The man looked past him to the door, where the last of the violent shouts died away as the barrier swung closed. His mouth tightened and he paused. “Senator Williams, believe me when I say that of all the things I may think about you, I do not believe you would ever recklessly endanger the life of your son.” He cleared his throat awkwardly and offered the tentative smile of someone who attempted a risky joke. “Your opinions may generally be horseshit, but you’re a good man.”
Tad burst out laughing. He’d needed that and without hesitation, held his hand out for Snelling to clasp. “What do you say we shake it up next time? Go out together and confuse all of the protesters?”
Snelling nodded. “Oh, and by the way, my aides will set up a meeting later. I have a bill I’d like your support on. Or, as is more likely, your pointed comments.”
“I’ll do my best to oblige.” He smiled and headed down the corridor.
More protesters were clustered outside his door and Kevin swept him inside before he could make out what they were saying. They’d taken the time to set it to meter and rhyme, he could tell, but he definitely tried not to know what they accused him of.
“If I hear that stupid chant one more time…” the aide muttered. He guided him into the main room. “The senator’s back, everyone.”
“Welcome, sir.” A few of his aides waved at him.
“Good morning, everyone.” He checked the clock. “Afternoon. Good afternoon. So, what’s on the docket, then?”
They exchanged slightly nervous looks.
“On the way in here,” Tad said conversationally as he took his seat, “I was accused of turning my son into a cyborg for the military. That has set the bar rather high for ridiculous things to say. You’re probably fine.”
A few of them laughed.
“We’re working on your public image,” Alice said and took point. “We’ll work with you to draft a public statement but in the meantime, we also need to garner positive publicity for you.”
“Do we?” he asked wearily. “Elections aren’t for two years and I clearly won’t win, so…”
She gave him a stern look. “We will have you back on track soon,” she said, “but what we need is for you to not get pressured into resigning between now and then.”
Tad sighed. He leaned back in his chair and nodded. “Continue.”
“We’ve compiled a list of fundraisers and events for you to appear at,” she said.
“No. Absolutely not. I didn’t come here to rub shoulders with the elite, I came here to—”
“To do things like tackle child cancer?” Alice suggested delicately. She pushed a dossier down the table and the other aides passed it along. “Or, perhaps, provide technological help for farmers?” Another dossier joined the first.
He looked at them, then at the group of aides. “So that was why you were all nervous. Don’t you think child cancer charities is laying it on a little thick?”
“It’s a bipartisan issue,” Kevin pointed out as he brought him another cup of coffee.
“It has nothing to do with any of the current bills,” he protested.
“Which is another reason it’s good,” Alice pointed out. “There isn’t any especially heated rhetoric, merely an opportunity for you to speak to donors, make a donation yourself, and be seen to give your time for a worthy purpose.”
Tad sighed.
“We know you don’t want to spend your time this way,” Kevin said, “but Alice has done good work to compile this list. We have high rollers from all walks, including several who have backed experimental medical procedures before. Senator Yaczwinski actually used one, and she’ll be at the benefit for—”
“Okay, but if so many people have backed experimental medical treatments,” he interrupted wearily, “why can’t we set up an interview where I explain what’s going on and tell the truth? That will clear things up nicely, won’t it?”
After a pause, all the aides began to snicker. Within a few seconds, every one of them was doubled over, holding their sides.
“The truth!” Kevin gasped.
“It’ll clear things up,” Tom agreed. “Oh, man.”
Alice tried to remain calm, but she looked like she might break a rib trying not to laugh. “Um, sir.” She could not seem to find words to say. “While I appreciate your…um…”
“Childlike naivete?” Kevin suggested.
The woman darted him a look before she focused on the senator. “It’s risky to put out a statement before we have a good idea of what people are thinking,” she explained. “Ronan and Bridget are compiling the data from calls and opinion polls, and they’ll help us craft the statement for tomorrow.”
“I should have known,” he said and sighed. “Telling the truth was too simple and too ridiculous a plan in this town.”
“Mm-hmm,” she agreed.
“You know who should make a speech,” Tad muttered, “is Dru Metcalfe.”
“He’d only lie through his teeth,” Kevin pointed out. “He’s notorious. Apparently, he’s worked with ninety-five percent of the senators currently here.”
“And how many did he run off?” he asked bitterly. A few people shuffled their papers anxiously and he sighed. “I’m sorry. It turns out it’s a little stressful waiting to find out what lie will come down the pike next.”
“If we could nail Metcalfe, that would be amazing,” Alice said wistfully. “It would be so on-brand for you, too—expose the corruption and show how he’s swayed public opinion before. We could have you on record saying how you understand why people were so horrified—” She shook herself. “It’s best to have manageable goals, though.”
Tad knew a lost fight when he saw one. He pulled the dossiers close and read through them. The team had done good work, he had to admit that. They’d successfully found events that would be populated by members of both major parties, and if he could make donations at some of them, he’d gain valuable credibility.
He had come to have his actions speak for him, he thought despairingly, not his donations—and not lobbyists.
“Senator?” Alice spoke again. She was smiling slightly.
“Yes?” He frowned.
“Smear campaigns are very common,” she said. “Perhaps I’m out of line, but it seems like you hold yourself responsible—as if you messed up or left an opening. Remember that no matter what you did, Metcalfe would have created a smear campaign for you. We knew when we signed on that you wouldn’t be popular with lobbyists. We’re not surprised to have this meeting.”
He smiled at her. “Thank you.” He looked around the table. “You’re all more sensible than I am, then. I thought this would be smoother sailing than it has been. I thought all the drama would be in the senate chambers.”
“That’s merely the tip of the iceberg,” Kevin said. “The very smallest, tiniest tip of a gigantic iceberg. Trust me. And you’ve made our jobs so much easier by not going out drinking and hiring call girls and so on. You getting your son medical care? Now, that’s the type of public relations situation aides dream of.”
Despite the hollow pit in his stomach, he laughed. “I never knew that bar was set so low. All right, everyone. Prep me for these events, please.”
Mary paced around the tiny seating area. She was bemused by her own anxiety. On a normal day, she would be happy to not leave the house at all and the downstairs wasn’t really larger than the lab. However, after being stuck near Justin’s pod for weeks, she was about to climb the walls.
Tina’s imminent arrival didn’t help to soothe her nerves. Originally, she had seen a couple of pictures of the girl—pictures she now realized had been carefully curated by her mother to give the impression of a dutiful, obedient daughter. She had found her Facebook page, and the profile picture there clearly showed both tattoos and a certain devil-may-care attitude.
When a car door slammed outside, she stood quickly. What was she feeling? Nervousness? Anger? Hope?
Tina arrived, walking in with Anna Price, and she had a s
mall moment of amusement at how uncomfortable the younger woman looked. She wore jeans and a hoodie, and she looked overawed by her companion’s suit and the general security in the lab.
The CEO pointed to a few people and items, murmured to her, and nodded to Mary and left. She was always sure to know what was going on in her facility, but she was also ready to get back to work at a moment’s notice. Mary began to wonder if the woman slept at all.
The newcomer edged closer and looked a great deal more nervous now. “Mrs. Williams. Hello. It’s good to—ah, thank you for—I mean—”
It would have been nice to say something and put her out of her misery, but she didn’t feel incredibly nice at that moment. She waited and offered the same pleasant smile she had once given to Tad’s grandmother.
That old biddy had been a piece of work, and if she could survive that, she could certainly survive this.
“I’m sorry,” Tina said finally. She looked Mary in the eyes. “I’ve thought about what you said—about taking responsibility for my actions before talking smack about yours.”
“I’m fairly sure I understand what that means from context.” She nodded. “I’m glad you’re here.” She managed to get the word “glad” out without her voice going crazy. “Has Ms. Price briefed you on what’s happening here?”
“She said someone named Dr. DuBois would explain it,” the girl said.
“That’s me,” the doctor said from behind Mary and made her jump. “Tina, is it?” He shook her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you. To be very brief, Justin is varying between an involuntary coma and a controlled one. For the past two decades, I’ve studied the theory that electric stimulation of certain areas of the brain might help the brain heal itself after trauma, and the team at PIVOT has developed a technology that lets a user experience an entire virtual reality. Justin is presently immersed in a game of sorts.”
Her jaw dropped. “Wait, that kind of thing is real?”
“It’s new,” he said. “Justin is the first patient to try it. As my employer will doubtless have explained to you, there is a great deal of confidentiality to be maintained.”
She swallowed. “I…we’d seen the news coverage about the allegations. You know, the experiments you were running on Justin.”
“There are news stories?” DuBois asked.
“Did you think Amber tackled that journalist for fun?” Jacob asked him. He came to shake Tina’s hand. “Hi. I’m Jacob Zachary, the founder of PIVOT. My two co-founders over there are Nick and Amber. We developed the pod technology that Justin is currently using, and Dr. DuBois has helped us adapt it to the needs of a trauma patient.”
“And Amber…tackles people.” Tina seemed more than a little nervous.
“Only when they break in and try to steal secrets,” Mary said serenely. “As you’ve seen, there is considerable curiosity about Justin’s treatment.”
“How did word of it get out at all?” the girl asked, confused.
“That’s not the most important thing right now,” the doctor interjected. “Come, I’ll show you the lab.”
He led Tina to a station to wash her hands and put booties on over her shoes before they walked into the lab itself, and the rest of the team trailed after them. They went first to the pods, where DuBois opened one that was not in use to show Tina its features.
“This headset creates the input that allows your brain to perceive the game world,” he explained. “Much of the game is accomplished via the power of suggestion and allows the brain to fill in details with its own memories—the smell of flowers, for instance. We’ve found that senses beyond sight and sound take longer to develop in-game, but we don’t have a large enough sample size to tell if that’s unique to trauma patients.”
She touched the inside of the pod nervously. “People are shut inside?”
“Yes,” Jacob said. “But don’t worry, it’s not frightening. Mrs. Williams can assure you of that.”
Tina looked at Mary, wide-eyed. “You did this?”
“Yes.” She forced a smile. “I was the first one to interact with Justin in the game world.”
“Oh, I—oh.” Tina’s eyes went even wider. “Oh, you want me to do that, don’t you? You want me to go into the game. In…one of the pods.” She gulped.
“Precisely,” DuBois said. “The game has stimulated Justin’s survival and social instincts, both of which are important pieces of restoring him to a waking state. I believe that what is most necessary now is for him to engage with a more proximal piece of his situation—someone related to the accident.”
Tina suddenly looked miserable.
“He knows about the accident,” Mary explained. She couldn’t help but feel a little sympathetic. “We made the choice to tell him why he was there so he would understand and use caution in the game.” She hesitated, but her sense of responsibility induced her to add, “He asked about you as soon as he understood where he was, and he’s very glad that you’re all right.”
“Oh.” The girl put her hand at her mouth and looked even more miserable. “He’s not angry?”
“He’s not angry,” Jacob assured her.
“I wish he were angry,” she said in a small voice.
Mary felt some of her tension ease. “Remember why you came,” she told her. “It was to help. Dr. DuBois has very good instincts for this kind of thing and he believes that it will help Justin to come back to a waking state if he can interact with you.”
Tina simply stared, her expression worried.
The doctor broke the tension of the moment with his usual efficiency. “Come on,” he said jovially. “Let’s get you into a pod and start you on the tutorial.”
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Tina’s heart pounded as the lid of the pod closed over her head. She wanted to do nothing more than throw all the harnesses and electronics off her and sprint out the door. Although she had never been claustrophobic before, she sure as hell felt that way now. She would hyperventilate and they wouldn’t get her out in time, she thought desperately.
In a split-second, she was outside again. A weight seemed to lift from her chest and she took a deep breath as she registered blue sky. The ground beneath her feet and the walls to either side of her were made of a translucent, pinkish stone that seemed to glow faintly. It was like something out of a dream.
Unfortunately, the nice parts of outside ended there. Pink stone or no, she was undoubtedly in a back alley. The ground was textured to look like cobblestones with grime between them. There were no birds chirping except for a few bedraggled and murderous-looking pigeons nearby, and a couple of rats gnawed at something.
“Hello,” a voice said, seemingly in her head.
“Fuck!” Tina jumped and looked around. “Who was that? Where are you?”
“I’m Evy,” the voice said. “I have created this world.”
“Oh.” She settled and took a breath. “Um, hi.”
“Hello. Would you like a tutorial?”
“Yes. That would be very nice, thank you.”
“How polite.” The voice sounded pleased. “I have someone for you to meet. He could stand to learn a thing or two about manners.”
“Uh…huh.”
“First things first.” Several screens popped up in midair, each with a differently colored background. One showed her in flowing robes with fireballs in each hand, another showed her in chainmail and with a sword, and the third had her in leather armor and armed with two daggers. “How would you like to engage in combat in this game?”
“Oooh. This is hard.” Tina tried to tap her chin and failed miserably. It took a few moments of flailing wildly before she was able to control her muscles enough to do so—or whatever impulses her nerves were sending. It made her head hurt if she thought about it too hard. “Did…did you see that?”
“Yes.” The AI sounded like it was laughing. “It’s very common.”
“Well, at least there’s that. You know, I’ve always liked biker jackets. I think I’ll go
for the leather armor and the daggers.”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to base your choice off of combat aptitude instead of aesthetics?”
“I can shiv a bitch if I need to.”
“Noted.” Two old, rusted daggers appeared in her hands. “If you would, please, ‘shiv’ one of the rats for me.”
“Wait, I don’t get nice, pretty daggers? And I’m still wearing…what is this, a burlap sack?” She looked at herself. “Okay, answer me one thing. If I follow the tutorial, will you tell me how to get the nice armor and the really sharp daggers?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” Tina edged closer to one of the rats, which promptly scurried away. She sighed, circled behind it, and tiptoed closer, only for it to scurry away when she was still a few steps away. She thought for a moment, then charged at high speed.
That didn’t work either.
She sank into a crouch and considered her options. She had two sheaths, one on either hip, and she put her knives away before she crept closer to the rat again. With barely a moment’s thought as to how stupid she would look if this failed, she threw herself at her quarry. It darted away again, but not before she managed to grab its tail.
“Ow, fuck!” She had not expected it to hurt so much when she landed flat on her face. “Damn this game and its realism. Ow, stop biting me! Fuck.” She flailed to avoid the teeth and thunked the rat on the ground, then drew her knife and stabbed it.
It was far more realistic than she’d expected and she clapped a hand over her mouth. Blood had spattered on her face.
“Oh, God,” she said, her voice muffled. “Oh, I don’t think I’m cut out for this. Holy shit.”
“You’re doing quite well,” the AI said. “You’ve shown creativity in your approach, and you’re mastering the movement controls very—"
“I have rat blood all over me!”
“There’s also that.” The AI sounded bemused. “You know this isn’t a real world, right?”
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