by Sean Platt
Sophie stopped rowing. “Eden Law?”
“We need to turn around, E,” Altruance said.
“What’s ‘Eden Law’?” Sophie repeated. “I thought this was a no-hassle zone.”
“I think that’s their way of reminding us that when you’re out at sea, the guy in charge makes the rules. It means, do what Wallace Connelly says or he can do whatever he wants to you.”
“Bullshit.” Ephraim dipped his paddle. “Keep rowing Sophie. What are they going to do?”
“Not a good idea.” Altruance’s head swiveled from Ephraim to Sophie. “Stop rowing, Sophie.”
“Keep rowing,” Ephraim said.
“You too, Ephraim. I’m serious.”
“Oh, you’re serious?” Ephraim’s resentment was swelling. Hadn’t Altruance lost a brother of his own? Shouldn’t he uniquely understand the need to close the loop — and give the finger to those responsible? “Well if you’re serious, I guess I’d better listen.”
Ephraim kept rowing. He didn’t listen.
Altruance stood. He looked petrified, but approached Ephraim anyway. He put his hands on Ephraim’s arms, but Ephraim shook him away and grabbed the oar.
Across the boat, Sophie pulled hers from the water to watch, her eyes worried. The men probably looked like they were about to start throwing punches.
“You think they’re kidding, E?”
“I don’t give a shit if they’re kidding. They took my brother!”
“Your brother?” Sophie asked.
Altruance put his hand on Ephraim’s oar, but Ephraim said, “Let go. Let me paddle.”
“What, you going to get us there all by yourself? Just you with an oar, going where they just told us to stay the hell away from? What’s wrong with you, Ephraim? You losing your shit?”
“I can’t just let it go. I can’t let them win.”
“Let who win?” Sophie asked.
“Listen to me,” Altruance said, speaking low so Sophie wouldn’t hear. “You’re not thinking clearly. Maybe something did happen this morning. And maybe someone did break into our houses and take our bloody clothes to cover their tracks. But that don’t mean Evermore is suddenly some big, evil corporation. You’re jumping to conclusions. You’ve personalized shit, but based on what you told me, those files just say that your brother worked here once and now he’s dead. That coulda happened a million ways, and it don’t mean anyone killed him. I’ll bet Microsoft has employees who died, too. Should the families break into the board’s homes and demand justice?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The touchscreen beeped. “Warning," the voice said, "Please turn your craft around. If you fail to comply, corrective action will be taken.”
“Maybe not,” Altruance said, his voice low. “But I know this is an Eden boat, and it’s already decided it doesn’t like us driving out this way. Someone knows we’re paddling on anyway and doesn’t like that much, either. And do you know what else I know? Go online when you get home and take a look for yourself. Eden isn’t on Google Earth. You can’t find it. Far as Google’s concerned, this is an open span of ocean. Now, maybe that’s an oversight. Maybe the photos just haven’t been updated in more than a fucking decade. But it strikes me as funny. Makes me think Evermore maybe does make some of the rules. And it makes me think—” Altruance pointed at the touchscreen and its disembodied voice. “—that we want to listen to that bitch right there, and do whatever she says we’re supposed to do.”
Ephraim opened his mouth, but the engine started before he could speak. He leaped for the wheel, knowing the travel lever was at full speed ahead, but saw that the touchscreen was now fully blue, with white words REMOTE OVERDRIVE in all caps across the middle.
He gripped the wheel, but it wouldn’t budge.
Until it moved of its own accord, turning them at low speed in a small circle.
Altruance grabbed the railing, plopped into a chair, and went pale.
The boat straightened, now headed away from the Denizen.
It accelerated.
For the next ten minutes, the boat sped toward the Retreat on its nearly silent engine, bouncing too much, making spray, causing all three of them — not just Altruance — to flinch.
And when they arrived back at Sophie’s dock, the guards were waiting.
CHAPTER 35
VIP GUESTS
Ephraim thought the big men and women might grab him, tie his wrists, and drag him off to Eden’s version of a holding cell. Then they’d surely see through his disguise. They’d realize there was resin on his fingers to obscure his prints, that he was wearing lenses to fool retinal scanners, and that the skin flakes and strands of hair he shed all over the island didn’t match the DNA of this bogus Ephraim Todd. Instead, it matched the record of a different Ephraim Todd in the public database — and that Ephraim’s DNA bore an uncanny resemblance to the DNA of one of Eden’s scientists, a brother, from once upon a time.
But the officials didn’t cuff Ephraim. They didn’t even touch him. They offered plastic smiles and asked Ephraim — only Ephraim — to come with them …
… please.
“Why?” Ephraim said, knowing damn well why.
“We have paperwork for you to sign, sir. A few items we neglected to clear when you arrived,” said the female officer.
None of them mentioned the boat. Nor the repeated attempts to reach restricted water. They were acting like this was merely an administrative matter. A signature on the wrong line.
“I don’t think I missed any of your forms,” Ephraim replied.
“It’s not that you missed them, sir. It’s that we failed to present them to you.”
“Okay. Email them to me.”
“They need to be witnessed, Mr. Todd.”
Ephraim looked at Altruance and Sophie. Keeping his voice casual, he said, “Do either of you remember which forms needed a witness?”
Altruance and Sophie looked at each other, shrugging.
“They would have signed them at Reception. The clerks would have been the witnesses.”
“Can I ask which papers?”
“It’s technical, sir. The explanation would only bore you.”
The air was thick with implications and threats, but Ephraim would never have been able to articulate why, or what made him so sure. The officials were smiling, saying sir and Mr. Todd, not so much as invading his space, making soft-spoken requests and providing answers to his questions. They meant business. They’d chase him if he ran. If Ephraim drew a knife, they’d draw guns. He was an undesirable in need of tending. He could feel their judgment like rays from the sun.
Ephraim looked at Altruance, then at Sophie. She kept blinking as if seeing something unknowable.
“I’m going to be running up to Reception later,” he told the officials. “I can sign your papers then.”
“It’s important that we handle this now, sir.”
“It’ll only be a half hour. I just need to change my clothes.” Ephraim looked back at the boat, held in place by a single loose dock line. Why hadn’t they mentioned their attempted trip to the Denizen? They got their warning at sea, so where was that warning in person?
“It’s not necessary to change. This will only take a minute.”
“I really need to change.” But what was the point of this? He’d done this whole song and dance just a few hours ago, with Elle and Nolon at his front door. After Ephraim had refused to sign their supposed paperwork that time, they’d sent a twin for Ephraim to murder. What came next now?
“If you need to change, that’s fine, sir. We’ll come with you.” The woman reached out a hand to guide — or drag — him.
Ephraim locked eyes with Sophie and tried to send her telepathic messages.
Why are they bugging me about paperwork, Sophie? They remote-piloted our boat back to the dock, so why has nobody so much as mentioned our trespass?
It wasn’t right. None of this was remotely correct.
> Ephraim saw Altruance’s gaze shift. “We were on the boat,” Altruance blurted.
The guards’ heads turned at Altruance’s non-sequitur. “I see that, sir.”
“We went for a ride.”
“That’s very nice. Now if you’ll just—”
“What are you arresting him for?”
“We’re not arresting him, sir,” said one of the men. “We just need Mr. Todd to sign some papers.”
“But you’re in security? Eden security?”
“That’s right, sir.”
“Then you must know about what happened on the Fête. With the mower?”
“Sir?”
“What happened to the worker ‘Mr. Todd’ and I saw injured this morning?”
Sophie looked from Ephraim to Altruance.
“Was he okay?” Altruance asked.
“Mr. Brown, I’m not sure I understand what you’re—”
“What’s happening on the Denizen?” Ephraim asked, re-drawing the guards’ attention. “Who lives there?”
The three officials looked at Ephraim, then each other. None looked at the boat. And then Ephraim understood. The guards weren’t asking about their infraction because they didn’t know it had happened, just like they didn’t know about the incident with the worker on the lawn.
They’d been sent to bring Ephraim in, apparently unaware of how naughty he’d been. Someone else had piloted them back to shore for punishment.
The guards were like robots, stuck in a loop.
“We need you to sign some papers, Mr. Todd,” one of the men repeated.
The woman added, “It will only take a minute.”
Ephraim shook his head. “No.”
“Sir?”
“No. I don’t want to go. I paid a lot of money to be here on this island. I’m a guest. I want to go to my house and sit on the deck with a drink. A fancy one. With an umbrella, and maybe some cherries on a red plastic sword. Because I deserve it. I’m stressed. I came to relax. If you can step aside and let me pass, I’ll be on my way. I will get to Reception when I damn well feel like it.”
Ephraim pressed forward. The officials reacted, breaking their paralysis to grab him by the arm. When he started to struggle, they held him tighter.
It spiraled out of control — much faster than should have happened with trained security personnel, certainly ones with smiles as wide as the ones they’d been wearing. But once their manner snapped, it snapped all the way. Ephraim caught their eyes as he struggled. They were animals, ready to rip him apart.
Ephraim saw a mental a flash of Nolon. The second Nolon, who Ephraim had killed. Then he began to fight back.
“Hey, hey!” Altruance shouted, moving into the fray and putting his big hands between Ephraim and the guards. He spread them, effortlessly parting officer from questionably detained. “Everyone settle down!”
The commotion slowed, then died. One of the male officers straightened his lapels. The woman ran a hand through her hair. Ephraim was breathing heavily, looking from man to woman to man.
What was going on here?
“He needs to come with us, Mr. Brown,” said the female officer.
“The fuck I do!”
Altruance gave Ephraim a chill out; I got this look. “He doesn’t want to come with you right now.”
“It’s very important.”
“What do you need him for that’s so important?”
“Unfortunately, that’s confidential, sir.”
“Look. I don’t mean to be rude. But this is my friend you’re talking to, and if you’re planning to take him by force, I’m going to need a damn good reason. Otherwise, you’ll be taking us both.” He looked down at the three officials.
“This doesn’t concern you, Mr. Brown.”
“Has he done something wrong?”
“We’re not at liberty to divulge that to you, I’m afraid.”
“Then divulge it to him.” Altruance nudged Ephraim an inch forward. “Go ahead. Tell him why he’s under arrest.”
“As we said before, he’s not under arrest, sir.” Still speaking to Altruance.
“Then he’s free to go?”
The guards all shared a glance.
“I’m afraid not, Mr. Brown. We’re under strict instructions to bring Mr. Todd with us for urgent administrative matters.”
The guard put a hand on Ephraim’s wrist and began to pull.
“Let go of me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I said, let go of me.”
The guard pulled harder. Ephraim dug in his heels, skidding, losing ground. Another fight was imminent, and this time it would come to blows.
They were ten feet down the dock, tempers again flaring, when a voice said, “Wait.”
Sophie.
“Ephraim is my guest.”
“We know he’s a guest, ma’am.”
Sophie bristled at the use of ma’am. He could almost see her wanting to say, when I’m younger again, you won’t call me that.
“Not a guest. Not Eden’s guest. Not your guest.” She stared them down, one by one. “I said he’s my guest.”
“Ma’am?”
Sophie’s eyes hardened. “Maybe you know. I’m here for your Tomorrow Gene therapy.”
“Yes?”
“That makes me a VIP guest. It’s in my signed agreement. I got first pick of housing. I got a boat. I get priority access to the islands’ restaurants and clubs. I’m allowed on the Pearl.”
“That’s true, ma’am. But—”
Ma’am. Her eyes flashed.
“And I’m allowed to host guests, and they get all the same privileges. Privileges like not being dragged off by assholes claiming they’re only doing their jobs. Eden’s a no-hassle zone, right? That’s especially true for me. Off-island, we call that the ‘Diva Clause.’ Or more appropriately, the ‘Bitch Clause.’ Let go of him, right now. I’m invoking my right to be a bitch. You want to go over my head, go get someone who can make it happen.” Her eyes hardened. “Until then, get the hell off my dock.”
The men looked flustered, but the woman held her ground. She stepped forward.
“Guest privileges don’t extend to matters of security, Ms. Norris. VIP or not, you can’t keep us from taking him.”
“You said it was just paperwork. Not security.”
“No offense, Ms. Norris, but we’re under no obligation to explain ourselves to you.”
Sophie looked at Ephraim. Her look said, Trust me.
“Guest privileges do put him to the front of the line, though. They let him book whatever he wants.”
“And he can book all the treatments he wants after we’re finished.”
The guards pulled, but Sophie had taken Ephraim’s other arm. He was being stretched apart like a doll fought over by two children.
“You don’t understand,” she said. “Ephraim is a VIP as well.”
“Sorry, but he’s not.” The guards tugged again, but Sophie hadn’t let go.
“Yes, he is,” Sophie insisted, “seeing as he’d like to book himself for the Tomorrow Gene, just like me.”
CHAPTER 36
VANISHED IS VANISHED
Back inside Sophie’s mansion, Ephraim asked for all of their devices, primarily Doodads. He removed the battery from each — all except for Altruance’s, whose high-end iPhone Ruby couldn’t be opened. Ephraim took it to the backyard, set it on the ground at the far edge of the property, covered it with a bucket, and set a rock on it.
“The microphones can be hacked unless you remove the battery,” Ephraim explained. “Someone could listen in.”
Altruance gestured toward the yard with one big thumb. “And mine?”
“Since yours doesn’t open, I at least figure it can’t hear us from out there.”
“And the rock on top? Do you think it’s going to try and escape?”
Ephraim didn’t respond. He took out his Doodad, which Fiona had equipped with a few extra add-ons and apps, then tapped until a handful
of wavy lines appeared on-screen. He walked around the house, painstakingly covering every room, watching the lines. Afterward, he switched to the Magic Eye app and scanned the living room’s every wall, ceiling, and floor. Finally, he sat in one of the chairs and looked up at the others.
“What was that all about?” Sophie asked.
“Checking to see if anything is broadcasting. Hidden microphones, stuff like that. The second app lets you see everything electronic in a room. It tells you if there are any hidden cameras.”
“You think we’re being spied on?”
Ephraim removed his Doodad’s battery and dropped it in his pocket. “Not anymore.”
Sophie looked to Altruance for support, but he simply shrugged and sat. She eyed them both, still standing.
“What’s going on, you guys?”
Slowly, Ephraim told Sophie everything. It was easier this time, with Altruance apparently convinced and corroborating — though he waffled on Ephraim’s possibly-drug-induced visions, saying that fake-Nolon’s murder and the ghost’s missing face were things that “may have happened.” She asked a few questions during, and more at the end. Sophi accepted what she’d heard — or at least, she humored them in lieu of a final decision.
“So that’s what I was vouching for out on the dock,” she said. “Maybe I should have just let them take you.”
Ephraim managed a small smile, but she looked wary. He wasn't entirely sure if she was joking.
“I guess the upside is that at least now you’ll know what the Tomorrow Gene really does,” she said.
“How?”
“When you have it done. They explain what they’re about to do to you after you sign the nondisclosure agreement.”
“You weren’t serious about that,” Ephraim said.
“Sure I was. You broke Eden Law, whatever it is. They don’t have to give you reasons, or due process. Wallace Connolly makes the rules here, whether you like it or not.”
