by Resa Nelson
“Didn’t they tell you?” Mae Lin said.
“No.” Zuri gathered her wits. “Why didn’t you answer any of my connects?”
“I just arrived a few days ago. I’ve been in isolation ever since.”
“Isolation?”
“It’s protocol.” Mae Lin frowned. “They put you in isolation when you first got here, didn’t they?”
“No.” Zuri thought back to her arrival. “When I got here, my new supervisor—our supervisor—met me. Donna took me to the Welcome Center. That’s where I exchanged my Slim Goggles for a Personal Bubble and a Personal Digital Assistant.”
“Oh!” Mae Lin said in exhilaration. “Isn’t the PDA the best? Mine is named Worthington.”
Her friend’s enthusiasm surprised Zuri. “Since when do you get excited about things like that?”
Mae Lin smiled in chagrin. “I know. It’s a little superficial of me, but it was awfully nice to feel like I had a friend by my side. They had a problem getting my Personal Bubble linked into the network. Thank goodness Worthington managed to work around it.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” Zuri leaned back into the sofa, considering her friend’s words. “It seems to me that a PDA has to have access to the network.”
“Like I said, Worthington worked around it. I had no access to anything, but Worthington did.”
“Your Personal Bubble was disconnected from the network but your PDA wasn’t?”
“I suppose so.”
Different trains of thoughts entered Zuri’s head as if it were a wheelhouse terminal.
After ten years of friendship and sharing a business, Zuri considered Mae Lin to be the most honest person she had ever known. Mae Lin believed lying to be pointless, because business couldn’t run smoothly unless everyone involved knew the truth—and she extended that belief to all aspects of life.
Zuri saw no reason for Mae Lin to have been put in isolation during the past few days.
Unless there was a reason why someone in VainGlory didn’t want Zuri to be in contact with Mae Lin.
But that made no sense either. Zuri had been busy creating the maze that would attract VainGlorians to Mae Lin’s designs. She’d met Milan, who had helped Zuri with ideas. She’d met Shepard Green, who had given the first endorsement that had catapulted the maze into the spotlight, resounding as a huge success.
“Oh,” Mae Lin said. “Donna came by my isolation pod early this morning to bring me over here. Before we left, she showed me how well you did last night.” Mae Lin beamed. “Good job, Zuri!”
“Thanks.” Zuri continued to struggle to find a reason why Mae Lin would be put in isolation and came up with nothing.
Mae Lin’s eyes widened in wonder. “Is it true Shepard Green is your boyfriend?”
“No!” Zuri said in protest. Reconsidering, she said, “I don’t know.”
“But you spent the night with him. I know you don’t want to do that with anyone you’re not serious about.”
Fiercely private about such things, Mae Lin’s knowledge of it chilled Zuri. “How do you know I spent the night with him?”
Unfazed, Mae Lin said, “When Donna showed me the success of last night’s maze, all the icons around it were buzzing about you and Shepard. It’s all over the network.”
Zuri shuddered, wishing she’d never accepted his invitation.
Mae Lin leaned forward and squeezed Zuri’s hand. “You worry too much!”
“Maybe. I don’t want to make the same mistake I made with Roland.”
Mae Lin laughed. “You won’t. I have faith in you. This is nothing like the relationship you had with that engineer.” She rolled her eyes. “What a loser he turned out to be—and that happened years ago. Shepard Green is different. Even if he’s not right for you, it can’t hurt to be with him for a while.”
“I don’t know. I’m not a free spirit like you. I don’t know how to breeze in and out of relationships, and it’s so easy for you.”
Mae Lin raised a reproachful eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
Zuri scrambled to amend her statement. “Nothing bad. You understand relationships, whether it’s business or friendship or romantic. It’s harder for me. That’s all.”
Mae Lin’s voice softened. “You’ll be fine with Shepard Green. Just trust your gut. If something feels right, go with it. If it doesn’t, get out as fast as you can.”
“Donna wants me to spend a lot of time with him. To be seen. I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do.”
Mae Lin shrugged. “Try it. What have you got to lose?” Once again animated, Mae Lin said, “Donna told me you should be wearing different outfits every day. Wait until you see the new designs I came up with when I was in isolation!”
Zuri watched while Mae Lin pulled her Design Pad from her pocketbook and opened a series of images to show her newest designs.
At the same time, Zuri tried to push away the nagging question of why Mae Lin had been put in isolation—and why no one had told Zuri about it.
* * *
Donna had become lost in the most recent set of statistics when an Incoming Connect dominated her field of vision. The ticker running at the bottom of the doorframe that announced the caller made her forget about the statistics. She pushed them aside and answered. “Mr. Buckingham. How can I help?”
The image of the man that materialized appeared paler and leaner than the last time she’d spoken to him. The past few months had aged him beyond his years.
“Be on the alert,” Franklin Buckingham said.
“Is it time?”
“Not quite. But it will be soon.” He paused. “Is everything in place?”
“Yes, even better than expected. The bonus has come through.”
“Bonus? What bonus?”
Donna smiled. “The business partner. I brought her to VainGlory after noticing how pretty she is. The girl is even prettier in person.”
Franklin Buckingham perked up. “Show me.”
Donna brought up an image.
Franklin Buckingham dismissed it. “Not for me.”
“Maybe not,” Donna said, “but she’ll catch someone’s eye.”
CHAPTER 24
For the next few weeks, Zuri reveled in her new-found success.
At the suggestion made by a jewelry store that caught her attention inside her Personal Bubble, Zuri treated herself by buying a diamond bracelet. Wearing it night and day, her growing ambition sparkled like every diamond captured around her wrist.
Success felt good.
Each day when she climbed out of bed and opened her wall of icons, Zuri found her business site swarmed with customers. Their bubbles jammed around the site, while they walked their own catwalks and modeled which of Mae Lin’s outfits they’d bought.
Everyone talked so loud and so fast that Zuri rarely understood anything they said, so she made a habit of nodding and smiling in response.
Success felt too good to worry about minor details like not understanding every little thing anyone said.
In the afternoons, Zuri went site-hopping with her new best friend Milan, who insisted on introducing Zuri to the most influential residents of VainGlory.
Taking Donna’s advice to heart, Zuri changed her outfit a few times every day, always sporting one of Mae Lin’s new designs and showing them off to Milan’s fancy friends and acquaintances. As a result, endorsements increased. Clusters grew. And nearly every outfit Zuri wore became a breaking trend, and she moved higher and higher inside the Platinum Tower, now just a few floors from the penthouse.
Success felt so good that Zuri wanted to drown in it.
Every evening, Shepard Green escorted Zuri to a different hot spot: Paris, Rome, London, Barcelona, Prague. Wherever they arrived, all eyes trended toward them.
They danced in clubs through the night, allowing fans to surround them with attention. Like her wall of icons, the fans shouted over each other, but the blasting music made it impossible for Zuri to hear any of them.
Like always, she smiled and nodded at them, often throwing in a friendly wave for good measure. Each time, Zuri admired the brilliance with which her diamond bracelet sparkled when she waved.
Every few days, Zuri connected with Mae Lin, who became so fascinated by her Personal Digital Assistant’s guidance that she struggled to stay focused on any conversation. One day, Zuri became so concerned that she said, “What’s going on?”
Trendy music emanated from Mae Lin’s image inside the Outgoing Connect doorframe. Zuri assumed it was her friend’s latest Personal Soundtrack, but it seemed to consume her attention. Mae Lin giggled and became sidetracked talking to her Personal Digital Assistant, Worthington, which took the shape of a robotic seahorse that hovered in mid-air.
“Mae Lin!” Zuri shouted to get her attention. “Is there a problem?”
The seahorse spun to look at Zuri.
Mae Lin’s happy expression deflated. “Why are you so shouty?”
“Because I’ve been asking questions that you’re not answering.”
The seahorse spun back to face Mae Lin, who laughed at something it said so softly that Zuri couldn’t hear. Turning her attention to Zuri, Mae Lin said, “You should come over. We’re having an opium tea party.”
Opium.
Despite the uptick in Zuri’s social life, she’d kept a promise she and Mae Lin had made to each other ten years ago. No matter what, they decided to keep their distance from any substance that could affect their business.
“Opium,” Zuri said. “That’s not what we decided. That’s not what we promised.”
Mae Lin’s face fell blank for a moment, and then she scrunched her nose in annoyance. “Oh, Zuri, don’t be so boring.”
“When I make a promise, I keep it.”
Mae Lin groaned in mock agony. “That was eons ago. Things are different now. Haven’t you noticed?”
The diamond bracelet felt cold against Zuri’s skin.
Zuri’s concern for her friend deepened by the moment. “We still have a business to run.”
“The business is fine! We’ve made enough money to last a lifetime. Relax, Zuri. All the hard work is over. Now all we have to do is enjoy what we’ve accomplished.” Mae Lin waved with a grin. “Lighten up. Remember, fame is the name of the game. And we’ve already won. We don’t have to play the game anymore.”
Mae Lin then blinked out of sight, and the Outgoing Connect icon faded back and nestled among the hundreds of other icons crowding Zuri’s wall.
Zuri considered everything Mae Lin said.
Even if they never made another sale, Mae Lin had spoken the truth when she said they now had enough money to last for the rest of their lives. It was also true that they’d risen into the highest echelons of fame.
Maybe she’s right. Maybe it is time to enjoy what we’ve achieved.
Although Zuri continued following Donna’s advice to change outfits throughout the day and comment on her customers’ comments, Zuri began to take it easy. She felt as if she were swimming in money and glory, drinking all of it in.
Without realizing it, she began to feel superior to all the artists she’d left behind in the city of Aspire. She smirked at the memory of Karen and how that woman had tried to undermine Zuri. Good riddance to Karen and her pitiful home of Ascend, to which she’d returned with her tail tucked between her legs.
Zuri considered herself too smart to make the mistakes Karen had made.
Spending more and more time with Milan, Zuri connected with Mae Lin less often.
One day, Zuri’s attempt to connect resulted in seeing a Do Not Disturb notice that popped up inside the Outgoing Connect icon.
Upset by it, Zuri poured out her heart to Milan. “She’s my best friend! We’re like sisters.”
Sharing a drink at the bar located at the highest point in VainGlory, a circular room surrounded by windows, Milan crossed her arms. “I thought I was your best friend.”
Zuri attempted to recover her good graces with the VainGlorian. “Of course, you are. What I mean to say is that Mae Lin is my oldest friend. She was my best friend when we lived in Aspire.”
“But you don’t live in Aspire anymore. And you’re not a struggling artist anymore.” Milan sipped from a tall glass filled with turquoise alcohol. “Don’t take it personally. Things change for people like you who come to VainGlory.”
People like you.
People who aren’t native VainGlorians. People who have to struggle to earn wealth because they aren’t born with it.
“Oh,” Zuri said, unable to hide the hurt in her voice. Silently, she wondered who Mae Lin could have met and be willing to get close to so quickly.
CHAPTER 25
“Come on,” Shepard Green said as they stood on top of the Great Pyramid on the Giza Plateau, a short distance from Cairo. “It’ll be fun.”
Standing on the rough stone apex, Zuri felt queasy at the sight of the distant desert sand below, where a small group of men wearing long white gowns waved frantically, possibly as a warning. “I don’t know.”
Zuri had grown fond of Shepard, happy for his constant companionship and lavish attention. She worried that he talked little about himself, which made her wonder how well she knew him. Despite that one concern, for the first time in her life, Zuri wondered if she had fallen in love.
But falling in love didn’t mean she had to fall off a 47-story-high stone structure to prove her feelings for anyone.
Zuri’s nervous fingers adjusted her diamond bracelet. The sparkling stones caught the powerful Egyptian sunlight and cast it toward her eyes, blinding Zuri for a moment.
“I dare you,” Shepard said. Grinning, he spread the paper wings attached to the harness strapped around his chest. Looking like aged parchment, they crackled against the wooden framework that held them together, like the bones of a pterodactyl. “Last one down is a rotten egg.” Giving a wild yelp, he jumped into empty air.
Zuri let loose a cry of terror without realizing she’d done it. She clung to the nearest stone to keep her balance while watching Shepard.
The athlete glided away from the pyramid with ease, sailing alongside the three pyramids that formed a line on the plateau.
The group of gowned men raced beneath him, still shouting as Shepard whooped and hollered with glee.
A whirling column of dust caught Zuri’s attention as it traveled from behind her and toward Shepard’s path.
In a moment of dread, she wondered if the gowned men on the desert floor had seen it approaching. Had those men shouted and waved with the intent of warning Zuri and Shepard?
Zuri crouched and held on tight to the stone as wind buffeted all around her. For a few moments, it threatened to rip her into its dangerous embrace.
Those moments passed. Zuri turned her attention to the continuing path of the whirling dust. Her throat tightened with dread when she saw it aim for Shepard.
“Shepard!” Zuri cried out.
The whirling dust caught Shepard before he could glide down toward the desert. The column spun him head over heels, ripping his paper wings into shreds and the wooden frame into splinters.
The dust spit Shepard out, and he plummeted to the hard sand floor below.
Zuri screamed and stared in disbelief at Shepard’s motionless body, looking like a broken marionette.
How do I get down? How do I get to Shepard?
But then the truth dawned on Zuri.
This isn’t real. We’re not in Egypt. We’re inside Shepard’s home, like always. He’s fine. Nothing’s wrong. All I have to do is figure out how to get back.
She turned in place, looking all around her until she saw the glimmering doorway and Shepard’s hallway leading to his bedroom beyond it.
But the doorway stood several feet from the edge of this level of the pyramid. They had first climbed onto it several feet below.
Zuri looked at the downward climb she now faced. She’d only been able to ascend the enormous stone blocks with Shepard’s help. Descending on her ow
n would involve a series of steep drops.
“Shepard!” she called out to the doorway leading back to his home. “Where are you?”
His failure to answer worried Zuri.
She imagined he might be fetching lunch from his delivery door. Or he might be in the bathroom. Or he might have received an important Incoming Connect from his coach or agent.
Still, concern gnawed at the back of Zuri’s thoughts.
Not willing to take the time to descend the pyramid, Zuri edged her way to the other side of the pyramid’s apex and took the few steps possible to give her a running leap. One foot grazed the edge of the doorframe, accidentally kicking her away from a safe landing.
Falling, she made a desperate grab with her hands, catching the doorframe before she could plunge beneath it.
Heart racing, Zuri drew upon all the willpower and faith in herself she’d developed in Aspire. With a guttural yell to gather strength and fortitude, she hauled herself up and onto the safety of the floor of Shepard’s bedroom.
But when Zuri looked up, she saw no sign of Shepard Green.
* * *
Zuri sprinted down the hallway into her boyfriend’s bedroom. “Shepard! Where are you?”
The bedroom stood empty.
She found the adjacent bathroom empty, as well.
Zuri ran into the hallway, ready to check the rest of Shepard’s home.
But the doorway at the end of the hallway still displayed the side of the pyramid in Egypt. Zuri stopped at its edge and yelled through the doorway. “Shepard!”
The only response she heard was the sound of men yelling in Arabic.
A light, warm breeze tickled her skin. Its touch caught Zuri’s attention, because it didn’t come from the other side of the doorway, where the desert weather was hot and dry.
The breeze came from behind her. From the bedroom.
Zuri crept back into that room, following the feel of the breeze, now drifting into her face. Setting foot back inside the bedroom, she said, “Shepard?”