killed.”
“No one is going to be attacked by a shark.”
Zuri didn’t like disagreeing with anyone. It made her feel pained and distressed. But lying made her feel worse.
“Karen was attacked by a shark last night. It tried to attack me, too.”
The caterpillar stuffed the stripped bits of leaf into its mouth until it bulged. “That was an anomaly. Every so often, the network that runs VainGlory experiences an unexpected glitch. Last night, there was a glitch in the security wall surrounding the island, which allowed a shark from the ocean to infiltrate our canals. The glitch has been fixed. Nothing like that will ever happen again.”
Zuri wavered. Before coming to VainGlory, she’d made her own decisions—or made them with Mae Lin. They’d never seen any reason to lie about anything for any reason. They’d achieved their greatest successes by telling the truth.
No one had ever told Zuri to lie before now. And she didn’t like the idea of lying to new customers. Her fan base would be appalled if she lied to them.
“But won’t people get upset if they find out I lied?” Zuri said.
The caterpillar spoke with its mouth open, and tiny bits of chewed grass fell out. “Not in VainGlory. It doesn’t matter.”
Zuri found that hard to believe, but VainGlory had surprised her at every turn. When she’d rescued Karen from the shark, Zuri assumed t
hat would be the end of her career. She thought she’d be kicked out of the city.
Life in VainGlory was very different from anything she’d experienced before. Maybe lying was expected here. Maybe people living in VainGlory truly didn’t mind.
“All right,” Zuri said with reluctance. “When do I go?”
“Now.” The caterpillar swallowed everything in its mouth. “You’ll be provided with everything you need when you get to the water garden. Your PDA will help you.”
The image of the caterpillar winked out of sight, and the Incoming Connect icon automatically reduced back to its place on the bubble wall.
Benjamin shimmered briefly.
Worried, Zuri said, “Are you alright?”
His eyes burned bright. “Nothing to worry about. Simply an update.” He pointed toward her bedroom. “You should wear what you wore last night. It will provide the greatest impact.”
Zuri nodded her agreement and walked into her bedroom, leaving the image of Benjamin outside.
She’d learned over the years to grab every opportunity that presented itself, because some only come around once.
But she couldn’t ignore the way her stomach now twisted into knots.
CHAPTER 6
A short time later, Zuri walked through the city and then into the Carnival of Animals park. She kept her wall of icons vivid, while making her bubble wall just translucent enough for her to recognize her location and keep her bearings. Every minute or so, she dimmed one icon and brought a different one front and center in order to examine or interact with it. Her Soundtrack played bright music with optimistic lyrics. Zuri hummed along.
Benjamin kept pace at her side. “If you don’t mind the suggestion, Miss, this might be a good time to keep a sharper eye on the outside.”
“Why?”
If Benjamin hadn’t been a thing composed at the core of nothing more than ones and zeroes, Zuri would have thought a smile crept into his voice. “I believe it would be to your benefit.”
Even in her old life, Zuri preferred the screen to the world beyond it. Shutting out the harshness of the real world made her feel safe and comforted. Normally, she dreaded any contact with it, except for spending time with Mae Lin.