A Buried Spark

by P. J. Hoover

  Lights come on as we enter. The office is a lot like Zachary’s office in that it’s more of a lab with all sorts of equipment laying around on tables. There are at least five pairs of VR goggles, haptic gloves and suits, spinning trampoline treadmills that simulate a full range of motion. Pretty much every state-of-the-art piece of VR equipment I ever knew existed before the labyrinth. Off to the side of the room are three pods, inclined at an angle like glass coffins.

  “Nope,” Taylor says, shaking her head as soon as she sees them. “I am not getting back in one of those.”

  I have zero desire to get into another VR pod either. But I am also determined to get into the simulation.

  “We have to,” I say, starting for the pods.

  “Oh, Edie,” Iva says. “Those are just for show. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

  I’ve been inserted into two VR stasis pods thus far. I’ve come out of one. “We’re still in the other pods,” I say.

  Iva nods. “Exactly. You never left, so logic says that you’re still there.”

  Logic. It’s almost escaped me with everything that’s been going on, and yet here it is, right when I need it.

  “Well,” Iva says. “That’s if you were ever really in one in the first place.”

  Iva and her games are getting old faster than day-old cheese left out in the Florida sun.

  “So what do we do?” Taylor asks.

  Iva picks up a pair of the goggles and passes them over to me. “I’ve programmed these for each of you. I’ll activate Zachary’s first, and once he’s opened the simulation, yours should come online. Then, with the heads-up display options, you should be able to enter the simulation.”

  “That’s it?” Taylor says.

  It does sound pretty simple when Iva puts it like that.

  “That’s it!” She hands Taylor a pair of the goggles also. Taylor flips them around, looking for wires or buttons, but the goggles seem to be self-contained.

  Zachary grabs the third set of goggles. “Just for the record though, I’m going in, but then I’m getting out. I’m not staying in the simulation.”

  “Whatever you say,” Iva says, then she skips over to one of the computer terminals. “Now can we stop wasting time?”

  Time that Owen can use to find the key and reach Main Control Room Alpha. Time that Chaos can use to steal power from anyone who happens to make it all the way to the end.

  I slip the goggles over my head, making sure the strap in the back is snug but not too tight. Instantly the lab becomes a sketch of itself, almost like a doodle. I move my hand on front of my face. It looks like a drawing also, and where it moves, motion lines blur across the screen. It’s like we’ve been inserted into a comic book.

  “Why is it all black and white?” Taylor asks.

  “Just hang tight,” Iva says. I can’t see her even when I turn to face where I know she should be. But I hear typing, like she’s clicking away at some kind of keyboard. I don’t know how she can see what she’s typing. “Okay, you guys ready?”

  “No,” Zachary says. “But I don’t think that’s an option. So I guess I’m ready.”

  He better be if we need him to get into the simulation.

  “I’m sending Zachary in now,” Iva says.

  I’m looking right at him, and he vanishes. It’s impossible just like everything else.

  Iva keeps tapping keys on the terminal, counting down, muttering things that range from “access point” to “stop complaining.” I’m guessing from this last one that she’s in direct communication with Zachary.

  Then the heads-up display in front of me comes to life, flashing a range of icons instead of just words. Symbols. Greek letters. It only takes me a second to spot the logical choice.

  “Select the Omega,” I say to Taylor.

  With my eyes I select it, and new icons appear, choices. There is a green check mark that highlights when my eyes move over it. I select it.

  The background of the lab and its comic sketch vanishes and everything around me turns gray.

  XVI

  Clicking. Scraping, like something being dragged over metal. More clicks. And endless gray.

  “Taylor? You still there?” I say.

  There’s no response. Only the scraping and the clicking. Then there’s a snap, and everything goes black.

  I step back, and the edges of my vision begin to fill in.

  The lava river flows in front of me, but it’s different than before. It takes me a moment to figure out why. I must be on the other side because far in the distance is the wall of lava, still blocking entry. On top of the lava, black platforms float, like some sort of ferry system. Above me is a gray sky, devoid of clouds, birds, anything. Everything. Only gray. I turn slowly, counterclockwise, spinning until I’m looking the opposite way. Ahead of me is a solid sheet of silver, starting at the ground and extending upward far into the gray sky. I can’t see the top of it. For all I know there is no top of it.

  “Edie,” someone says, off to my left.

  I turn to see Taylor and Zachary standing twenty yards away near a white column that also extends up into the sky. It must be some kind of interface, because symbols scroll all over it. Zachary’s messing with them like a control panel. Whatever he and Iva did, Taylor and I now seem to be across the river.

  “You did it,” I say, hurrying over to join them.

  But Zachary shakes his head. “You’re not in yet.” He points to the wall of silver. “This is like the prep room. The actual simulation is inside there.”

  Dread fills me as I turn back toward the silver barrier. It ripples and moves, like a sheet of mercury that is alive. Once I pass through it, there will be no turning back. I know that. But I also know that I have to. We have to.

  “You guys ready?” I ask.

  “Not me,” Zachary says. “I need to get back.”

  Taylor laughs. “Get back. Why? You scared?”

  Zachary scowls. “I’m not scared. But I opened the simulation. You guys should be able to get in no problem.”

  “What if we can’t?” Taylor says. “What if you messed up?”

  “Please,” Zachary says. “I don’t mess up.”

  “Why not come with us then?” Taylor says.

  I can’t tell if she really wants him to come into the simulation with us or if she’s testing him. Either way, the muscles in his face gets tighter with every second that goes by.

  “Gee, I’d love to,” Zachary says. “But I have simulations running. I need to get back to them.”

  “Simulations running!” Taylor says. “What? Like the labyrinth? More kids you’re deciding to torment?”

  He shakes his head. “No. But things I’m testing. And if I’m not there to monitor them, we’re going to have some serious problems.”

  “What kind of problems?” I ask.

  He raises a lip, as if the thought torments him. “Well, here’s the thing about the simulations. When I’m there, I control them. When I’m not there . . . they control themselves.”

  “Like what?” I ask. “They become . . .”

  “Sentient,” Zachary finished. “They do what they want.”

  The last thing we need—or the world needs for that matter—is simulations coming to life. The world is already in enough trouble.

  “Sounds like an excuse to me,” Taylor says.

  I’m not so sure. If Zachary is telling the truth, then he has done his part. We’re across the river. Taylor and I can go into the simulation.

  “It’s okay,” I say. “You can go. But thank you for your help.”

  “Help,” Taylor says, scoffing. “Let’s not be too generous with our thanks.”

  Maybe. Maybe not.

  “Is this where you snap your fingers and leave?” I say.

  “I guess so,” Zachary says. He shuf
fles on his feet, and for a second I think he’s going to hug me. Instead he says, “Be safe, you guys.” Then he snaps his fingers.

  Nothing happens.

  Nobody speaks for a moment. Zachary snaps his fingers again. But still he remains right there with us, at the space between the wall of silver and the lava river.

  “Okay, this is ridiculous,” Zachary says, and he turns back to the white column. I come around so I’m standing behind him. From there, through my heads-up display, a screen becomes visible. He taps through a bunch of commands and menu choices. “All I have to do is find the . . . okay there it is.”

  The screen lists four choices.

  Select action

  Transfer

  Extract

  Relocate

  Help

  The only problem is that all four of the menu choices are grayed out. Zachary presses Extract, but each time, it buzzes in response. After five times, a male voice I don’t recognize says, “Extraction from Simulation Omega not permitted.”

  “Not permitted,” Zachary says. “But we’re not in the simulation yet.”

  The voice doesn’t respond to him. But the options remain grayed out. Simulations to babysit or not, Zachary seems to have only the same choices as Taylor and me.

  I place a hand on his arm. “You could come with us.”

  He shakes his head. “That’s not the plan.”

  “The plan,” Taylor says. “And what plan is that? Iva’s plan? Don’t you think she knew this would happen? Don’t you think this was part of her plan all along?”

  Understanding dawns on Zachary’s face, and he narrows his eyes. “Next time I see her, she is seriously going to be sorry.”

  I pull him away from the column, toward the wall of silver. “Yeah, well let’s just make sure there is a next time, okay?”

  “Oh, there will be,” Zachary says. “Trust me.”

  “Not a chance,” Taylor says. “Now let’s go.”

  She grabs his arm like she’s going to drag him forward, but Zachary pulls back.

  “Do you have any idea all the things beyond that barrier that are going to try to kill us?” he says.

  I don’t, which is probably a good thing. If I’d known ahead of time what was waiting for me in the labyrinth and in Simulation Avine, I never would have gone. Or at least I wouldn’t have been so eager.

  “Do you?” I ask, a small bit of hope creeping into my voice. Maybe Zachary knows more than he’s told us. Anything to give us an advantage.

  He shakes his head. “No. Not a stupid thing. Chaos created it, and all I know is that we better be prepared for the worst.”

  If as in prepared he means that we have no weapons, then I guess he’s right. I realize now that my knife is gone, my compass is gone. Taylor is equally empty-handed. I almost pull on my power and create something from the materials around us, but I stop at the last second. I can’t use the power. Not yet. If I do, it might alert Chaos to the fact that I’m here. I’ll save it for when I really need it.

  We trudge across the uneven ground to the wall of silver and stop about a foot away. The thick liquid moves like a metallic waterfall, except it flows upward. It comes out of the ground. There is no seam under it. No way to see through it. I tap it lightly with my finger. It depresses slightly and bounces back, but it stays solid. I press harder, using the palm of my hand. I push as hard as I can, trying to make a dent, but it doesn’t separate.

  “We aren’t breaking through,” Taylor says, kicking at the wall. “This thing is solid.”

  I press harder on the wall. For only having VR goggles on, everything feels as real as if I were really here. But the VR goggles are only a layer over the stasis pod. Or is that a layer over a different set of VR goggles? Instantly my mind wants to piece out the logic of what came first, of the layers of virtual reality. But it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is moving forward.

  I press my hand flat on the wall of silver, barely touching it. My heads-up display flickers and words appear.

  Enter Identification Code

  I look quickly to Taylor and Zachary. This was not part of the plan. The plan was for the simulation to be open.

  Zachary puts up a hand. “It’s okay. There’s a code.”

  “What code?” I ask. I try to keep my breathing under control, but we can’t fail here. Not now. We aren’t even in. Not really.

  “A generic code I created,” Zachary says. “Like a guest login account. If the simulation is open, then it should work to let us in.”

  On the top of my tongue is the opposite option. What if it doesn’t work? But no. I’m not going to assume failure. We are getting into this simulation one way or the other.

  “What’s the code?” Taylor asks.

  “0m1cr0n5,” Zachary says, spelling it out in letters and numbers.

  I input it through my heads-up display once he’s told me the whole thing. A single option appears when I’m done.

  Enter Simulation

  I select it.

  Instantly the wall of silver begins to morph. Instead of flowing upward in front of me, it moves like water around my feet, so fast that by the time I think to look over to Taylor and Zachary, the silver has blocked them from view. Then it’s over my head, and I’m solely inside it, silver on all sides of me like a cocoon. There is no sign of Zachary or Taylor. There’s no sign of anything. Only me now encased in the silver.

  ENTRY

  XVII

  I press on the barrier around me. It molds to me but doesn’t break. I hit it with my fists and shoulders, but it doesn’t budge. There is no sign of where I came from. No obvious way out.

  “Taylor!” I shout. “Zachary!”

  There is no answer. I am alone. I need to figure out what to do next.

  The silver is like an eggshell around me. Over my head. Under my feet. Wide enough for me to extend my hands around in all directions.

  I’m dressed in fresh clothes, identical to the ones I wore before. Gunmetal gray tank top and cargo pants. Heavy black boots. But there is no belt around my waist. No weapons. No wristband that I’d used to communicate with Zachary Gomez. No supplies. My curly hair is tied back in a ponytail at the base of my neck.

  I flex my fingers, feeling for the simulation connections. I press my hands to my eyes. The simulation, as with the others, is perfect. Precise. And now that I’m here, I need to move on.

  I take a step forward, and the silver morphs and flows, keeping my boundary secure. I step backward, and once again it follows me. But I can’t just stay here. I need to get into Simulation Omega.

  Logic. I fall back on it. I got in here by pressing my palm on the silver. In Simulation Avine, we pressed our palms on the world gates. It must be the method of contact. A means of communication.

  I press my palm flat on the barrier in front of me. Instantly my heads-up display comes to life.

  It flickers and shifts and all sorts of code and images scroll across my vision. Then it finally resettles. Against the backdrop of the silver barrier, blue words appear.

  Identification Code validated.

  Are you ready to enter Simulation Omega?

  Upon seeing the words, my stomach tenses. This is it. Simulation Omega. Whatever happens inside this place, it will be the final simulation. And it’s where I need to go.

  There are two options below the words.

  Yes

  No

  There is no chance in hell that I would say no. I’ve sacrificed too much to get here. Been through too much. I need to find Thomas. I need to defeat Chaos. And then . . . I’ll figure out what comes next after that. But until then, I have a plan.

  I take a deep breath and select Yes with my eyes. The words fade away and new ones appear.

  Welcome to Simulation Omega.

  Simulation Calibra
tion commencing.

  What is your biggest strength?

  My biggest strength has always been my mind. My logic.

  At the thought, the words fade away and are replaced.

  What is your biggest weakness?

  I am not weak. I have never been weak. There is nothing I can’t use logic to solve. That’s why it’s my biggest strength. But if logic were to fade into the background and no longer work . . . that’s when I’d run into a problem. Still, in a simulation, logic has to prevail.

  The words fade away. Whatever my answer, the simulation has recorded it.

  New words appear.

  What are you afraid of?

  I look around my cocoon of silver, sure I’m being watched. There is no one here but me. Still, it’s like I’m a rat in a cage and an entire room full of gods sit watching me. Wondering what my fear will be. Thinking up ways to use it against me. There had been the spider, the trees, the monster at the end of the labyrinth. But I’ve faced all those. There had even been Owen. After Homecoming, I would have sworn he was my biggest fear. Even the thought of visiting my best friend Emily who lived on his street was enough to send me into a near panic attack. But I’d faced Owen, too. Multiple times. And sure, Owen is a monster in his own right, but he’s not my biggest fear.

  Instead images come to me. My parents on their ship as it sinks beneath the black water. Thomas taken from me and brought to this place. Cole, leaving me.