A Buried Spark

by P. J. Hoover

  Abigail has jumped to the next spot and now faces a huge goat. Whatever I do, I am on my own. We each are.

  Focus.

  I pull on my powers again, but with running away from the giant monster, they slip out of my grasp. I try again and get the same result. Taylor screams and runs for the crab. One of its claws grabs out for her, but she jumps, vaulting through the air, and lands on top of it. Cole has hold of one of the horns of the ram, but it’s shaking its head and tossing him around.

  I can’t help them until I help myself.

  The scorpion lashes out with a pincer. I jump back, then I edge closer to the water. It scrambles forward, closer to me. I move again. The spray of water hits my back. One more step and the water is going to sweep me away.

  The scorpion inches again toward me. I pretend to fall, stumbling slightly, hoping it thinks I’m hurt. Then I take my eyes off it and look down. It’s all I can do to not run. Though it feels like an eternity, it can’t be more than two seconds that go by before the scorpion pounces.

  I fall and roll over backward, changing direction so I’m moving away from the water. The scorpion hasn’t thought it through like I have. Its forward momentum carries it directly into the path of the water. Instantly it’s sucked away. The water moves so fast that it becomes a blur.

  I get to my feet and run toward Thomas, and the second he’s within reach, I grab him and pull him close to me.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask as I hug him close. He shouldn’t be anywhere near here. He should be safe in the data storage banks, back in the volcano. Or at least safe now that we’ve locked out any more potential intruders who would destroy the place

  “Edie, stop holding me so hard.” He struggles against my embrace, typical Thomas.

  I give him a final hug and let him go, then I get down on one knee so I’m on the same level as him. “What happened?”

  Tears well up in his eyes, but he presses his lips together like he’s trying to be brave. “That girl was trying to hurt you, Edie. Why was she doing that?”

  There is so much required to answer that question. It’s hard to even know.

  “She didn’t like me,” I say.

  Thomas sniffs and wipes at his eye where a single tear has managed to escape. “Well I’m glad she’s dead.”

  I hope she’s dead. Her charred body lies motionless not ten feet away. I’m not going any closer to it.

  “Me, too.” I ruffle his hair, wanting to hug him again. “What happened? Did you make it to Colorado?”

  His eyes get really big. “I was, Edie. I was with Aunt Kathy. In the kitchen. Uncle Simon was outside. Then he just wasn’t there. Then Aunt Kathy wasn’t either. They were there and then they vanished. I don’t know what happened.”

  They were put in storage. Uploaded to the memory banks before the world became a battleground.

  “What about you?” I ask. I try to keep my voice steady because I don’t want to freak him out.

  “I don’t know, Edie,” Thomas says. “I was in the kitchen, and this giant snake came along and he talked to me. Talked to me for real. I know you don’t believe me.”

  “I believe you,” I say. “What did the giant snake say?”

  Thomas gives me a small grin. “He said he was going to hide me where they couldn’t find me. Then everything went dark, kind of like I was sleeping because I kept having dreams. But then I woke up and that mean girl was there and she took me to some kind of giant place with all these weird jars with things that moved inside. And she told me I had to stay there until it was time. I thought she was never going to come back, so I tried to leave. But I knocked over a few of the jars and . . .” His voice trails off.

  “And what?” I barely ask. I realize I’m holding my breath, and I suck in, getting fresh air.

  “Edie, I know you think I make up things, but I swear I’m not making it up. But there were these gross slimy monsters and they tried to attack me and I killed them.”

  Killed them. I want to ask how, but Thomas keeps talking.

  “Then the mean girl showed up again and she was really grouchy and she brought me here. And all scorpions aren’t that big, are they?”

  I can’t help but laugh because even after what he’s been through, somewhere along the line he’s shifted back to being a normal seven-year-old kid.

  “Let’s hope it’s only that one,” I say.

  Hudson rushes up then. “Did you see that?”

  His voice is filled with as much wonder as Thomas’s, almost like he’s a little kid also.

  “See what?” I ask.

  “The lion,” he says. “I demolished it.”

  “Good thing,” I say. The alternative isn’t very promising.

  Cole and Taylor run up next, joining us. Owen stays away, on the other side of the inner circle.

  “Do you think she ever was truly my friend?” Cole asks, walking over to where Pia’s charred body lies unmoving.

  The question could be asked about any of us. Who were we before we came into the simulation? Were we on Earth specifically for this purpose all along? Did we ever have a choice in the matter?

  I dig deep, looking for the answer. Whether the gods had a part of our conception doesn’t matter. I was a normal kid before this all started. I think back on what Cole told me about Pia, about her past. Being bullied. Changing schools. I can’t believe that was all a lie. I’m not willing to believe it.

  “Yeah, I think she was,” I say, standing. I keep hold of Thomas’s hand. “I think the simulation changed her.” Like it changed all of us.

  “Yeah, well I’m ready for this simulation to be over,” Taylor says. “So show me Chaos and let’s get this moving on.”

  There is a boom of thunder and a pulse of light that starts at the inner circle where we stand. Abigail comes running, latching onto Owen’s arm. The burst of light rushes outward, and when it gets to the edge of the outer circle, everything outside of the zodiac circle vanishes.

  A couple other kids begin to appear, spaced out on the circle. Rex, from the refueling zone back in Simulation Avine. Next to him is his twin sister, Amanda. Simone—Queen Simone—appears next, her short blond hair cut into a bob. Next to her is Damien, her guard and fellow-tormenter. They’d taken over the refueling zone and killed anyone who’d come there to get energy. The tall red-headed girl from the labyrinth appears next. I’d assumed she had died in the simulation, but maybe she’d only been trapped there. Now she’s here.

  A couple others appear, but nobody speaks. I don’t know why they’re here. I don’t want them here.

  Then something begins to grow from the center of the circle.

  XXXIX

  I grab Thomas and manage to scramble out of the way before the thing starts jutting upward, breaking the circle, spreading it farther apart.

  It’s a sharp spike, but soon details begin to fill in. Pink and black glass windows. Sharp angles made of steel. It’s not growing. It’s more like the ground far beneath us is being pushed up, and the circle we’re in is making room for it.

  The segments of the zodiac circle break apart, and long steel bridges stretch between them. Thomas and I are on one, but we’re the only ones. Cole is in the next segment. He spots us and rushes across the steel bridge. The crutch catches on a gap in the metal, slowing him down, but he yanks it free, nearly snapping it in half, and gets across just in time.

  I link my arm through his the second he’s in reach, pulling him close.

  Thomas stares at Cole like he’s from another planet. But in fairness, Thomas has never met Cole. Never met any of my friends from the simulation . . . except for Owen back when we were dating.

  The building is still growing, reaching up so high the spike on top is nearly out of sight. Metal continues to groan.

  “I’ve seen this before,” I say. “It’s the control room.”<
br />
  Cole nods. “I saw it, too. And we have the pieces of the key. We can get inside.”

  I doubt anything is going to be that easy.

  I point to his crutch which is splitting and isn’t going to see it through much more. “You need a new one.”

  He tosses it aside. The second it hits the ground, it breaks into two pieces. “I made that one in a hurry,” Cole says. Then he reaches out for the power. Though he’s the one using it, I feel a small pull inside myself, letting me know that they’re linked. One power shared between the two of us. I watch as Cole pulls bits and pieces of the simulation around us into a new prosthetic attached at the bottom of his left leg. When he’s done, it looks perfect, blended in almost seamlessly beneath the material of his pants.

  “Nice job,” I say, stepping back. Thomas is still right there next to me.

  Cole bends at the knees a few times, testing out the feel. “It’s not bad, I guess.”

  “You made that?” Thomas asks.

  “I sure did,” Cole says, ruffling the top of Thomas’s hair. “Pretty cool, right?”

  Thomas’s eyes are wide. “Really cool. Can you make me something?”

  Cole is about to answer, but instead he takes a step back and stiffens. It only takes me a second to realize the groaning of the building has stopped, the pink and black glass building stands fully formed before us at the center of the circle. But instead of feeling inviting, there is a force coming off it that I’ve felt before. Waves of terror pulse out from it, as if a malevolent entity is inside.

  Main Control Room Alpha. We’ve found it. But we aren’t the only ones here. Chaos is inside, waiting for us. There is no doubt in my mind.

  “I think you should make me a weapon,” Thomas says. He sounds so grown up in that moment, and I wish desperately that none of this had ever happened. That I wasn’t in a situation where I would consider having to make him something to protect himself.

  I squat back down. “What kind of weapon do you want?”

  Thomas seems to consider this. “Maybe an ax.” His voice is uncertain, no doubt remembering back at our house in Florida when we’d found my parents’ ax. He’d almost killed me with it back then. But that was then.

  “An ax sounds perfect,” I say. Whatever is ahead, weapons for all of us is a really good idea.

  XL

  Hudson and Taylor join us. Cole and I craft weapons, pulling from the surrounding structure to create them. Taylor gets a giant bow worthy of the one she lost in the labyrinth. Hudson gets something that looks like a Frisbee made of sharp metal that returns to him when he throws it. Cole makes himself a hammer. It’s as long as his forearm and has a head as black as ink. But the best part is that when he spins it in a circle in the air, it renders him invisible.

  “Nice thinking,” I say, balancing the ax I’ve created in the palm of my hand.

  Rex and Amanda join us.

  “You found her,” Taylor says, nodding her head at Amanda.

  Rex puts his arm on Amanda’s shoulder. “She was trapped in Refuel Zone Kappa. I went back. I got her out.”

  Amanda frowns and nods over to where Simone and Damien watch us. “I tried to kill them. I wanted to go back. But the world gate kept me away.”

  Maybe intentionally, I think. Maybe so more of us would be here, now, at the end.

  “How’d you get here?” Cole asks. He keeps an eye on Simone and Damien and clutches his hammer solidly, ready to attack.

  Rex points to his temple. “The heads-up display. It alerted us that we could transport to a new simulation. That the old simulation would be shutting down.”

  This must have been when Iva opened the simulation up wide.

  “So we went,” Amanda says. “And now it seems like I’ll get my chance for revenge.”

  I don’t think seeking revenge on Simone and Damien is our biggest concern at the moment. It’s Chaos that we need to worry about.

  Cole and I make weapons for Rex and his twin, double daggers for Amanda and a long straight sword for Rex. Then Rex enables something via his heads-up display. Invisible armor pools over him, molding to his body. Either he brought it from the other simulation or he found it here. Maybe he has help from the gods also.

  Harsh words float to my ears, and I look over to see Owen and Abigail arguing with each other. If I wasn’t seeing it, I wouldn’t believe it. It’s got to be the first time I’ve seen her stand up to him and not agree with his every word and action. I try to listen in, but their words are muted though the anger on their faces is not.

  “We’re wasting time,” Taylor says.

  She’s right. It’s time to move.

  I look down at Thomas. “Do not leave my side. No matter what. Okay?”

  He nods. “Why would I?”

  “You wouldn’t,” I say. “But I don’t know what’s going to happen in there. Just make sure you stay right next to me, always. Promise.”

  “I promise,” Thomas says.

  I look to the others. I don’t have to say what I’m thinking. Look out for my brother.

  Taylor nods, her eyes fierce. She knows what it’s like to lose a brother. She won’t let that happen to me. Then we start forward toward the control room.

  The waves of terror increase the closer we get. It starts out as a force, like air that is trying to push me backward, but soon I’m shaking. Not a huge amount, but like I’ve been shocked and I’m trying to put it behind me.

  This is such a bad idea. All we’re going to find inside is death.

  No. That’s not me thinking. It’s what this simulation wants me to think. It’s Chaos trying to get into my mind. I don’t have room for him in there. I push the thoughts away.

  But no sooner are they gone, a new thought begins to form. Pia is inside, and I know the second we walk through the door, she is going to grab Thomas and kill him. I will watch him die.

  No. That’s not real either. Pia is dead. Chaos used her until she wasn’t of any use to him anymore. And Thomas is not going to die.

  One after another, with every step we take, the thoughts that pour through my mind get worse. Thomas dies. Cole dies. Hudson and Taylor die. Even the thought of Owen dying inside doesn’t fill me with relief. Chaos is a common enemy. Owen and I can have our final fight after he is gone.

  Finally we stand in front of the glass building. An invisible sun shines down from above, glittering off the pink and black glass windows. There is no door. There is only a huge panel that shimmers in a rainbow of colors.

  Owen and Abigail join us. We don’t speak. We stand there watching the panel. Then Simone and Damien join. Anger fills me the second she’s near. But if anger fills me, it doesn’t begin to describe what Rex and Amanda must be going through. Amanda visibly begins to shake, and Rex places a hand on her arm. He whispers something in her ear. I don’t know what. I can’t worry about it now.

  The red-head from the labyrinth joins. A couple others I don’t recognize. Over twenty of us stand there at the barrier to the control room. Twenty of us left. It’s too many. Or is it enough?

  Nobody moves. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. But we have to get inside. I have to get inside. I pull up my inventory and I find the pieces of the key. I grab the first piece, and with my heads-up display, I select Interact on the panel.

  Immediately the panel stops shifting in color and settles on solid red. I transfer the first piece of the key to it and the color shifts to orange. I select the second piece, but before I get the chance to use it, someone else transfers it to the panel. It shifts to yellow. Then the third piece and the panel turns green.

  I see how this is going, so I select the final piece and I wait. The fourth piece of the key is transferred and the panel turns blue. It’s time to act. I transfer the fifth and final piece of the key to the panel.

  Nothing happens. At least not at first. The symb
ols sit there, in a row, just like I’ve transferred them. Then they begin to float around on the panel, spreading apart. But the color of the panel doesn’t change. And if there is a door to Main Control Room Alpha, it is certainly not revealed.

  “My fifth piece doesn’t look like that,” Owen says.

  Abigail shakes her head, her long hair flowing around her. “Mine either.”

  “Also me,” Taylor says.

  One by one the truth is revealed. We each got a different code. And I worry about what that means. It could be that only one of them is correct. Only one of us will be able to enter Main Control Room Alpha.

  Logic filters into my mind, trying to make sense of the situation. IF-THEN-ELSE. If I got a piece of the key, and if it is not the same as anyone else’s piece of the key, then . . . I don’t know. But we need to find out.

  I lean over and whisper to Cole. “Put your fifth piece on there also.”

  He nods and transfers his piece of the key to the panel. The symbols are definitely different than mine, and they do the same thing, floating apart, but changing nothing. One by one we each transfer our fifth piece of the key to the panel. Abigail. Hudson. Simone. Damien. Everyone else who stands there with us transfers their piece until only Taylor and Owen are left.

  Taylor looks directly at Owen. “Same time.” She points to the Oculus. “With this thing, I see at least fifty futures where you cheat. And each time you cheat, you die. I kill you. Every. Single. Time. So don’t cheat, okay?”

  Even Owen is not immune to the power of prophecy. He swallows and says, “Same time.”

  They both transfer their pieces of the key to the panel. The symbols float into place, shifting the other symbols apart until the entire fifth piece of the key is formed. Then they morph and become a string of symbols I’ve seen before, outside the volcano, on the box holding the compass.

  God. The Home of the Gods.