[Perception 01.0] Perception

by Lee Strauss

  She shook her head. “I’ve read a lot of books, but never that one.” She grinned. “Maybe I should?”

  “Most definitely.”

  The forest thickened, and after a few hours, I signaled off of the main road. The sunlight through the trees cast a mystical glow. The trees opened up to a meadow and a small lake that sparkled like diamonds.

  “It’s beautiful,” Zoe said. “I’ve never actually been anywhere that wasn’t a GAP city.”

  “There’s still some natural beauty left on the earth. We’re headed for a fishing camp down this road.”

  “We’re going fishing?”

  “Well, we’re camping. We could go fishing if you want to.”

  We hit a gravel road and passed a sign that said Two Miles and then another set of worn signs.

  No TV or Internet beyond this point, and Next recharging station 50 miles.

  We pulled up to a rustic cabin with a crooked Check In sign. A cloud of dust swirled behind us.

  “Nice place,” Zoe said. I caught the sarcasm, and I didn’t trust her. She was coming on to me, but that was her MO. She knew how to use her beauty and charm to get what she wanted, and right now, I knew she wanted to get away from me.

  “It’ll do the trick,” I said, before getting out of the car. “You saw the signs?”

  “Yeah. No Internet or TV. You think we can’t be found or recognized here?”

  I shook my head. “We can be found anywhere. What I don’t know is if I need to lock you in the car again like at the motel or if I can trust you to come inside and not create a scene.”

  “What do you think?” she said, offering a careful smile.

  I opened my door, getting out quickly. “I think I’m not fooled by your kiss.”

  Keeping the backpack with me, I closed my door and locked her in the car.

  41

  I removed a ball cap from my backpack and kept my sunglasses on when I checked in with the clerk behind the cluttered wooden counter. The middle-aged man wore a white muscle shirt pulled tight over a generous beer belly. His long gray streaked hair hung down his back in a loose ponytail and he had a matching beard that wiggled as he chewed gum. A sign on the back wall said I’d Rather Be Fishing. His nametag said Asher.

  “Tent or cabin?” Asher asked with a big, carefree smile.

  “Tent.”

  “How many persons?”

  “Two.”

  I collected other items while we spoke. “We’d like to go fishing this afternoon, so add a canoe and fishing rod rental to our bill.”

  “Will do. Beautiful day for it. Just restocked the lake with non-modified trout this spring. The canoes are docked at the lake. You’ll find rods in the shop. Just help yourself.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Quiet midweek, so it’ll be nice for you and your friend?”

  I nodded at the implication, not giving anything away. It was better if he didn’t put me with a blond girl just in case Asher was sneaking in the news on the sly. I registered with two fake names.

  “Most folks come on the weekends. Lots of business-types tired of Big Brother. Oh, you can still log in with your ComRing, ‘cause of the global wifi.” He wiggled his bare fingers and nodded at my ring-less hands. “I see you’re hard core, like me.”

  I handed over cash.

  “Ah, good. You came prepared. You’d never guess how many folks come to an internet free place and then expect to scan their chip.”

  I asked for the farthest and most secluded campsite. Asher pointed out the directions on a map. “Just watch out for wildlife. Bears have been spotted near here. They’re coming’ further down the mountains than usual, lately.”

  “Thanks for the heads up,” I said, taking the food items I’d purchased.

  Zoe was yanking on the door handle when I keyed the code into the door.

  “It’s freaking hot in here, you know.” She crossed her arms and pouted. I tried to suppress a smile. She was cute when she got angry.

  “That’s why I left the windows cracked open.” I tossed the groceries into the back seat and hopped in.

  “I’m not a bloody dog.”

  “Don’t be mad.” Until I was sure I’d won her over, I didn’t have a choice but to take every precaution.

  I followed the man’s directions, slowly maneuvering my little car over the bumpy road, until I found #36 on the lakefront.

  “This is it,” I said.

  “Where’s the cabin?”

  “No cabin. We’re tenting.” I chuckled. “By the look on your face, I’d say you’ve never been camping before.”

  “Camping is for barbarians.”

  I turned off the safety locks and Zoe huffed as she got out. I lifted the gear out of the trunk, setting it around the fire pit.

  “It’s easy.” I flicked my wrist and let the bundled up tent loose. It unfolded magically into a two-man tent. “Now, all you have to do is tether it down.”

  “It’s not very...big.” Her eyes grew wide.

  “It’s big enough for you. I’ll sleep by the fire under the stars.”

  A look of uncertainty crossed her face.

  “I’m getting hungry,” I said as I deposited the food items into the tent and zipped it up. “Let’s go fishing so we can eat.”

  “We’re going to eat raw fish?”

  “No, we’ll cook it. Here on the fire. You really haven’t gone fishing before?”

  “I’ve ocean fished. But I’ve never had to clean the fish before and of course, we had an oven.”

  “Well, you’re in for a treat then.”

  Keeping Zoe in my sight, we walked the path to the boathouse where the canoes and the rods were stored. I dragged a canoe to the water’s edge.

  In the boathouse was a cabinet that held the rods and tackle. I placed them into the canoe then motioned to Zoe. “Get in, I’ll hold it still.”

  She tentatively stepped in, the canoe bottom shifting under her weight. She claimed the seat in the front before almost losing her balance. I pushed the boat farther into the water, dragging my bare feet before jumping in.

  I took the paddles, running them through the lake surface, until we were far enough out to fish.

  “It’s very peaceful here,” she said.

  “Yes. This is fishing’s main appeal.” I closed my eyes and let the sun massage my face. The tension in my shoulders released a bit as I paddled, soothed by the rhythmic motion. For a little while I could stop worrying if we would be found or if Zoe would try to get away. I could just be.

  “But isn’t there supposed to be actual fishing?” Zoe said, then she pointed. “Look, a fish jumped.” I opened my eyes in time to see the circular ripples the fish left behind.

  “You’re right. I think that one has your name on it.” I opened the tackle box, getting a rod ready. I handed it to her. “You’ve done this before, you said?”

  She took the rod looking nervous. “Well, the rods were attached to our yacht. I didn’t actually have to hold it.”

  “I’ll show you. It’s easy.” I moved from the back of the canoe to the short bench Zoe sat on, wrapping my arms around her to grip the rod. “Is this okay?”

  She hesitated for a moment but then said, “Sure.”

  I put my hands over hers, my chest pressed against her back. I tried to ignore how my heart rate sped up at her closeness. “We’re going to reach with the rod over your right shoulder, then fling the hook and line in a big arc into the water.”

  It went exactly as I said it would. “There.” I moved back to my own bench. “You just have to wait for a bite.”

  Zoe held on tightly to the rod, though I noticed she kept sneaking glances at me. I wondered what she was thinking. I didn’t bother to hide the fact that I was staring at her.

  She noticed. “That’s unnerving, you know.”

  “Sorry, occupational hazard.” I rowed gently, horizontal to the shore. “So, did it work?”

  “What?”

  “The kiss.”

>   “Um, I’m not sure. I can’t tell what’s real from a dream anymore.”

  “That must be frustrating.”

  She blew loose strands of hair out of her eyes. “It is.”

  I scrambled for what to say next. What was the key to unlocking her memories? More stories? More time?

  “Do you think we’re safe... here?” Zoe said.

  “Depends what you mean by safe.”

  “Well, do you think someone is after us?”

  “Not us. Me,” I answered, though I knew what she really meant. Was someone coming to rescue her? “I kind of made an agreement with Grant. I broke my end of the bargain.”

  “Who’s Grant?”

  “One of your grandfather’s goons. He was supposed to kill me, but I was the one with the gun.”

  She stiffened, gripping the rod tighter. “But you didn’t kill him, did you?”

  “I’m not a killer, Zoe.”

  “You’re a lover not a fighter.”

  I stopped short. “Did you remember that?”

  “Remember what?”

  “Remember me telling you that?”

  She shook her head. “I just thought of it myself... I think.”

  Then she yelped. “I got one!”

  “Start reeling it in.” I moved back to her bench, wrapping my arms around her again. “Just pull up on the rod a little and reel.”

  Zoe laughed. I felt her back vibrate against my chest and I couldn’t help but smile as I watched her.

  “Oh, there it is,” she said with another round of laughter. I helped her reel it into the canoe. The blue/pink scales of the fish sparkled in the sun as it flapped side to side.

  She squealed, pushing back into me.

  “Careful,” I said lightly, “You’re going to knock us in.”

  She turned and held my eyes. Hers blue as the lake, questioning, only inches away.

  Time seemed to stop. I didn’t hear the birds chirping or feel the sun’s heat beating on my head. The world shrunk until it was just the two of us in existence. I leaned in. “Please remember,” I whispered as my lips touched hers.

  42

  The fish cooked on the fire, and it smelled terrific.

  I was starving, and I was pretty sure Zoe must be, too. I flipped the fillets over on the grill and thought about that last kiss. It was different than the one Zoe had surprised me with that morning in the car.

  I felt fairly certain it wasn’t just a test for her anymore. We were making progress.

  I placed the food on plastic plates and offered her one before sitting down on the log near her. The fire crackled, bright against the darkening sky. The flames cast warm light against Zoe’s skin. I refrained from a sudden impulse to reach over and stroke her face.

  “This is really good,” she said after taking her first bite. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

  “Besides stay away from you?” I shook my head while taking another bite.

  I was flirting with her and by the smile that formed on her face; I could tell she knew it.

  “I have a surprise,” I said. “Marshmallows. Not exactly crème brulé, but it works for dessert.”

  I took the knife out of the backpack and chiseled off the end of a thin tree branch. I pushed a marshmallow onto the tip and handed it to her. Zoe placed it over the fire.

  “Tell me stories,” she said as she rotated the marshmallow. Its white skin bubbled to a sugary bronze.

  “You mean scary campfire stories?”

  “No, the stories.” She stared hard at me. “Our stories. Did we always like each other?”

  I stoked the fire with my marshmallow stick. “Not really. We kind of grew on each other.”

  “How?”

  “I’m not sure how. It happened quickly, over a week or so. Then you kissed me.”

  “I kissed you first?”

  “True. You’d broken up with Jackson...”

  “I don’t remember that.”

  “Well, you did. You suspected him of holding back information about your brother. We knew that someone had taken Liam’s chip.”

  “Like you took mine.”

  “Well, yeah. Except, in this case, it was Liam’s idea. He didn’t want the authorities to catch on about how often he was leaving Sol City. You wanted to go to the lab at the university to talk to Jackson, but I didn’t want you to go alone.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I didn’t trust him. In the end, I was right. You figured out where Jackson had put the chip, and when you tried to get it, he wrestled you away. I heard the commotion and saw that he had his hands on you. Honestly, my blood boiled so fast, before I knew what I was doing, I’d punched him in the jaw. Knocked him out cold.”

  “You did? What’d I do?”

  “You kissed me on the cheek. Then I kissed you. And you kissed me back.”

  She became thoughtful. “I came to visit you in jail.”

  “Yes! You remember?”

  She jumped up. “I do! I remember. We kissed between the bars.”

  Her eyes flickered as the memories came. “I remember the clock tower.” She flashed me a wide-eyed look. “We’ve done a lot of kissing.”

  I grinned. “The quota hasn’t been used up.”

  “And eating at the food court.” She grabbed my hand, pressing the flesh where a chip would normally be. “You’re afraid of needles.”

  I laughed. “Yes! This is great, Zoe. You’re remembering.”

  She smiled weakly, then her eyes popped open with a new memory. “We were in Grandpa V’s office. He confessed to setting up the experiment for Liam. And to killing Mitchell Redding. I remember him now, too.”

  A sob escaped her throat, and in an instant, I had my arms around her.

  “Get away from her.” I jumped to attention, my eyes darting to my backpack on the other side of the fire. Through the darkness and the light of the dwindling flames, we could see a shadow approaching.

  “Jackson?” Zoe said.

  Jackson stepped forward. His shoulders seemed broader than I recalled. He stood tall, menacing. His face was contorted with anger and loathing.

  “I said, get away from her.” His fists clenched, the light of the fire reflecting off them, like they were made of metal.

  I moved in front of Zoe.

  “Jackson.” She peeked around me. “What happened to your hands?”

  “Just come to me.” His eyes were dark, tormented. “Please, Zoe.”

  She shook her head slowly. “I don’t want to.”

  His look changed. Surprise? Rage? “He’s the bad guy here. You belong with me.”

  “I don’t think I do.”

  Jackson stepped forward, his fists up. “What did you do to her, Brody? Brainwash her?”

  I laughed. “Look who’s talking? I’m not the one who stole her memories. How’d you do that anyway? Was it the pills?”

  Jackson’s eyes flickered back to Zoe.

  “I know what Grandpa V did to me,” she said. “I remember now. Everything. What I don’t understand is why.”

  “It was for your own good, Zoe.” Jackson stepped closer. “Brody knows too much. He’s dangerous to your family. Don’t you see? The senator had to do what he did to save the family name. He had to do it to keep you away from him.”

  “How did you find us?” I said.

  Jackson chuckled. “You think you’re pretty tricky don’t you. Well, I have a few tricks of my own. I developed a nano-tracker.”

  “The pills?” I said.

  “Yes, Einstein. It was in the pills. The senator had me design them to reinforce the memory-blocker. He knew the nano-bots would cause headaches, which would perpetuate the consumption of the pills. As long as she took the pills for pain, her memory would remain blocked.

  “He doesn’t know I added the tracking system. So even though you removed Zoe’s chip, like I knew you would if you ever got to her, I could still track her as long as she took the pills.”

  “But I stopped taking the pil
ls two days ago,” Zoe said.

  “It stays in the blood stream for a couple of days, and I have to say, I’m impressed with my own work. I’d have found you sooner, except for a small blip I’ll need to work out in the future. The tracker signals fade out when they’re near the magnetic fields in the road systems.

  “Enough chit-chat. Zoe, let’s go.”

  Now that Jackson was closer, the fire reflected off the metal mesh wrapped around his forearms and biceps. He’d been outfitted with cyborg parts. The experiment hadn’t stopped; it just switched from Liam to Jackson.

  “Zoe!” he demanded.

  She clung to my arm. “No.”

  “Fine,” he said, his face hardening. “If that’s the way you want it.”

  I dove for my backpack, but Jackson was on me with unbelievable speed. Zoe fell to the ground and cried out. Jackson rolled me away from the fire towards the trees, then sprung to his feet in a super-human fashion. He gripped me by the neck lifting me off the ground like I was a rag doll. I thrashed my legs, choking.

  “Jackson!” Zoe shouted. “Stop!”

  The cocking of a gun.

  “Drop him, Jackson.”

  Jackson loosened his hold on me as he stared at Zoe. She had a gun aimed at his head. He lowered me to the ground. I collapsed, holding my throat, gasping for breath.

  “Why Jackson?” she said. “Why did you keep going with the experiment? Don’t you know Grandpa V is just using you? You’re nothing more than his pawn.”

  “I’m no one’s pawn. I’m my own man. I’m powerful, intelligent and strong. And I accomplished what Liam didn’t. I’m the first one, Zoe. It’s just a fused cyborg encasement, but it’s the first step to full non-organic human existence. I will live forever.”

  “Unless I shoot you,” she said.

  Jackson took a small step toward her.

  “Don’t move, Jackson. I mean it.”

  “No you won’t. You and I, we belong together. We’re a team.”

  “You’ve never wanted me,” she said. Her voice sounded amazingly strong. “You just wanted my name. I’m sorry, but I’m not your ticket into the family.”

  “But, I love you, Zoe.”

  Zoe scoffed. “You don’t love me. You love yourself.”

  She pulled the trigger.