“Okay, I got fired this morning, but I’ve got stuff lined up, and there’s—”
“Listen to yourself. Truly, just listen to yourself. Does this sound like someone who is a genius computer programmer with endless opportunities, or does it sound like someone who’s delusional and needs help?” Lisa crossed her arms.
“Baby, I’m just in a rough patch right now, you know how hard things have been for me ever since…”
“Zeek,” she said in a calm voice, “I’m done, I don’t want to hear it anymore. I’ve been done for a long time, but you just need to be on your own right now and get straight. There’s nothing else I can do for you. I’m going back to work, and when I get back, I expect you and all your things to be gone.”
“Lisa, you can’t be serious? Where am I supposed to go?”
“Well, you’ve had no problems with staying at Joey’s before, and telling me fuck all, leaving me here worried whether you’re alive, in the hospital with some overdose, or wrecked on the side of the road from one of these stupid street races!” Tears welled in her eyes. Zeek reached out but she smacked his hand away and stormed out of the kitchen. “Grow up!” she shouted and slammed the front door.
“That went well. I’m two for two today.”
He dialed Joey’s cell. “What the hell am I going to do now?” he asked in the driveway as he sat behind the wheel of the pick-up. “Lisa’s beyond pissed.”
Joey laughed at the whole story of Zeek’s morning. “Man, you just gotta relax, you can stay here, no problem. We can live it up and not have to worry about her anymore. She always seemed like she had a stick up her ass.”
“Joey.”
“And plus, there’s this big hacking contest going on at Sydney’s Underground.”
“The arcade?”
“Yeah, I’m talking big money, you could be set for months while you look for a new job. Fuck Snoogle Labs, I would have told that asshole off. Told him to shove his job, and who does he think he is when all you were doing was data mining and selling people’s personal information. I’d be hacking into their…”
“Alright, alright. Let’s go sign me up for a competition. You’re right, though, fuck Snoogle Labs.”
Ch. 4: Sydney’s Underground
He felt his heart stop as he looked at the screen of the tablet. Rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, he replaced his glasses and looked at the screen as if he could have erased what he saw from his reality.
There was a woman with brunette hair and blue eyes holding a wine glass, laughing, with her arm around some bastard with short brown hair and a stupid mustache on his face.
His mouth fell open and he felt his heart beat again. Now it seemed like it was pounding through his breastbone trying to break its way out of him like a caged animal clawing for freedom.
His blood was pumping lava through his veins. Vaguely he heard Joey next to him in the driver seat as they pulled into a parking spot.
“I’m telling you, man, you gotta meet her, and she’ll be one you’ll be—” Joey stopped mid-sentence and stared at the screen, shaking his head with a frown. “Are you listening to me?”
He pulled out an inhaler-like apparatus used for asthma.
“No,” Zeek replied, not taking his eyes off the screen, fixing his glasses on his face.
There was a grimace painted on his face.
Joey sucked on the inhaler, pulling some sort of vapor into his lungs and letting out a loud exhale.
“You look like someone who just got kicked in the nuts…what are you—?” Joey leaned over and violently took the tablet from Zeek after seeing the picture. “Goddamnit no, give me that!” Joey said and threw the tablet in the back seat where it bounced on the black leather.
“Jesus, you’re stalking her profile? How long has it been, a month? Two? You gotta let this go, here, man. Take a hit of this…I’m tired of watching you mope around…it’s fucking depressing.”
Joey held the inhaler in front of Zeek’s hand. He reached up to take it tentatively.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I don’t know, feels like acid mixed with GHB mixed with ecstasy. Just take it, it’ll help you get over your shit.”
Zeek took the inhaler, he didn’t know what else to do; everything had felt like a dream since he got fired. He’d been in comfortable denial about it all, hoping Lisa would return his calls and endless messages, but this photo had just shattered his world like a crystal globe thrown from the Empire State Building. And the pieces weren’t going to be put back together. Now it felt real, he had to admit it to himself, him and Lisa were done, broken up, and she was moving on without him.
How did this happen? he thought as he put the inhaler to his lips, his hands moving on autopilot. He breathed deeply as he looked at the neon sign in purple above the building’s entrance. Except now it wasn’t purple anymore, it was a rainbow of colors spinning and weaving in the air all around. Was that singing he heard? Little mushrooms walked across the dashboard in front of him with little eyes, and little mouths, singing some high-pitched song.
“There you go,” Joey said, his voice sounded deep and distorted in his ears, like it was in slow motion. The slow-mo laughter made him smile. “Welcome back to the world of the living, or should I say Sydney’s Underground?”
That’s what the sign said, he couldn’t read it any longer, he was on another planet. Houston, we have a problem. He found himself opening his door and stumbling into the bar arcade—barcade—laughing while the singing mushrooms followed.
Zeek felt the bass from the techno in his chest as he walked inside. Lights were flashing everywhere painting Joey’s face with pinks and blues.
He looked around and saw quite the scene, to his left he heard a woman laugh loudly as she shouted to a group of people across the bar table. She took a long sip from some colorful drink she held. As they moved forward, some guy bumped into him and apologized and went back to dancing with some other guy. His movements left tracers on Zeek’s eyes. He looked to his right and saw a guy with a white VR helmet, he was clawing his gloved hands in the air like a cat trying to climb an invisible tree. This made him snort.
Zeek was hypnotized by the lights, his vision had formed crystal shards that pulsed and changed color and shapes from the music. You know the drug is good when you can’t tell what’s synesthesia and what’s real.
Joey was pulling on his arm and the next thing he knew they were standing at the bar. A tall male bartender in a tight black shirt was asking them, “What can I get for you?”
“Water,” Zeek said, but Joey waved a hand and said something he couldn’t hear.
“Here, drink this.” Joey handed him a glass with neon blue liquid. “It’ll help even things out.”
Zeek looked at the glowing drink; the dancing, singing mushrooms were matching across the bar now, and the music seemed to intensify: BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM. He shrugged and took a sip, making a face.
“Good, right?” Joey shouted in his ear.
“It tastes like…what is this?” Zeek asked, he was finding it harder to speak coherently.
“They call it antifreeze,” Joey replied with a laugh. “Should help take the edge off the huff we did. Though that’ll wear off soon too, let me know if you wanna do more, we can dip into the bathroom and grab a quick puff.”
Zeek watched the tiny humanoid mushrooms dancing around the bar and shook his head. Joey chuckled and they clinked glasses.
The synesthesia hallucinations slowly began to fade and Zeek leaned over the bar, his head was starting to pound. The once hypnotic, orgasmic rhythm of the music now became an anvil striking his eardrums. He held his head in his hands.
“Hey, Amber! Where’s Dennis…” Zeek heard Joey say.
“Dennis couldn’t make it, he had to work,” a woman’s voice replied.
“Work is for suckers,” Joey said. “Hey, this is my friend Zeek that I was telling you guys about. He’s a certified genius, I’m sponsoring him in the upcomi
ng tournament.” Joey turned to Zeek. “Hey, hey, you alright, buddy?” He turned back to Amber. “He’s coming down off some huff; drink more of this.” Joey pushed the phosphorescent blue drink into Zeek’s hands.
Chugging it down and wiping his mouth, Zeek said, “My head feels like it’s going to explode.”
“Yeah, the come down’s a bitch. I have the perfect medicine.” Joey winked at Amber and called to the bartender, “Shots of vodka for us, keep ’em comin’! Give two to my friend here.” He gestured to Zeek, who was shaking his head.
“Yes!” Amber said. “Shots!”
The blinding pain behind his eyes started to recede after the second shot, and he walked to the other side of Joey to introduce himself properly. An attractive black woman stood there. He took her hand and noted the smooth texture of her dark skin, and he became lost in her brown eyes for a moment as he told her his name again.
“Careful,” Joey said, “she’s taken.”
And this seemed to sober Zeek up, he let go of her hand and backed up a couple of paces.
“She’s got a friend, though. The one I keep telling you about. She’s perfect for you.” Joey said as he doled out another round. “Bottoms up!”
“I told you it’s too soon…” Zeek mumbled and made a sour face as he set his shot glass down on the bar.
Ch. 5: Ash
Zeek staggered up to a kiosk with multi-colored lights reflecting off its screen. He shook his head, tapping the screen he put in his information while the room started to tilt on its axis.
“Shots, damnit, Joey,” he muttered to himself.
“What was that?” a woman next to him asked.
“Nothing,” Zeek said and looked up to see a woman push her auburn hair away from her face, standing at the kiosk beside him tapping on its screen. “Just trying to work out this code puzzle.”
“Yeah, it’s a bitch. They use it to cull out the newbies, so that way only the real players can enter.” She looked over at his screen. “I’ve been stuck on this last line for twenty minutes.”
“Done,” Zeek said, staggering back from the kiosk. The woman caught his arm helping to steady him.
“Whoa there, you’re done?” Their blue eyes met as she said, “I’m Ash.”
“Yep, finished it, wasn’t that hard. I’m Zeek.”
She smirked. “Harvard?”
Zeek scrunched up his face; she stepped back and turned back to her screen. “What?”
“You went to Harvard. All the big coders in this tournament went there. Well, except for Tyr4nt.” She fixed her glasses and continued to type.
“Oh, MIT actually. Tyr4nt? Sounds familiar…”
“He’s won every year for the last five years, no one’s even seen what he looks like. Some say he’s from China.”
Zeek frowned. “How’s that possible? I thought everyone had to compete here, like, physically be here to compete?”
“He’s got some serious backers, whoever he is, he competes from a private room up there.” She pointed to the balcony above them surrounded by black railing. “This your first time, Harvard? What’s your handle?”
“Zeek the Geek.”
She looked up from the screen. “Original.”
“What’s yours?”
“Ash the Rash.” She winked at him.
He gave a hearty laugh at that. “Seriously?”
She turned to him and shook her head. “No, you dork—”
“Geek,” he corrected.
She rolled her eyes and went back to her screen. “You MIT boys. My handle is Persephone.”
“Queen of the underworld. Now who sounds like an Ivy Leaguer…Harvard?”
“Yes, actually. But I didn’t graduate. There, finished,” she said as she turned to study his eyes.
“Drop-out, eh?” he said jokingly and pushed his glasses up his nose. She unconsciously copied the gesture, fixing her own glasses.
“I mean, look at all this.” She spread her arms and spun indicating the room full of music, dancing and gaming. “How do you travel to Oz and then go back to Kansas?”
Zeek’s mouth curled into a large smile as she stepped closer, their eyes locked on each other. “I think you know exactly what I mean, judging from your eyes.”
“My eyes?”
“They’re as big as fly saucers,” she said with a laugh. “I see you’re caught up in the Land of Oz too. Where drugs and coding never stop. How do they expect us to go back to our boring, ordinary lives once we figure out how amazing the drugs and hacking are?”
“Spoken like a true addict,” Zeek mumbled.
“Call it what you like…look at your eyes.” She placed her hand on his cheek. “Whatever you’re on, I want some…you’re as high as Venus.”
“You could buy a girl a drink before you start getting all handsy,” Zeek joked.
Ash pulled her hand away with a snort. “Come on then.” She took his hand and started to pull him to the bar.
“Hey, where do you think you’re goin’?” a man said as he grabbed her elbow. Zeek turned to see pink and blue lights bouncing off his pale, bald head.
Ash yanked her arm free and said, “Calm down. We’re going to get a drink. I’m done with the application; we’re all set for the competition. You don’t need to worry. In fact, this guy is my golden ticket.” She gestured at Zeek, who frowned. “He’s an MIT grad, finished the puzzle in five minutes flat. I’m sure he could teach me a thing or two.” She winked at Zeek.
He noticed the pale guy relaxed and straightened his shirt, his face going a shade of red at the innuendo.
“Okay, okay,” he said, rubbing his neck. “Just don’t forget to be at the spot tomorrow. We have a lot to go over.”
He reached his hand around Ash and shook Zeek’s. “Pleasure, Zeek, I’m Nos. You take care of her. Make sure nothing happens, or I’m coming after you. I have to protect my asset.” His grip tightened like a vise on Zeek’s hand, who pulled it away.
“Yeah, sure, man,” Zeek said, still frowning.
Nos turned to Ash. “Tomorrow. Don’t forget.”
Ash saluted and said, “Aye, aye, captain.” She grabbed Zeek’s hand and pulled him away. “Come on.”
Zeek looked back over his shoulder to see the tall, pale man cross his arms and scowl. “What was that all about? Asset? Is that your…boyfriend?”
She stopped and placed her hand on her stomach as she almost died laughing. Once she recovered, she wiped a tear from under her glasses. “Him? Oh God no. I’m my own woman. Nos is my sponsor for the hacking competition.”
“Hey, there you two are!” Joey said as they neared the bar. He looked down to see them holding hands. “I knew you two would hit it off!”
Ash let go of Zeek’s hand and said in a playful tone. “Oh, you’re that Zeek.”
Zeek narrowed his eyes at her derisively.
Once they reached the bar, the bartender put two shots in front of them. “Down the hatch!” Ash said. They all made sour faces after shooting the vodka.
“You know what I was thinking?” Ash continued with a grin. “We should team up for the tournament. How about it?”
“Is that allowed?” Zeek asked, taking a sip from one of the beers the bartender set down.
Ash sipped her own and replied, “I can tell you’re new to all this, this is the Wild West, Zeek the Geek. Anything goes once the tournament starts, all that matters is winning. What do you say?” She wiggled her eyebrows at him.
Zeek raised his beer. “To Team Zeek!”
She raised hers and said, “Team Ash!”
“Zeek.”
“Ash.”
“To Team Joey!” Joey said.
“No,” they both said at the same time.
“Yeah, fuck off, Joey,” Ash said, and they all laughed.
“How about…Team Persephone?” Zeek asked.
Ash leaned over and kissed his cheek. His face started to beam and turn slightly red.
“Wooo,” Joey said. “Let’s get the hell
out of here!”
Ch. 6: Red Button
They wobbled, laughing and tripping over each other to the parking lot. They stood beside Joey’s midnight black sports car with the roof welded back together.
“What happened to the Kumai? Damn!” Amber asked.
“Yeah, it looks like someone took a giant can opener to it,” Ash added as she and Amber laughed.
Joey scowled at Zeek, who looked away. He opened the back-passenger door for Amber and replied, “Don’t ask.”
Zeek opened the door for Ash, who slid next to Amber.
Joey tossed Zeek the keys over the roof and said, “Try not to kill us.”
Zeek revved the engine and peeled out of the parking lot. The women howled with elation.
At a traffic light, a little red Nugani two-seater pulled up next to them and started to rev its engine.
“I think he wants to race you,” Ash said.
Zeek pushed the accelerator and the Kumai began to rumble in neutral.
“No, Zeek,” Joey said.
“Aw, come on,” Amber said.
Ash touched Zeek’s shoulder, saying, “If you win, I’ll give you a kiss.”
“Shit,” Joey said.
The light turned green and everyone was thrown back into their seats as Zeek started to shift and shoot like a rocket down the street. Flames poured from the thrusters in the back.
“No, no, no,” Joey kept repeating.
Amber and Ash were laughing hysterically, saying, “Yes, yes!” and, “Faster, faster!”
The streetlights flashed over Joey’s face when Zeek looked over at him. They were flying down the road, the buildings on either side just a blur. Stoplights were mere suggestions at this point and Zeek swerved around traffic and tried not to get hit by a mack truck going through the intersection.
The red Italian sports car was gaining on them, when it slowed down and turned off, Zeek saw in his mirror. He also saw Amber roll down the window and put up her middle finger, shouting, “Douche bag!”
Joey let out a breath he’d been holding since the start of the race.
“I wonder why he…” Zeek started to say when they heard a loud siren and saw flashing lights.
Moon Base One: Tyr4nt: A Prequel Story Page 2
