by Resa Nelson
But Benjamin’s sly suggestion piqued her curiosity. Zuri thrust one hand toward the wall to push it into the background before commanding her bubble wall to become transparent enough to see through it.
It took a moment for Zuri to figure out where she stood. Looking back, she saw the bridge behind her. She stood on one of many paths winding through the park where crystal animals mimicked grazing on real grass.
When she’d first walked through the park, Zuri and Donna had been the only people here. Last night, Zuri had been surrounded by other designers. Otherwise, they’d been alone.
But now, dozens of people filled the walkways.
Even more surprising, every one of them, men and women alike, wore the same dress as Zuri.
Mae Lin’s bubble dress.
Zuri’s copy had self-cleaned overnight, although a few small rust-colored spots remained, remnants of Karen’s blood from where the shark bit her arm and dripped onto Zuri’s dress.
Zuri shrank in fear, not wanting to be recognized because she didn’t like talking to strangers. “Ben,” she whispered, “get me out of here!”
Although his metallic face bore no expression, his amber eyes blinked, appearing startled. “Why?”
Zuri kept her voice low, frantic to make sure no one overheard her. “They’ll recognize me from last night. I have a job, and I can’t be interrupted before I get that job done.”
Benjamin’s voice brightened. “Nothing to worry about, Miss! Everyone in VainGlory lives inside a Personal Bubble of their own. Like you, few have the patience for allowing the outside world to distract them. I dare say that no one knows you’re here. After all, they’d have to look outside their bubbles to notice you.”
Zuri’s Soundtrack played a bouncy and fun tune. She noticed how it seemed to lift her spirits. “Are you sure? No one will see me?”
“Quite unlikely, Miss.”
Zuri’s Soundtrack made her feel brazen. She decided to test Benjamin’s claim. “Is it possible to make my bubble wall go invisible? Can you show me how?”
“Certainly.” With a flick of his robotic wrist, Benjamin eliminated the appearance of the wall surrounding Zuri.
She felt naked to the real world, wrapping her arms around her chest as if to protect herself from prying eyes.
But just as Benjamin said, no eyes pried.
Instead, every person stood or walked alone, talking or laughing or pausing to record a selfie with one of the animals.
A short distance in front of Zuri, a tall man had adapted Mae Lin’s design so that the bubble dress wrapped around his waist, leaving his muscular chest bare, covered with swirling tattoos. Against the black background, large white bubbles floated across his dress-skirt like helium balloons trapped inside a small room. The same tattoos on his chest suddenly appeared on each white bubble. He reminded Zuri of an ancient warrior.
Zuri’s Soundtrack music swelled, and her courage followed suit. She took a slow walk toward the tall man, staring at him the entire time.
He failed to see her, even when Zuri passed by, mere inches away.
A crystal deer trotted toward Zuri, followed by a woman wearing her adapted version of Mae Lin’s dress: instead of flowing past her ankles, the dress climbed high above her knees. Tiny violet bubbles spelled out the words “See me!”
When the crystal deer darted away to avoid colliding with Zuri, the woman did likewise. However, she babbled the entire time, never knowing Zuri was there.
A brief moment of worry tugged at Zuri, far beneath the luster of her Soundtrack.
Is that what I look like when I’m in my bubble? Do I get that oblivious?
Despite the absence of her bubble wall, Benjamin still projected at her side. “We should move on. We’re expected to be on time.”
Zuri hustled through the Carnival of Animals and then the Animated Garden full of vibrant flowers until she entered the water garden. The rain-like sounds from the various fountains surrounding her relaxed Zuri. She looked at Benjamin. “Now what?”
“It’s best if you keep your wall down for now. The words will appear in front of you. All you need do is say them out loud.”
Zuri’s Soundtrack intensified, and she realized it now played outside as well as inside her bubble. Bright white words floated in the air in front of her. Taking the cue from Benjamin, she read them out loud.
“I’m alright,” Zuri said, “because I’m under my Bubble Brella.”
Her Soundtrack played a chorus of women singing, “I’m alright, because I’m under my Bubble Brella.”
All the fountains within range of Zuri turned their streams of water at her. Before she could react, water fell like raindrops down the invisible curved wall of her Personal Bubble. Zuri remained dry.
More words floated in the air, and Zuri spoke them out loud. “See? It’s an umbrella for my Personal Bubble.”
The Soundtrack chorus sang, “See how dry she is! She has an umbrella for her bubble.”
Benjamin gestured for Zuri to follow him to stand beside a canal whose surface churned slightly.
What if Donna lied to me? What if it’s a real shark? What if it kills me?
Zuri took a calming breath.
None of that made sense. Zuri’s launch had been a great success. She’d met Donna’s expectations. Wouldn’t Donna stand to lose if she let anything bad happen to Zuri?
The Soundtrack chorus repeated its refrain, which inspired Zuri to move forward. Once more, she read floating words. “Nothing can hurt me under my Bubble Brella.”
Zuri forced herself to smile strong and resist flinching when a shark launched out of the canal and struck the invisible umbrella with so much force that she felt the reverberations throughout her entire body.
It looked real enough to her. Could a projected image of a shark shake her to the core?
The shark’s face flattened against the clear wall, and the animal slid down it and back into the canal.
The Soundtrack chorus sang, “Not even a shark can get me under my Bubble Brella!”
Zuri balked at the words “I’m invincible” floating before her eyes. She opened her mouth, unwilling to say the words.
What happened next wasn’t so much a conscious decision as a visceral one. Zuri spoke without thinking.
“Even if a shark could break through, I’d punch it in the eye!”
For a few moments, the Soundtrack chorus remained silent. But then the chorus followed Zuri’s lead instead of singing the scripted words. “We’d punch it in the eye!”
The round wall of icons inside Zuri’s bubble lit up as if it were ablaze. In rapid-fire succession, one icon after another came front and center, each touting Zuri and the Bubble Brella. Every icon showed some form of approval, ranging from cartoon images representing that icon as it punched a comical shark to replays of Zuri punching last night’s shark or her Bubble Brella repelling one moments ago.
As one icon replaced another, a bright gold light framed the previous icon when it minimized back to its place on the wall.
The image of a fist holding a stamp punched a bright red badge reading “Approved!” on every gold-framed icon so fast that it sounded like a machine gun.
The Soundtrack singers broke into a rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus as an orchestra swelled beneath their voices.
Stunned with surprise and happiness, a lump formed in Zuri’s throat while she stared in wonder at the bright golden light filling the interior of her bubble.
Zuri felt as if she’d just arrived at the gates of heaven.
A sign reading “Bubble Brella sales” displayed above the highest row of icons alongside a counter with the number zero. In an instant, the number flipped over and climbed like a rocket into the hundreds, the thousands, the tens of thousands. When the number passed the 100,000 mark, the image of a bottle of champaign hovered below the counter, and its cork popped like a loud cannon.
While the counter number continued to climb, a sparkling white banner unfurled below the champai
gn bottle and across the width of Zuri’s field of vision. While horns trumpeted, black words scrolled across the banner like a stock-market ticker: Breaking Trend! Breaking Trend! Breaking Trend!
The Soundtrack chorus stopped singing “Hallelujah” and instead shouted, “Congratulations! You have achieved Gold Tower status!”
Overwhelmed by her unexpected success, Zuri wept, unsure whether she cried out of happiness or fear or both.
CHAPTER 7
Zuri regretted spending her time relishing accolades once Benjamin led her into her new home on the ground floor of the Gold Tower, wishing she’d watched their approach to the building instead of being distracted by her new fans in VainGlory. She dimmed the wall of icons to inspect the apartment. Confused, she said, “This looks like the Silver Tower. Are you sure we’re in Gold?”
“Positively, Miss,” Benjamin said. “Follow me to see for yourself.”
Her Digital Personal Assistant opened a door in the living room wall and led her to a portico outside. He pointed to a curving line of silver towers a few blocks away. “The Silver Towers form a ring around the Gold Towers. If you turn around and look at the exterior of this building, you can verify its color.”
Sure enough, when Zuri checked the exterior of the tower, it shimmered a golden yellow. “I’m on the ground floor.”
Benjamin lifted his metallic shoulders in the best shrug he could manage. “Everyone must start at the bottom, Miss.”
The interior of her bubble vibrated with an instrumental snippet of the Hallelujah Chorus.
At first assuming it to be her Personal Soundtrack, Zuri realized with a start that it must be an Incoming Connect, gestured that icon to come forward, and answered it.
A fattened zebra-striped caterpillar sat on its enormous haunches in the middle of a tall pile of vibrant autumn leaves. When its mouth moved, Donna’s voice said, “Congratulations, Zuri.”
The cold tone of her supervisor’s voice worried Zuri. Had they met in person or if Donna had displayed her human face, Zuri would have frozen with dread.
But the sight of the caterpillar reaching for a vivid yellow leaf while straining to keep its precarious balance on the pile eased Zuri’s nervousness. She dared to explore her concern by asking a direct question. “Did I do something wrong?”
The silence that followed made Zuri feel sick at her stomach. Still, she held fast and waited for an answer.
“Your job is to follow the script,” Donna said, her caterpillar image struggling at the threat of losing balance. Triumphant in staying on top of the pile, its lower legs pulled the yellow leaf up toward its mouth. Before taking its first bite, the caterpillar said, “You must always follow the script. No exceptions.”
At first, Zuri didn’t understand.
Then she remembered the words prompted at her when the Bubble Brella surrounded her in the water garden.
I’m invincible.
The words had rubbed her the wrong way, feeling like a lie. Zuri had already stretched her sensibilities thin by pretending the Bubble Brella protected her from a real shark, when she knew it had been nothing more than a simulation.
Back home in the city of Aspire, Zuri and Mae Lin always agreed they’d never lie to their fans. People who lived in Aspire worked hard for their money and had to think carefully before spending it, especially on the kind of luxuries Mae Lin designed.
Like everyone else in Aspire, Zuri hated buying something only to realize she’d been duped into thinking it was something it wasn’t. Zuri never wanted any of her fans to feel that way.
A new thought struck Zuri.
Maybe people in VainGlory were different. They had plenty of money and probably didn’t know what to do with it. Maybe they didn’t mind being duped.
Or maybe they never noticed.
“Remember,” Donna said. “Fame is the name of the game.”
After all, no one had complained about the Bubble Brella yet, and Zuri was convinced it couldn’t hold back any sharks.
But Donna had said the shark that attacked Karen had been an anomaly. If sharks rarely came into VainGlory from the ocean—and why would they want to, anyway—then it must be highly doubtful that anyone would ever be attacked by one again, Bubble Brella or no Bubble Brella.
“I understand,” Zuri said. “I promise I’ll stick to the script from now on.”
“Good,” the caterpillar said. By taking tiny bites from the yellow leaf, it had created the shape of a tower inside it. “You achieved Breaking Trend status much sooner than I expected. That’s good.”
“Yes,” Zuri said. “Can Mae Lin get an apartment next to mine?”
The caterpillar still held onto the yellow leaf but let it drift away from its mouth. “Mae Lin?”
“My business partner. You said when I move into the Gold Tower, Mae Lin can come to VainGlory.” Zuri gestured at the nearby gleaming wall of the new tower where she lived.
“What I said was when you advance to the highest tower, it will be acceptable to invite your partner to VainGlory.”
“But I’m in the Gold Tower now. There’s nothing higher than gold.”
“Platinum,” Donna said in a cool voice. “The highest tower is platinum. But you are well on your way.”
Zuri stared at the caterpillar in disbelief, shocked and disappointed.
“I suspect you misunderstood,” Benjamin whispered to Zuri. “Or perhaps you assumed.”
“What you must focus on next is getting endorsements from people who matter,” Donna continued, her caterpillar image resuming its leafy breakfast. “Those endorsements will link together in clusters, and those clusters will give you greater visibility in the Personal Bubbles of VainGlorians. As your clusters grow in number, your rank will rise. Breaking trends will also give you top placement in bubbles. Once you achieve breaking trends in niche groups, you’ll find it easier to achieve them in the mainstream of VainGlory.” The caterpillar paused for effect. “That’s how you can make your way to the Platinum Towers.”
Too stunned to answer, Zuri simply stared at her supervisor.
“Enough for now,” the caterpillar said. It blinked out of sight, and the Incoming Connect icon diminished back to its place on Zuri’s wall.
“I don’t understand,” Zuri said. In the safety and privacy of her new home, she let herself sink to the verge of tears. “Why does everything have to be so hard?”
“If I may,” Benjamin said as he maneuvered to face her. “This is nothing to take personally, Miss. Everyone who comes to VainGlory must do exactly as Miss Donna explained. I see no reason why you can’t succeed.”
Zuri slumped back inside and threw herself onto the living room sofa in despair. “But there’s so much to do! Endorsements. Clusters. Breaking trends. How am I supposed to get any of those?”
Benjamin sat next to her. “This is no time to despair. You only just arrived in VainGlory yesterday, and look at how much you have achieved already!”
Zuri snapped at him in a bitter voice. “Not enough.”
“On the contrary, I must insist. Last night, you began as one of several new designers introduced to VainGlory. When your colleague attempted to steal the show—and took the misstep of putting herself in harm’s way—you’re the one who saved her life. As a result, you’re the one that all of VainGlory noticed. People even remembered you this morning, which in itself is quite a feat of accomplishment. Then when you promoted the Bubble Brella, you caught the city’s attention yet again with your witticism. Miss Zuri, you are as well positioned for success as anyone who has lived for merely one day in VainGlory could be!”
Zuri’s mood softened. “I suppose. But I don’t know anything about what Donna wants me to do next. And that means I don’t know how to do my job.”
“As your Personal Digital Assistant, it is my duty to help you with that.”
Zuri gave him a sharp look. “You can do that? You can help me with my job?”
Benjamin’s silver face maintained its unemotional expression,
and his amber eyes flickered briefly. “Why, of course, Miss. I have witnessed many people fail in VainGlory, but I have also witnessed others succeed. My data shows that those who make the most personal connections succeed.”
Without warning, bright white sparks ignited around him. The silver robot cried out and reached for Zuri before he collapsed and slid off the sofa to the floor.
“Ben!” Zuri cried. Even though she knew he appeared as an image and had no physical presence, she fell to the floor next to him and tried to hold his twitching hand. “What’s wrong?”
The robot’s amber eyes blinked once and then faded to black.
Zuri stared at him in horror. He’d been on the verge of guiding her through the confusing maze of VainGlory, and now he appeared dead. Or disconnected. Or infected with a virus.
Zuri looked up at her wall of icons and scanned them. Surely, there had to be one for maintenance or repair.
Zuri paused, and tears spilled down her face.
In the short time she’d been in VainGlory, Benjamin had been the closest thing she’d had to a friend, even if he was just a program.
He was her program, and she wanted his companionship.
She needed it.
A whirring sound caught Zuri’s attention. Looking back at Benjamin, she saw his robot body shudder. His eyes came alive with light again, even though they now looked pale green instead of amber.
“Ben!” Zuri cried out with joy. Still crying, she said, “I thought I’d lost you! Are you alright? Is there anything I can do to help you? Should I call someone to help you?”
Benjamin sat up next to Zuri on the floor. He stared at her for a long time. “Zuri.”
His loss of formality startled Zuri, but she took it as a compliment.
Maybe this is the moment where our friendship begins. He’s no longer just my Personal Digital Assistant. He’s my friend.
“How do you feel?” Zuri reconsidered her question. “Does it make sense for me to ask you that?”
“It makes sense.” Benjamin shook his head as if expecting something to rattle inside it. “I’m OK.”
