A Crack in the Sky

by Mark Peter Hughes

  Eli’s guts twisted.

  “InfiniCorp takes these things rather seriously. An incident like yours would normally compel the company to take action of the most serious nature. But you’re a member of the family, so this makes the situation a little less … straightforward.” He tapped his long fingers together. “I’m not supposed to mention any of this to you—not yet, anyway. The plan is to wait until Grandfather and your parents have been informed. Your brother doesn’t know either. But don’t worry—they’ll all find out by tomorrow.”

  “What’s the company going to do with me?” Eli asked, his voice barely a whisper.

  “Oh, I’m not supposed to say quite yet. And I wouldn’t want to break the rules. Still, I can point out to you that the dark vaults of the Department of Inventory aren’t exactly the most … pleasant of places.”

  Eli recoiled again.

  “I’ve seen the underground warehouses, little cousin, and let me assure you there’s not much to stimulate the imagination down there. Just thousands of shelves to climb and endless stacks of products to count, I’m afraid. Some robot supervision, but that’s hardly real management, is it?” Spider leaned in closer. His grin was cruel now. “In a way, I feel sorry for you. Many would consider this a tragic fall from a great height, especially for a child so beloved by the man at the top. Such a disappointment. However, I understand you’re a creative boy. I imagine you’ll find a way to make it somehow … bearable.”

  Eli wanted to throw up. This was far worse than anything he’d ever imagined. He took another step back and almost lost his balance.

  “Now that you know, I hope you can rest easier,” Spider said. “And don’t forget that you did this to yourself.”

  Eli tried to speak but nothing would come out. Behind Spider his transport still waited for him. He stumbled backward and then scrambled across the pad.

  “Take care, Eli!” Spider called, smirking from ear to ear. “I wouldn’t want you to do anything rash!”

  The door of the transport pod closed, and Eli threw himself onto the seat, burying his face in his arms. Even as the pod came to life and he felt the momentary vertigo that came with liftoff, he didn’t open his eyes. The sick feeling threatened to take over his insides. How could he face Mother and Father now? What would he say to Sebastian? He wanted to disappear.

  Soon he heard a familiar hiss, the sound of a sky hole opening above the transport. Only then did he adjust his neck and crack open his eyelids, but the view through the window was far from encouraging. Dark clouds and vast emptiness. A sputter of rain. The beginnings of yet another Outside storm. The real sky, grim and unknowable, expanded in his view and grew wider by the second until it was everything there was to see. But he didn’t want to think about Outside anymore, just as he didn’t want to think about InfiniCorp or Spider or anything at all. The pod slipped through the hole, and Eli tried to concentrate only on the sterile, temperature-controlled oxygen passing in and out of his lungs. As he flew farther from the dome, into the bleak nothing, he closed his eyes again and tried to block out everything except the drone of the propellers and the sensation of cool leather against his cheek.

  10

  girls in boots crushing

  Eli returned home shaken. Not only was he still struggling to come to terms with Spider’s devastating news, but now his head was throbbing. Just outside Providence his transport had passed through a violent downpour that threw him from his seat and knocked him against the wall.

  As tumultuous as his day had been so far, though, it wasn’t over yet.

  Safe on the ground, Eli couldn’t help noticing that the Providence dome was warmer than ever. Even weirder, the sky was generating odd shapes and unexpected patterns faster and with more intensity than he’d ever seen. Random images filled the dome for several minutes at a time before cycling on to something else just as startling and bizarre. One moment there was a checkerboard of lilac and avocado green, the next moment the sky swarmed with winged kitchen appliances or flying boxes of sugar-free frozen yogurt or the faces of smiling digital babies. Every now and then words would flash meaningless messages across the dome:

  GIRLS IN BOOTS CRUSHING!

  ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS LEATHER ROCKY!

  YOURSELF A BETTER TEXT!

  People stood on the sidewalks, staring up in wonder. There was practically nothing of the old, familiar sky left.

  Soon a representative from Dome Maintenance, a beautiful spokesmodel with glimmering cheek plates and thick, pink lashes, appeared on the CloudNet to address the city.

  “It’s totally okay,” she said. “Just a little system spaz. We’re so on top of it. We’ll reboot, and after that everything’s back to plain old regular. No worries! In the meantime, wow! Could the special effects get any cooler?” Her lashes, like stubby baby fingers pressed around her eyes, seemed to stretch longer when she smiled. “To help you enjoy it all, Grandfather’s offering a two-for-one on all celebration gear and handheld fans! Think of it as an unscheduled carnival! Party it up while the light show lasts!”

  An hour later it was still happening. Eli sat moping on the front steps of his house. He’d brought out the Alice book in hopes that it might help take his mind off what had happened, but it was futile. He slammed it shut and fought a choking feeling in his throat. He considered pinging Father or Mother, or maybe even Grandfather. Maybe he could try to explain. But then again, what was the point? The truth was, he couldn’t blame Spider or anyone else. He deserved everything that was coming to him. He’d been living in a fantasy world where everything seemed like an adventure, and he’d acted like a fool. Nobody made him meet with the Fogger. It was his own fault.

  By that time the sky should have been in nighttime mode, but it was still bright as midday. And even as he watched the improbable images flicker across the dome, he couldn’t stop imagining Grandfather’s disappointment, or Sebastian’s face, red with shame. Mother and Father probably wouldn’t even speak with him anymore. Why should they?

  He’d let everybody down.

  Maybe there’s a bright side, Marilyn said, perched beside him on the step. Inventory is an important function, after all. You never really wanted a management position anyway.

  He buried his face in his hands. Out of everyone, she should have understood. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Marilyn, I’m sorry you’re stuck with me.”

  Don’t be ridiculous.

  “But I am. If you were a human being, you could have done great things. You’re smart, smarter than me. You could have been a senior executive in whichever department you wanted. Instead you ended up …” He didn’t finish.

  As somebody’s pet? she suggested.

  He looked over at her. “You’re nobody’s pet, Marilyn. You’re far more than that to me, and you know it.”

  Thank you, my love.

  “And you knew what I meant too. I meant that you ended up stuck with the loser of all losers.” He looked down at his boots. “You’d be better off without me.”

  Marilyn sat up on her haunches. She tried to peer into his eyes, but he wouldn’t look at her. That’s nonsense, Eli. Wherever you go, I’ll go with you. Not because I have to, but because I choose to. She nuzzled her snout against his knee. I’ll never leave you, my love. That’s a promise.

  At that moment the sky, which for the past few minutes had been filled with spinning toothbrushes, soap bars, and mouthwash bottles, burst with new light. They both looked up. The background had shifted from dark green to a patchwork of swirling orange tones, from pale apricot to vivid amber and every shade in between. They watched as the hygiene products morphed into ocean creatures: Sharks. Stingrays. Giant clams. Sea horses. Tropical fish of every size and color imaginable filled the dome, drifting slowly, regally, across the ginger sky. For a few long seconds, Eli and Marilyn sat still, watching the ballet of color. It was only a random pattern, an accident generated by a processing glitch, but Eli felt as if he were witnessing a great work of art, a masterpiece of crea
tive genius. It made his throat tighten even more and his heart beat faster.

  Leonardo …, whispered Marilyn.

  He nodded. He was thinking the same thing.

  After a while the great orange sea subsided and the glorious ocean creatures fizzled into simple bar codes that whizzed in circles against pulsing blobs of gray and purple. Still, Eli and Marilyn stayed quiet. The emptiness Eli had been feeling seemed deeper and heavier than ever. He burned with regret about so many things, he wasn’t sure where to begin. If only he hadn’t been so foolish. If only he’d listened. All his life his family had been there for him, influencing everything he did, pushing him to become the best he could be. Why wasn’t that enough? What was wrong with him that he thought that he knew better, that he could somehow find his own path to himself, the real Eli, whoever that might be?

  But his fall from grace wasn’t entirely his fault, was it? There were always so many questions, so many things he didn’t understand, and yet, even with all his connections, he’d been powerless to find answers. Everything was left a mystery in his family.

  Eli had never felt more frustrated than he felt at that moment.

  That’s when he heard the tink-tonk of circus music in the distance. It was moving closer, along with the crackle of wheels rolling on brick. A high electronic voice called out to anyone close enough to hear, “Welcome to the East Side! Welcome to where the party lasts all day and the celebrating never ends!”

  Eli felt the blood rushing through his veins. Even before he saw the little funbot moving up the sidewalk, waving its foam hand, he knew he would recognize it. He looked up. It was the same clown face, the same oversized plastic eyes and long antennae. One of its rubber ears was missing. There was no mistaking this droid. Soon it rolled up near his feet and came to a halt. For a long time it just stood there while he and Marilyn stared. It didn’t move or say another word. Even the music went quiet. It was watching him.

  “What do you want?” he asked finally, his voice shaking. “What’s the message this time?”

  The ends of its lips curled into an exaggerated grin. “Hello, Eli.”

  By then Marilyn was clinging to his leg. Tell me what’s happening. You know this droid?

  Yes, he answered silently. It’s the one I told you about. Aloud, to the funbot, he said, “I asked you a question. What are you doing here?”

  “Just offering another suggestion to you, my friend,” it whispered. “A pleasant way to pass the evening. If you’re interested, that is.”

  Eli hesitated. If he were smart, he knew, he would run back into the house, lock the door, and wait until the funbot left him alone. What if people saw him with this thing? But he no longer cared. What did it matter anymore? Besides, he felt more curious about these people than ever. Grandfather had as much as admitted that the company sometimes held back the truth, and if that was right it meant the Fogger on the Bubble hadn’t been lying, at least about that. Even if Eli got caught, the life he’d always known was already over. The future he’d dreamed of was gone. Here was a chance, at least, for straight answers.

  “If I say yes, where would you send me?”

  Marilyn’s claws dug into his arm. Eli, what are you doing? Haven’t you already gotten yourself into enough trouble?

  He ignored her. His pulse quickened as he waited for an answer. Overhead, giant red letters appeared over blinking polka dots of gray on yellow:

  Genuine Relaxation and Save!

  The funbot didn’t appear to notice. Its eyes stayed fixed on Eli. “Lovely sky tonight, don’t you think? How about a nice walk to stretch your legs and enjoy the view?”

  “A nice walk to stretch my legs and enjoy the view,” Eli repeated. He glanced back at Marilyn.

  Absolutely not! she said. I know what you’re thinking, and it’s out of the question!

  Eli struggled with what to do. The robot seemed to take Eli’s silence as an answer—or maybe it was just tired of waiting. In any case, its plastic eyeballs began to spin in their sockets, and its tinny music started up again. It backed up a little, turned, and began rolling down the sidewalk in the direction opposite the one it had come from.

  “Wait!” Eli called. “Where are you going?”

  “Follow me, Eli Papadopoulos!” it sang. “Follow me! Follow me!”

  He still didn’t move. On the step beside him, Marilyn was chirping frantically and knocking her snout against his arm. Don’t you do it! Don’t!

  “Would it really be so bad? It’s just a walk, that’s all. Nothing wrong with that.”

  Don’t play games with me, Eli! I know you better. If you go after that droid, you don’t know what might happen! She rose to her full height and put her face close to his. Just because you’re upset, don’t throw away your future!

  The funbot was already at the next house.

  “What future? Everything I was supposed to become, everything I was meant to do, I’ve already failed at. Besides, I’m sick of waiting for answers that don’t ever come. This is a rare chance to take charge of something in my own life. Is that so wrong?” He stood up. “You don’t have to go with me. In fact, maybe it’s better if you don’t.”

  Eli started after the droid as Marilyn’s voice, shrill and urgent, echoed in his brain. What if it’s a trick? What if they drag you away somewhere, never to be heard from again?

  By then he’d almost caught up with the funbot. He didn’t care about being seen, not anymore. Overhead, the polka dots melted away, and soon the dome ceiling swarmed with wrist-watches and cartoon animals, a field of clock faces, teddy bears, and bunnies.

  Half a block later Eli heard Marilyn run up behind him. I can’t stop you from following through with this madness, so you leave me with no choice! Somebody has to be there to protect you from yourself! I’m coming with you!

  Eli knew better than to argue. He and Marilyn followed the little funbot around the corner onto Hope Street.

  The area around Wayland Square was teeming with people, employees having fun in the streets as the dome whirled with color and magic. On every sidewalk and even in the roads themselves they milled around, greeting each other and pointing up at the sky. Everywhere Eli looked were people with party accessories: flashing neckties, illuminated plastic noses, video fingernails, holographic butterflies, and planets that spun in orbits around costumed heads. A few revelers walked on glowing stilts. Each time the dome changed, the crowd roared its approval.

  The little robot wove its way through the happy mob, calling out greetings to everyone it passed. There were so many people that Eli had a hard time keeping up. To avoid being stepped on, Marilyn leapt onto his back and held on tight under his cloak.

  The funbot led them left onto Wayland and then right onto Orchard. Eli did his best to follow without appearing to. Soon they left the crowd. Eli and Marilyn found themselves drifting up Butler Avenue, past the old Victorian houses near the edge of the dome.

  “Where are you taking us?” Eli asked. “There’s nothing here.”

  The little machine didn’t answer. It kept rolling up the sidewalk. Finally they came to the inside wall of the dome, where the sky sloped like a massive, near-vertical wall of light. The funbot stopped. It turned to face Eli.

  “Okay, so now what?” he asked. “I don’t see anybody around, and it’s not like we can go through the dome.”

  The funbot only stared at him, its smile gone, its white face eerily expressionless.

  I don’t like this. It doesn’t feel right. Marilyn’s snout poked out from under Eli’s collar. It’s not too late to turn back.

  Eli ignored her. He glanced around. He hardly ever came to the edge of the dome. He found it unsettling to be so close to the sky, to look into it without having to look up, and to see the line where it touched the ground. And yet the funbot must have had a reason for taking him here.

  He blinked into the bright light. This close, he could just about see the individual pixels if he looked very carefully. At that moment the dome was electric p
ink. He reached out his hand. The light felt cool to his touch and seemed to hum against his fingertips. The peculiar color reflected off his skin, his sleeve, and everything else around him, even the houses, as if they were all part of some strange, giant sculpture made of bubble gum. He wriggled his hand in deeper and felt around to see if anything was there.

  Then his fingers brushed against something hard. It was level with his eyes and invisible behind the light. Whatever it was, it felt solid and cold, and it followed a vertical line. He grabbed hold of it and pulled, but it wouldn’t budge.

  What is it? Marilyn’s whole head extended over his pocket now.

  Eli felt around with his hands again, letting his fingers trace the shape of the thing hidden in the sky. There were two vertical bars that went almost to the ground, with horizontal rods in between.

  “It’s a ladder.”

  It makes sense. When the sky engineers climb the dome, they have to start somewhere. This must be one of the places.

  The funbot began to whack Eli on his arm over and over again with its antennae—thump! thump! thump! Even though it didn’t say a word, its meaning was clear.

  “It wants me to climb.” Eli craned his neck upward again. From where he stood, the sky looked gigantic, a massive wall of pink light that shot straight up for a dizzying distance before it started to curve over the city. Suddenly he was Alice staring into the mysterious bottle of liquid.

  Drink me.

  He squinted into the glare. It seemed like a crazy idea to leave the safety of the ground. It made him sweat just to look up at that height. And besides the danger, surely it was forbidden.

  Yet he wanted to know what he would find up there.

  “Marilyn, what do I do?”

  On his shoulder now, she eyed the wall of light. I don’t know why you bother to ask, she said. You know what you’re going to do.

  “Aren’t you curious too?”