Manipulator

by Thom Parsons

  “How the fuck do we get out then?” Owen leaned forwards through the gap in between the drivers seat and the passengers seat so that he could get closer to Ethan. It was difficult to hear him over the sound of the incoming strong winds. “Tell me! There must be a way?! A way that we can beat this virus on the inside?”

  “We can’t,” Ethan answered, completely shooting down Owen's hopes for survival and escape. “We can only run. But eventually, this virus? It will find us. And it will kill us."

  Chapter Sixty Three

  Date: December 13th 2035

  Location: Owen’s Apartment, New York

  “Put these on,” Kate spat out at Nick as she threw him a pair of stainless steel handcuffs. He eyed her maliciously and then wrapped one of the cold metal cuffs around his wrist, but it was hard to see her face behind the gun that was continuously pointed at him.

  “Ah, Ah!” Kate tutted, shaking her head at him, stopping Nick in his tracks. “Hands tied behind you and wrapped around the metal piece on your chair.”

  He did as he was instructed. A constant look of anger and disgust covered his face the entire time he looked at her. Yet still, her face remained emotionless, and the gun remained pointed at Nick the entire time.

  “That will stop you from helping,” Kate explained as Nick finished cuffing his hands behind the metal chair which he was sat on.

  “Why not kill me?” he said coldly to her. “You’ve killed Owen and Ethan by not letting me help them.”

  “Nick. I’m not like that," Kate explained as she finally lowered the weapon, satisfied that he was secured to the chair. "It’s a shame about Owen and Ethan. But I don’t call the shots here. Don't you get it? I don't want to hurt anyone. It wasn’t me that put that virus in there, and it wasn’t me that made them go inside PRoGRaM.”

  “It doesn’t matter!” Nick shouted to her. “You’re killing them by doing nothing!”

  “Not my concern,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

  "Why are you doing this, Kate?"

  "Why do you think, Nick? It's about the one thing that it's always about. It's about Money. Plain and simple. Do you know how much I've made by simply babysitting Owen and keeping an eye on him?"

  "I don't even care," Nick replied honestly.

  "I'll tell you how much. Enough for me to keep my mother in a good home for the rest of her life. Enough for me to finally, for once in my life not to be a disappointment to her. Enough to support her. And all for what? Watching one person?"

  "And killing him!" he retorted angrily with small traces spit flying out of his mouth as he spoke.

  "He'd be dead whether I was here or not. I had nothing to do with this. I'm not a killer." But then she thought about what she had done to Eli, and how simply she had followed someone else's instructions on killing a man. Is Nick right? Am I a monster inside? What have I become? No. You did it all for the right reasons. You did it for your family. You did it for your family…

  "I hope it was worth it," Nick said, but Kate wasn't even paying attention to him anymore. She was more concerned with finding all of her belongings that lay around Owen’s apartment.

  “You’re leaving?” Nick asked, realising that she was trying to clear everything of hers into a large bag.

  “There’s nothing more for me here,” she said back to him as she picked up the last of her things. “Goodbye Nick.”

  But before she could grab all of her stuff and make a speedy escape, something completely unexpected happened.

  Something that not even Nick saw coming.

  There was a heavy knock at the door, sending shivers down Kate’s spine. Nobody was supposed to know what was happening, or where she was. What if someone’s here to cover this all up and end it permanently?

  She turned quickly to Nick, raising her gun and pointing it directly at him. Even though he was incapable of moving in the chair that he was handcuffed to, Kate wasn’t willing to take any chances.

  “What did you do?” she asked darkly, immediately believing that he had done something to alert somebody, somewhere. Nick stared back at her, refusing to answer. Make her think you've got a backup plan, Nick. Keep her scared.

  There was another knock at the door. it was more urgent this time, someone out there was hitting it harder.

  “I wont ask you again,” she said as she loaded a bullet into the chamber of the gun and shoved it right into Nick’s face. "What. Did. You. Do?”

  But still, he stared back at her, holding his ground firmly and refusing to give in and give her the answer that she wanted. Little did she know, Nick was just as surprised to hear the knocking at the door as she was. He hadn’t done anything. He hadn’t called anybody. So who the hell is it?

  He knew that she wasn’t going to shoot him. She had told him as much. Even though she was working for the enemy, Nick could tell that Kate wasn’t a killer. She couldn’t hurt anyone, and her attempts to be threatening were so out of character that it was almost comedic. She stepped back from Nick and turned her attention to the front door of Owen’s apartment. Nobody had knocked in almost thirty seconds. Maybe whoever it was has gone away?

  With her gun pointing towards the door, she edged forwards. Slowly and carefully, without making any noise, she slithered up towards the door, listening intently and trying to hear if there was anybody on the other side. No sounds stood out to her, so she pressed the barrel of the gun against the door and moved herself into position in order to look through the peephole.

  As she pressed her right eye to the door, she blinked and looked through. Only one thought crossed her mind in the split second that she realised what was happening.

  Oh shit.

  She knew instantly that she should have fired her weapon, but in that split second that it mattered, she hesitated. The door came flying off its hinges and smashed straight into her face, instantly rendering her unconscious. Somebody had kicked it so hard that they had almost taken the door off completely.

  Satisfied that the immediate danger was dealt with, a dark figure stepped forwards, picked up Kate's weapon, and walked straight into Owens apartment.

  Chapter Sixty Four

  Date: December 13th 2035

  Location: PRoGRaM (CORRUPTION DETECTED)

  “We’re possibly going to see things that are beyond comprehension,” Ethan said loudly to Owen in the backseat, speaking up over the heavy wind. He was pushing the convertible to its limit, actively forcing the vehicle to go as fast as possible and easily reaching speeds of over one-hundred miles per hour.

  Together, they made it into the centre of New York City. For the time being at least, Owen and Ethan didn’t seem to have to worry about buildings collapsing onto them, That trait of the virus seemed to have backed off… for now.

  Regardless of their situation, Owen kept his pistol aimed into the back of Ethan’s seat. Archer still didn't trust the man. Maybe there's a safe way to pass this virus after all? Maybe Ethan knows something that he's not letting on about it? If there was, then Owen was going to find out. “I need to know what we’re up against,” he asked.

  “The impossible,” Ethan responded vaguely, mumbling his answer in annoyance at Owen's question.

  “I need details,” Owen said demandingly as he prodded the back of the drivers seat with the nozzle of his gun. It was his way of reminding Ethan that he wasn’t in the mood for stupid answers.

  “This virus," Ethan said, giving in to Owen's relentless bombardment of questions. "It’s designed to alter the properties of the world of PRoGRaM in order to erase any… irregularities."

  “To erase people?"

  “Yes," Ethan confirmed. "This virus circumvents the natural order of things inside the world of PRoGRaM. It enables the world to change, completely against its natural coding. To allow it to become the most unrealistic and dangerous thing that it can be. This virus adapts and learns about the people that don't belong inside here. It can change environments, physics, anything it wants to in order… to achieve… it
s goal.”

  Ethan's voice began to stutter as he watched a major event unfolding directly in front and above of him. Both he and Owen glanced up in horror as a huge skyscraper, at least one hundred stories high began to collapse… falling right towards their vehicle.

  "Holy shit," Owen mumbled under his breath as he watched the building fall right towards them. Glancing over at Ethan, Owen saw that the man didn't even appear to be thinking straight anymore. The collapsing building that was coming down towards him was just too captivating.

  "GET OFF THE ROAD ETHAN!" Owen screamed at him from the backseat attempting to snap the man out of his stare.

  Ethan blinked in quick succession and shook his head slightly, shaking off the captivation. Recognising and realising the immediate danger, he tapped the brakes and jerked the steering wheel tightly to the right, sending the car into a power-slide around a nearby corner. Owen held on tightly, afraid that the speed at which they had taken the corner was going to throw him out of the moving vehicle.

  But Owen didn't have to keep a grip for long, and managed to relax slightly as the convertible straightened up again on the road. Ethan put his foot down on the accelerator once more in an attempt to get as far away from the destruction that was about to occur behind them. Owen turned his head around to watch the scene unfold, but before the skyscraper even came close to hitting the ground, Ethan called out to him from the drivers seat.

  "Owen…" The fear was instantly evident in his voice, causing Owen to turn back around quickly. Oh shit…

  He and Ethan were just shit out of luck. In front of them, another huge skyscraper was collapsing down in their direction. Ethan wasn't lying about this virus after all. Owen realised. Maybe there really is no way out of this. The world really is out to kill us. Can't go forwards, can't go backwards. Need to think quickly. How are we supposed to survive this?!

  "Ethan! Over there!" Owen shouted as he leant forwards and pointed. There was a sign for the New York City underground. With all these buildings collapsing around us, it might just be the safest place to go to… for now.

  Ethan spotted it and jolted the steering wheel, forcing the car to make a beeline for the NYC Underground entrance. Timing it perfectly and slamming his foot on the brakes, Ethan managed to bring their vehicle to a stop right outside the entrance to the tunnel leading below. Jumping out of the car, the two of them ran as fast as they could towards the entrance. With every step he took, Owen watched out of the corner of his eye as the skyscraper fell perilously quickly down towards him.

  Taking the steps five at a time, both Owen and Ethan fired themselves down the stairs like speeding bullets, trying desperately to get as far away from the path of destruction that was about to hit the ground above them.

  A huge booming noise rang out from a short distance away. The first skyscraper had finally fallen down and hit the ground hard. The un-natural red light coming from the sky faded slightly as a huge stream of dust fired into the air from the fallen building.

  The stairs which the two of them had just come running down had been blocked with rubble from above The walls shock, forcing dust to creep out from them. And then there was silence. But it didn't stop Owen or Ethan. Together, they ran deeper and deeper into the New York City Underground.

  With a force ten times greater than that of the first skyscraper's collapse, there was a tremendous BOOM. The second building, the one that was right on top of them, hit the ground, and hit the ground hard. All of its force slammed into the concrete right above where Owen and Ethan stood. The lights that lit the tunnel flickered, and the entire New York City Underground shook violently, causing both Owen and Ethan to fall to the ground.

  It's a miracle that the roof hasn't collapsed in yet. But there's still time for that, isn't there?

  Chapter Sixty Five

  Date: December 13th 2035

  Location: Owen’s Apartment, New York

  Nick recoiled and jumped in shock at the noise coming from the front of Owen’s apartment. He turned his head in an attempt to see what was going on, but because of the manner in which he was handcuffed to the chair, he couldn’t see anything that was happening behind him.

  There were no gunshots. No sounds that gave away any signs of a struggle. There was just a huge crashing noise of somebody kicking Owen’s door in, and then silence. Ten seconds passed, then he heard footsteps.

  They were coming his way.

  Craning his head around as much as he could, somebody finally came into view behind him. They were male, tall, and had a fairly menacing look about them. He couldn’t see this man's face directly, as whoever it was wore a face mask and a cap to cover pretty much all of their facial features apart from their eyes.

  Nick was convinced that whoever it was that was underneath this mask and cap was here to kill everyone in the room. He had heard nothing from Kate, no screams, no struggle. She must be dead.

  There was something in the way that this dark figure of a man moved that was so determined, yet so familiar. The footsteps stopped directly behind him as the figure reached into his pocket.

  Nick braced himself for the end… he closed his eyes and began to shake as he prepared himself for a single bullet to the back of the head. I get a fast-track card out of this life and into the next one.

  But instead of the bullet to the head, instead, somebody unsecured him from the chair. They hadn’t been reaching into their pocket for a weapon, they had been reaching into their pocket for a key.

  Nick opened his eyes once he realised that he was in safe hands, and then let out a huge breath that he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. As soon as his hands were free he stood up as fast as he could and turned himself to face the dark, mysterious figure who had come into Owen's apartment.

  Nick was visibly shaking, purely from the shock of the events that had occurred over the last five minutes. He looked over the man in front of him who still wore his cap and mask over his face. The man held his hands up in front of him, trying to show to Nick that he meant no harm.

  Slowly, he reached for the mask and cap and removed them.

  Standing in front of him, was Eli Roth.

  Chapter Sixty Six

  Date: December 13th 2035

  Location: PRoGRaM (CORRUPTION DETECTED)

  "Owen?" Ethan said quietly from the floor. He was afraid to move. He was afraid of what might possibly come for them next. He was afraid, whether he wanted to admit it nor not. Everything around the two of them had gone quiet. The world above them… silent. Trapped together in the eerily quiet New York City Underground.

  "Yeah?" Owen responded as he got up to his feet.

  "You oka-"

  Ethan didn't get to finish his sentence, as he was rudely interrupted by the sound of automatic gunfire echoing out from somewhere on the waiting platform on which he and Owen were situated. Sparks flew in every direction as bullets pinged off all nearby surfaces, forcing the two of them to dive for cover.

  They both ducked right, together dropping down and hiding behind a long concrete slab that acted as a seating arrangement for the entire length of the waiting platform. Automatic weapon fire continued to ring out, with seemingly endless bullets continuously ricocheting off the top of the long concrete slab.

  "Your gun!" Ethan shouted to Owen, raising both of his hands up and placing them over his ears to protect himself from the deafening sounds in this confined space. "Owen! Your gun!"

  Owen reached down to his waistband, pulled out his pistol and loaded a round into the chamber. Not that he was going to get a chance to fire back just yet. The gunfire that was coming his way was relentless.

  "PRoGRaM is generating avatars to kill us!" Ethan shouted at Owen over the sound of the gunfire, trying to explain the situation. The bullets pounding into the surfaces around them just wouldn't let-up. Owen couldn't even see which direction the gunfire was coming from, let alone be able to return a few shots.

  Archer turned his head to look back at Ethan… but the man had gone.r />
  He was crawling away, hugging the floor and staying as close to the huge length of the concrete as possible, moving slowly towards the other end. But what can he possibly do? Owen thought quickly. He has no weapon! And he can't run anywhere, otherwise the avatars that are shooting will surely kill him… But still, Ethan crawled and crawled, never stopping as the distance between himself and Owen grew.

  Then, up ahead, Ethan found exactly what he was looking for. He stopped crawling forwards and sat upright, still keeping himself in cover behind the concrete seating. He turned his head and looked back at Owen, and for just a second, both of their eyes met.

  It seemed that Ethan was trying to give Archer some sort of signal. He's got a plan after all. Owen realised. Is he sure that he knows what he's doing? He doesn't even have a weapon!

  Ethan spun himself around and edged forward feet first, moving slowly up to the very end of the edge of the long, concrete seating area before coming to a stop, and judging exactly what he needed to do.

  Contrary to what Owen thought, Ethan knew exactly what he was doing. It was just a matter of waiting for the perfect opportunity. All he needed was a short lull in the gunfire back at where Owen was situated.

  Any second now Ethan. Any second…

  For a split second, the gunfire ceased. Ethan kicked out, knocking a huge metal bin over and forcing it to smash loudly onto the ground. A huge banging noise rang out across the waiting platform.

  The enemy avatar's concentration on Owen broke, forcing them to look over to the loud crashing noise nearby. Their attention was shattered, and that was all Owen needed.