The Reality Bug

by D. J. MacHale

  “So I could think about climbing a mountain right now—”

  “And nothing would happen unless you pushed that button. Then a friend of yours might show up to tell you he’s going on a trip to the mountains and ask you to join him.”

  “That is so cool!” I said.

  “That’s one way of putting it,” Aja replied.

  “So then, where are you?” I asked. “I mean, Lifelight isn’t reading your thoughts, is it?”

  “I’m your phader for the jump. Remember the core we passed through on our way into the pyramid? I’m sitting in one of those control cubicles, watching your jump.”

  “Those video monitors!” I exclaimed. “They’re showing you what the jumpers are experiencing.”

  “Exactly. The phaders monitor the jumps to make sure everything goes well. To be honest, it’s a boring job. Things rarely go wrong. But every so often a jumper needs some help or his wrist controller needs replacing or some minor problem arises and we get sent into their jump. But the thing is, we can’t become part of a jump unless the jumper presses the left button. That’s why I was able to show up when I did. If you hadn’t pressed that button, I wouldn’t be able to join you.”

  “So can you control the jump now too?” I asked.

  “No, I’m only a visitor.”

  “Bobby? Are you going to eat this pizza before it congeals?” asked Mom. She stood in the doorway of the living room.

  “Uh, yeah. As soon as I finish talking to my friend here.” I had no idea how to explain Aja.

  Mom gave me a strange look. “You want to run that by me again?” she asked.

  “She can’t see me,” Aja said with a chuckle. “I’m not part of this jump.”

  How weird was that? Aja was like a ghost. There were a lot of rules to this bizarro experience.

  “Never mind,” I called to Mom. “I’ll be right there.”

  Mom did a double-take, then left again.

  “So what do I do now?” I asked.

  “Anything you want. I think you have some kind of game to go to?”

  “Yes! The basketball game! I can play ball?”

  “If you want.”

  “Oh, man, this is great! How long does this go on?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Have fun. When you get back, we’ll talk about the big picture.”

  “C’mon Bobby!” shouted Shannon impatiently. She stood at the door to the living room with her hands on her hips, looking irritated with me for holding up the show.

  I looked to her and said, “Coming!” I then looked back to Aja, but she was gone. Just like that. My silver control bracelet was gone too. At least I couldn’t see it anymore. I had a moment where I wasn’t sure what to do, but then decided if I was going to learn all about Lifelight, I had to go along with the program. And heck, if it meant playing a little roundball, that wouldn’t be so bad. So I decided to give myself over to the experience and ran into the kitchen and tucked into the most delicious pizza I had ever eaten. But better than that was being together with my family. Shannon told me all about a play she was in at school, Dad talked about a newspaper article he was having trouble finding the inspiration to write, and Mom announced she was up for a promotion at the library. It was all so … excellent. I was home. The only sour note was that I couldn’t tell them anything about me. My guess was that would have thrown a monkey wrench into the whole illusion, so I kept quiet. Then again, nobody asked me anything either.

  After breakfast we all piled into the SUV and headed for my basketball game. I had played some pick-up hoops with Spader on First Earth—when we went there together in pursuit of Saint Dane—but that wasn’t the same as putting on a uniform and playing five-on-five in a gym. The last time I played organized ball was for Stony Brook Junior High. If I hadn’t left home I would be going to Davis Gregory High right now. Question was, where would my mind take us? Junior high, or high school?

  Dad drove us to Davis Gregory High. I had been there before and even played a city final in their gym, so I knew the place. I left my family and went right to the locker room, not entirely sure of what I’d find. For a moment it felt like one of those dreams where you’ve got to take a test, but suddenly realize you never went to any of the classes. But I didn’t panic. After all, Lifelight was supposed to deliver a perfect experience, right?

  It did. When I stepped into the room, I was thrilled to see all my teammates from junior high. But they weren’t getting dressed in the yellow jerseys of the Stony Brook Wildcats. They were putting on the crimson jerseys of the Davis Gregory Cardinals. I had always dreamed about playing for the Cardinals. My dream was about to come true. Sort of.

  The guys all greeted me, but didn’t act like anything was out of the ordinary. I wanted to grab them all and hug them and tell them how psyched I was to be back, but I played it cool. For some reason I knew which locker was mine. Hanging up inside was a Cardinal jersey with my number: 15. Any doubt I had about being in the right place went away when I picked up that jersey, turned it around, and saw the stitched lettering over my number. It read: PENDRAGON.

  As I look back and analyze what happened, I can figure out why Lifelight did what it did. But at the time, I was totally taken up with the illusion. Even though I knew what was going on, it didn’t matter. I’m not sure if it was Lifelight doing it to me, or it was my own brain guiding things, but it was like I had forgotten that I was lying in a vast pyramid and mind tripping through a computer. As far as I knew, I was really there.

  And the game was awesome. The stands were full, and rocking like it was a championship. The band pounded out a war rhythm. The cheerleaders fired up the home side. Our opponents were the crosstown rival Black Knights of Easthill High. Our starting five were the same as back in junior high: me, Jimmy Jag, Crutch, Petey Boy, and Joe Zip. Man, I missed those guys. Coach Darula was on the bench looking confident, the same as always. As we came out of the locker room and headed for the court, I got that old familiar feeling in my stomach. The butterflies. They always started dancing right before tip-off. It meant I was ready to play.

  And man, did I play.

  From the opening tip-off, I was on fire. Being a point guard, I was used to shooting and scoring, but what happened in that game was nothing short of phenomenal. Everything clicked. We played together like a dream team. Most every shot I took found nothing but the bottom of the net. I didn’t gun the ball, though. Oh no. I dished it around. I shot no-look passes to Joe Zip, who laid it in. I alley-ooped a few to Crutch, who could leap high enough to jam it home. I stole the ball a bunch of times and generally ran the offense like a pro. It was a dream game. Yeah, that’s exactly what it was.

  We didn’t win by a hundred points either. The game was close, which made it that much more exciting. With only a few seconds left to go, we were actually down by two points. Jimmy Jag passed me a give-and-go, I drove the lane, and as I went in for the lay-up, I got hammered by their center. Yeah, you guessed it. Two points down, seconds on the clock, and I was on the foul line. It doesn’t get any sweeter than that. I stood at the line with my hands on my hips, totally exhausted and sweating. It was awesome.

  I looked around at the crowd. Everyone was on their feet, cheering for me. The ref bounced me the ball. I dribbled once, bent my knees, lined up my shot and … swish. All net. The crowd went nuts. I took another second to soak it all in before my next shot. I gazed around at all the excited faces. Some I recognized, others were people I had never seen before. But they were all cheering for me.

  Then I saw something that made a great moment even greater. Sitting on the bleachers behind our bench was my family. Mom, Dad, and Shannon. But that’s not all. Sitting behind them was you, Mark. Next to you was Courtney. You were all waving and cheering. It was the best moment I could imagine.

  The ref bounced me the ball; the crowd grew silent; I put up the shot and … oh yeah, it was good. The buzzer sounded. We were going to overtime. I jogged over to our bench while looking up at you guys. You were goi
ng nuts. I couldn’t have imagined a better scenario. Come to think of it, from what I learned about Lifelight, it was the exact scenario I imagined.

  The team manager threw me a towel and I sat down on the bench to catch my breath. I wiped the sweat from my face and did my best not to smile too broadly. That’s when I heard a voice I didn’t want to hear.

  “Having fun?” asked the intruder.

  I looked up and saw Aja sitting next to me on the bench. It actually took me a second, again, to remember who she was. But I did, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t want her there, no way. Not then. She was going to ruin it.

  Aja looked around at the screaming crowd and added, “Wow, you really like to get the old adrenaline pumping, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, so?” I shot back. “It’s my fantasy. I can do what I want, right?”

  “Absolutely,” Aja continued. “Only one problem. Your jump’s over.”

  “What?” I shouted. “It can’t be over, we’re going into OT!”

  “Sorry,” Aja shrugged. “I told you, the jump was timed.”

  “Give me twenty more minutes,” I begged.

  “Sorry. Besides, it’s good to end like this,” Aja said. “It’s the perfect demonstration.”

  “There’s nothing perfect about ending this now,” I complained. I then noticed that the silver band had returned to my wrist. The button on the right was blinking red. I didn’t like the looks of that.

  Aja picked up another towel and threw it at me. “Wipe your face. You’re all sweaty,” she ordered.

  I caught the towel and wiped my face. But when I dropped it, I realized with horror that I had gone blind. At least that’s what it seemed like because the gym had gone black. Worse, I had gone deaf, too. A moment before, the place was rocking with the sound of hundreds of frenzied fans. Now it was like somebody had pulled the plug on the TV. Everything had gone dark and silent. I was totally disoriented, until I heard a voice. It was a calm, familiar voice that brought me back to reality.

  “Relax, Pendragon,” Aja said. “Nothing is wrong. You’re coming out of the jump.”

  I then realized the truth. I wasn’t deaf or blind. I was lying in a dark, silent tube.

  “Just lie still for a few minutes,” Aja said. “I’ll be right there to bring you out.”

  I was filled with all sorts of emotions. First off, I was angry. Lifelight had just given me the most incredible gift I could imagine, only to snatch it right back. But I was also still high from the excitement of the game. I wasn’t physically tired because I hadn’t actually done anything. But the emotions were still there. I could remember the thrill of sinking those foul shots. But most of all, I felt sad. I had been given a small taste of being back with my family. It all seemed so real, and it made me miss them even more.

  I heard a slight hum as light entered the tube. The silver disk behind my head was sliding into the wall. It was now official. I hadn’t moved an inch since I was first sealed in. I had “jumped” into a computer simulation. I felt a slight movement and the table slid out of the tube. The first thing I saw was Aja. She stood at the control panel looking down at me.

  “How do you feel?” she asked.

  “Like I need another twenty minutes in there, thank you very much.”

  “I’m glad it ended that way, because it only helps illustrate the point I need to make.”

  “What point?”

  Before she could answer, an alarm sounded. At least I thought it was an alarm. It was a loud, persistent horn that sliced through the quiet pyramid. Aja quickly glanced at her wrist band.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Medical call,” she said, suddenly sounding all official. “It’s in this sector.”

  Without another word of explanation, she bolted for the door. I was still a little dazed after coming out of my jump, but I wanted to know what was going on, so I threw my legs over the side of the table and stood up. I was a little wobbly at first, but a second later I was running after Aja.

  I blasted out the door and almost lost my balance again when I was hit with the sight of the interior of this vast pyramid. Man, talk about a rude awakening. I had to shake off my disorientation, fast. I looked both ways and saw Aja sprinting along the balcony. I sucked it up and ran after her.

  Up ahead, a red light was blinking outside one of the cubicle doors. It didn’t take a genius to know that was where the alarm was coming from. Just before Aja got to the door, I saw a red-suited vedder running up from the other direction.

  “Where is this jumper’s phader?” Aja demanded.

  “I don’t know,” the vedder answered.

  They both entered the cubicle with the flashing red light. I ran up and peered into the open door to see what was happening. Aja was at the control panel, quickly pushing buttons. A second later, the alarm stopped blaring.

  “It came out of nowhere,” the vedder said nervously. “There weren’t any signs.”

  “Did the jumper try to abort?” Aja asked.

  “No! His vitals just suddenly spiked.”

  A second later the silver disk in the wall slid open and the table emerged with the jumper lying there. The vedder immediately attended to the person. The jumper was a man maybe around my father’s age. He didn’t seem to be in any kind of trouble. It looked like he was sleeping peacefully. The vedder had a device that resembled a Game Boy. He put it to the jumper’s chest, then checked the readings. A second later he took it away and shook his head.

  “Too late,” he said sadly.

  “Too late?” I asked, entering the room. “What do you mean, ‘too late’?”

  “What do you think he means, Pendragon?” Aja said quietly. “He’s dead.”

  Whoa. Left field. I hadn’t expected that. “I thought this was supposed to be safe!” I said, feeling numb.

  “It is,” Aja shot back. “But sometimes … things happen.”

  The vedder started for the door.

  “Where are you going?” Aja asked. “You’ve got to fill out a report!”

  “Not me,” the vedder said haughtily. “My shift’s over. I’m jumping. The next shift can handle it.”

  The guy left. What a tool. Someone just died on his watch, and all he cared about was jumping into his own fantasy.

  “Aja, what happened?” I asked.

  Aja looked shaken. She tried to collect her thoughts. “I don’t know. We’ll have to look at the records of his jump. There are thousands of people in the pyramid. Sometimes they die of natural causes. But …”

  “But what?”

  “But it’s starting to happen more often,” was her sober answer.

  I didn’t like the sound of that.

  “You’ve seen Lifelight at its best, Pendragon,” she continued. “It’s a wonderful tool that has brought joy to the people of Veelox. But it’s got a downside, too. That’s what you’ve got to see next.”

  I’m going to end this journal here, guys. While Aja did a postmortem on the dead jumper, she put me in a room by myself with this incredible recording device. I wanted to be part of their investigation, but Aja didn’t know how to explain who I was. Still, I’m curious to know what they come up with. Once they’re finished, Aja is going to take me to her home. Then tomorrow she’s going to show me more of Rubic City.

  But the truth is, I’m not here to sightsee. I’m not here to learn about the wonders of Lifelight or tour the city or take a trip into my own fantasies. I’m here to find out what evil Saint Dane has brought to this territory. After seeing what happened with the jumper, I have the sick feeling that I just got my first taste of it.

  So I’ll sign off now. This is the end of my Journal #13. By the time I record #14, I should have more answers. Good-bye, guys. I miss you.

  END OF JOURNAL #13

  SECOND EARTH

  After a quick good-bye wave, Bobby’s image disappeared in a flicker, leaving Mark and Courtney staring into the empty space of her father’s workshop. Neither could say anything. They had been
watching Bobby’s story unfold before them, spoken by Bobby himself. It was like he had been standing in front of them, in the flesh.

  “Well,” Courtney said after several silent seconds. “That was … different.”

  “I can’t imagine something like Lifelight being real,” Mark said thoughtfully. He reached forward and picked up the silver, credit card-size projector. He turned it over in his hand, inspecting it. “Then again, I can’t imagine something like this, either, so what the heck do I know?”

  “Do you think Saint Dane sabotaged Lifelight?” Courtney asked.

  “That’s my guess,” Mark answered. “But I’ll bet it’s not as simple as that. Man, what I wouldn’t give to try it out.”

  “What would you do?”

  “A million things,” Mark answered quickly. “I’d ride a horse. I’ve always wanted to do that. I’d fly an airplane, and play in a rock band, and run the New York marathon.”

  “But you can do all that for real,” said Courtney.

  Mark shrugged. It didn’t feel to him as if any of those things were within his reach. “What would you do?” he asked Courtney.

  Without hesitation Courtney said, “I’d put some major whup-ass on that soccer team.”

  Mark said, “Same thing, you can do that for real.”

  Like Mark, Courtney shrugged. Her confidence was so low, the idea of putting major whup-ass on anybody seemed like a fantasy. Mark then looked back at the silver hologram projector. A thought came to him, and he frowned.

  “What?” Courtney asked.

  “This is wrong,” Mark answered. “Bobby shouldn’t have sent this to us.”

  “Why not? It beats having to read the journals.”