Just before he felt his flesh and the hard concrete on his back, he heard one last word from far away.
Lucinda.
ROUND 4
Real Estate Tycoon Missing at Sea
LAS VEGAS, Nevada. – Local real estate and business billionaire, Franklin Constantino, 82, was reported missing after taking his yacht for a solo excursion out of San Francisco into the Pacific Ocean.
Constantino had been diagnosed with lung cancer two months before his disappearance. According to one of his staff, he rarely boarded his 70’ yacht without a captain and crew, but insisted on a lone journey for some “soul searching”.
The Coast Guard received distress calls about fifty miles off the coast but were unable to locate the ship. Evidence suggests the ship may have sunk but nothing has been confirmed.
29
THE TOP FLOOR OF THE Chimney hummed as the electric motors began winding up the shades. Evening light – diffused by the window’s tint – filled the room.
The Director was stretched out on a comfortable recliner. His lips began twitching before his eyes fluttered open. He stared vacantly at the black ceiling for a few moments before reaching up. He slid the needle out of the stent. He quivered. The sensation of the lubricated needle was a queer one that tickled the inside of his brain.
He rubbed salve over the hole and sighed while the Foreverland world faded. It would take a few minutes before he felt all the way back in his body. He drummed his fingers on the cushiony armrests while the chair’s internal rolling pins massaged his back, legs and buttocks. Circulation was important after lying still for so long. When the tingling faded, he put his feet on the ground and slowly stood.
He hadn’t eaten since he’d gone “inside the needle” (another term the boys invented) but he wasn’t thinking of food. He was thinking of what he just saw.
He found her.
The Director mixed a drink.
He stooped over a telescope aimed across the empty Yard. The boys would exit the Haystack in a half hour or so. It always took them a bit longer to return to the flesh when a round had ended. After all, the Director had been doing it for years, one of the few people to master the ability to go inside the needle. They were still rookies.
Only Danny Boy’s third round and he’d already managed to get control of his body. Maybe she was helping him, but he somehow doubted that was it. The kid was brilliant. The Director secretly wished he could somehow cryogenically freeze him for about twenty years; he could save the kid for his own personal use. But he didn’t have that technology. Not yet.
The drink warmed him.
She was clever, of course. He continued to underestimate her. She left that Christmas present as a clue and then sent the kid on a wild chase throughout the island. The Director already had a lot of responsibility keeping Foreverland stable, so keeping track of Danny Boy racing around was difficult. Somehow, she managed to construct a trapdoor in the Mansion and the kid found it without knowing it. By the time the Director realized what had happened, she’d collapsed the tunnel that led to the outer perimeter of the Nowhere. Out of his reach.
She’s learning, that’s what’s happening.
And learning was a problem.
Before she infected Foreverland, it was an expanding universe that started at the sundial and extended hundreds of miles past the shoreline. The Director envisioned it encompassing the planet, the solar system, and eventually the universe. The growth was exponential and the system operated flawlessly. He had great plans for humanity’s next evolutionary step. Foreverland wasn’t just an imaginary place where the kids went to play.
Everything was right on schedule. Until they inoculated Reed.
He appeared to be a healthy, normal subject. As he lay in a medically induced coma – after his body healed from the car accident – they strapped him with the initial needle-piercing for false memory infusion, but when they drew his memories out, this girl had slipped out of his subconscious. Memories always ended up floating around the Nowhere like bits of chicken in a bowl of soup.
But the girl was conscious!
Initially, she was merely a nuisance, a cockroach that would eventually run into the bottom of the Director’s heel. But she found cover in the Nowhere where the Director was blind. And ever since then, Foreverland had been collapsing.
The misty Nowhere was less than five miles off the shore, shrinking every day. He predicted that it would take a month to collapse all the way back to the sundial. If there was no Foreverland, the program would come to a screeching halt. The Investors would not be pleased. Not with the sums of money they were putting up.
But Danny Boy found her and that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
It was the first time she’d stuck her neck out of the Nowhere. The Director missed it, this time. He wouldn’t the next. She wanted Danny Boy and that meant she would do it again. If he caught her – no, not if… when he caught her, he would put a stop to the collapse. And then he could continue with the original plan: get Reed inside. He knew that once Reed was inside Foreverland, he would absorb her like a memory. Because that’s what she was. She would go back inside his mind and leave Foreverland.
And Foreverland would grow, once again.
Why Reed had resisted all this time he still couldn’t understand. Somehow, the kid seemed to know he was the antidote to the Director’s problem. That’s why he needed Danny Boy. He needed him to tell Reed about what she was doing, what she looked like, how much she needed him. Danny Boy would apply the pressure the Director needed, he would help bring him to Foreverland.
He swallowed the drink and mixed another.
Someone was crossing the Yard. Reed was the first one out, clutching his hands to his stomach. There were Soldiers of Fortune that didn’t have balls half the size as his. The Director would have to get medieval, very soon. Reed would discover that every human had a breaking point.
“Director?” the intercom called.
“Yes?”
“At your convenience, could you come down to the network floor? I think you’ll find this interesting.”
He finished the drink. He was tired and already a little buzzed. But there was data to observe from Foreverland.
30
Lucinda watched Foreverland recede.
She knew everything about the Nowhere. She knew all the thoughts of the boys that had been there. Knew all the… suffering, too. But it was Danny Boy that cracked the system open. He showed her how to work with the code, how to see into the network that helped operate… Foreverland.
The Nowhere fog circled the sundial as the boys went back to their bodies. And Foreverland went to sleep. Until the next round.
31
DANNY WOKE ON THE FLOOR, shivering. His clothes were still piled up where he left them. The door of his cell was open. A sharp pain gouged his ribs as he sat up. He couldn’t remember falling before taking the needle. He got dressed and wiped something off his cheek, like snails raced across his face.
The Haystack was empty, except for Zin.
He was awake and sitting with his arms propped on his knees. His throat bobbed up and down like he was trying to swallow something that just wouldn’t go down.
“Zin.” Danny squatted in front of him. “You all right?”
A string of saliva dangled from his lip.
Danny pulled him onto his feet. At least he didn’t have to dress him. He threw Zin’s arm over his shoulders and guided him out of the Haystack and through the woods. Zin continued to swallow at nothing until they emerged into the Yard. When daylight hit their faces, Zin looked up. Focus returned.
“Thanks, Danny Boy.”
They went straight to their rooms. Danny helped him crawl in bed and then went to his own. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
______
There were no medical trays when Danny woke up. As far as he could tell, Mr. Jones hadn’t been to his room. At least, he couldn’t smell him.
He did come to h
is room a couple days later. He was apologetic, at first. He stood in the middle of the room with his hands behind his back like he was addressing the press.
“I’m sorry I lost control in the Haystack, Danny Boy. I understand you’re under a lot of stress and it can be confusing about what to do. It’s easy to become irrational, I know. We’re all under a lot of stress.”
Danny wondered what kind of stress Mr. Jones could be enduring. Did he have to swim three laps in the luxury pool instead of two?
“But what Reed is doing is borderline insanity. No, it is insanity.” That was about the time the apology ended and the finger-waving began. “The fact that he’s been allowed to remain in the program this long is unconscionable, Danny Boy.”
And that was another first. Program. He called this a program.
“He’s a terrible example,” Mr. Jones said, pointing at Danny. “Refusing the lucid gear is an insult and a travesty and sabotages everything we strive to…” His tone softened. “Everything we strive to give you boys. It makes no sense, and I don’t want to see you contaminated by his actions. You understand, Danny Boy?”
“I’m sorry, too,” Danny said with his most convincing doe-eyes. “I just lost it in there, Mr. Jones. It didn’t take long to realize my mistake, trust me. It won’t happen again.”
Mr. Jones smiled. He sat on the bed, permeating the sheets with his Mr. Jones smell.
“You know, I can’t forbid you from talking to him. I just want you to understand how damaged he is. I don’t want that to happen to you. You’re a good kid, Danny Boy. You know what they say about spoiled apples.”
“You don’t have to worry about me, Mr. Jones.”
Danny stopped from adding, Golly gee. I love this place. Mr. Jones would’ve bought it even if he did. He scrubbed Danny’s head.
“A good kid, you are.”
______
The camp was at the table, again, soaking up the sun and tossing cards. Danny mostly stayed in his room for a couple days and only snuck down to the cafeteria when they weren’t there. Sid didn’t seem to be looking for him but Danny wasn’t taking any chances. He just needed some peace to sort through his thoughts.
Lucinda.
She woke up in Foreverland, but what was she? Part of the program? Something real?
It didn’t matter. They all had the same goal: get off the island. He just needed to come up with a solution. He’d established contact with the outside world and no one that ran the place seemed to notice. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t being watched. He’d slipped through the firewall and he was sure he could do it again, at least once. And if he only had one chance, it needed to work.
He couldn’t send for help, it would just look like a hoax. We’re a bunch of kids held on a tropical island given everything we could ever want and we go into a barn and get a needle shot into our heads so we can experience an alternate reality. Please help.
The island was a slick operation. Surely they’d have a plan for visitors. Danny needed something that would get the world’s attention, something that would piss off some important people and make them come looking for them. The next round wasn’t for another week and a half. He had time to think and no distractions. He had to go into the fourth round with something ready to go.
And look for a fight.
The card table was empty. Sid and his band of merry men had gone to lunch. Zin hadn’t left his room. His Investor was bringing up food and closing the door quietly on his way out. Danny had been checking up on him, too. He was tired, but at least he was alive. Maybe when this was all over, he’d find the old Zin in the Mansion. Or maybe a new and improved Zin.
Danny opened his door. The hallway was empty and Zin’s door was closed. He lightly tapped on it. He was going to try the door knob and peek inside the room when someone said, “Zin’s looking for you.”
It was James. He was a fourteen year old kid that never gave Danny any crap.
“Where is he?”
James opened the door to his room and said, “I saw him going out back, said something about a joyride.”
Danny went to his room and threw on clothes and started for the stairs. A joyride? Maybe the old Zin was putting up a fight after all.
He never bothered opening Zin’s door.
32
“PREPOSTEROUS.” MR. JONES THREW HIS arms up. “You’ll have a real problem on your hands if he’s hurt, I promise you, Director. Something happens to my Danny Boy…”
Mr. Smith stood next to him. They were looking out the tinted windows of the Chimney’s top floor. Mr. Smith calmly kept his hands latched behind his back, while Mr. Jones folded and unfolded his arms making a small sound each time he did, like he was choking on words until he had to spit them out.
“There will be hell to pay. I’ve invested too much time and money to take such a risk, you should’ve consulted me.” He looked over his shoulder. “This is absurd!”
The Director was throwing a floral red and white shirt over his head. “Mr. Jones,” he said, his flip-flops slapping his feet, “I don’t consult my clients. You pay me to do the thinking.”
The Director stood next to Mr. Smith. They were looking at the back of the dormitory.
“Besides,” he said, “you don’t exist, so don’t make idle threats.”
Mr. Jones’s face went red. “You’re punishing him for what? For going in the Nowhere? I’m a fair man, Director, and this has nothing to do with fairness.”
The Director looked at Mr. Jones. His beard did not conceal the smile. Fair man? His delusion knows no bounds.
The program thrived from the self-centeredness of these old men, the infection of false entitlements that comes from money and power. Their universe revolved around their petty concerns and anything that affected them. They couldn’t see the bigger picture, they couldn’t see opportunity when they looked in only one direction. Stay open to life, gentlemen. Let it unfold and the universe will provide you with endless paths on your journey.
Fact is, they got lucky.
The Director expected Danny to be risky, but he never would’ve guessed the kid would hack through the security firewall and spread across the world! He did it through a vast web of communications. He didn’t attempt any communication because he was smart. Any other frightened kid would’ve shouted out to the world, Help! Help! The Director had answers for that, but that wasn’t what Danny Boy did. He was patient, scoping out his potential. He would do something the next time, something the Director might not be able to stop.
But, more importantly, he showed the Director how the world’s vast communication network had become a living body that just needed a soul to breathe. Danny Boy merged his identity with the network. He became the network.
Danny showed him just how short-sighted he had been all this time.
“We’re making him stronger,” the Director said. “He needs this to push through his psychological barriers.”
“On what basis do you make these assessments?” Mr. Jones said. “Those barriers were put in place by us! He’s not supposed to remember his past in the flesh, Director. Like every boy on this island, he only recovers them inside the needle, and now you want to remove the barriers that prevent him from remembering in the flesh? Director, I must question your motivations—”
“Question nothing, Mr. Jones,” he snapped. “Every boy on this island is different, each needs the program tailored to his individual needs. May I remind you that you were the one that argued to recruit this young man against my better judgment, that he would bring problems that would be dealt with in an unorthodox manner. Do you recall that conversation?”
Mr. Jones folded his arms, once again. “You are introducing anarchy. I hardly see how that will benefit those involved.”
“Sometimes death provides life, Mr. Jones. I believe that is something we can all agree upon.”
They watched the scene unfold behind the dormitory.
“I’ve had enough. I’m putting a stop to this now.”
>
The Director didn’t stop him from going to the elevator. The event was over.
Mr. Smith was nonplussed. It didn’t involve his boy. In fact, it was for the benefit of Danny Boy and Reed. Therefore, Mr. Smith watched with great interest.
“Danny Boy is Reed’s salvation,” is what the Director told him before Mr. Jones had arrived. “He’s our best chance to draw him inside the needle.”
And the needle was what Mr. Smith needed him to take. Otherwise, he would have wasted his time and money. Money, he had. Time was what he was trying to buy.
So the Director’s argument was very compelling. The pressure they had put on Reed still had not succeeded. The Director and Mr. Smith agreed that Reed was likely to die before succumbing to it. His health was already on the decline and his time was very short. It wasn’t going to benefit Mr. Smith if he destroyed him. He was willing to try anything.
The Director twisted the curly whiskers on his upper lip. The event behind the dormitory was taking an unforeseen turn, but Mr. Smith didn’t flinch. He watched as it unfolded. This made the Director smile. He trusts me.
“There’s hope yet, Mr. Smith. The two are bonding. Keep them close, let them continue to develop a relationship.”
“What about Mr. Jones? He will not be pleased with this approach.”
“I’ll handle Mr. Jones. Danny Boy made contact with Reed’s ‘problem’ inside the needle. We can’t let that opportunity go to waste.”
The Director didn’t lie. There was a problem. The extent of that problem, however, was not fully explained to any of the Investors. Reed’s problem was a threat to all of them. Mr. Jones, included. If Danny Boy was part of the solution, there would be no discussion about how to handle it.
The boys behind the dormitory fell to the ground as Mr. Jones and other Investors arrived on the scene. Mr. Smith took his leave to attend to Reed.
The Annihilation of Foreverland (A Science Fiction Thriller) Page 13
