by Resa Nelson
Match.
Her head swam until Zuri thought she would pass out. Bracing her hands against the table, she kept staring at the screen but said, “You want me to think Franklin Buckingham wanted my heart to replace his? That’s ridiculous. He’d never leave this kind of evidence in my storage space.”
“We think it’s for legal reasons,” John said, still blocking the doorway. “When you found it, the trunk was locked. Even with Rameen’s help, you couldn’t get it open. But they can prove the documents were there and have your voice proving you agreed to their terms.”
Zuri considered what she’d just heard. “But all my voice says is ‘yes.’ They could have recorded me saying that any time.” Her thoughts shifted. “But the locked box proves I didn’t have access to what’s inside. It proves I didn’t know anything about it. It proves they manipulated me.”
“Just because everything was locked when we found it,” Rameen said, “doesn’t mean they didn’t unlock everything as soon as you left VainGlory.” He gestured toward the larger screen, now showing Zuri standing before a judge in a courtroom. “They were going to kill you so Franklin Buckingham could take your heart. They’re covering up your escape. This is how they’re doing it.”
One of the news bubbles shouted, “Death by hanging!”
Another banner crossed all screens, announcing, “Public hanging scheduled tomorrow at Noon. Stay tuned!”
Doubt nagged at Zuri. “Or maybe you’re making all this up. Maybe you’re the one who’s trying to manipulate me.”
“I’m not,” Rameen insisted.
“Prove it.” Zuri became emboldened. “Take me back to VainGlory so I can see for myself. It’s a public hanging, right? Let’s go watch.”
“It’s too dangerous,” John said. “Rameen says Buckingham hasn’t found a replacement heart yet. If anyone sees you, you might as well be dead.”
“I hacked in once,” Rameen said. “I can do it again. Everyone in VainGlory is so wrapped up in their own little world that no one will notice us. We can get in, and we won’t be inside a Personal Bubble. Not even Slim Goggles. We’ll walk in the real world. We’ll be in plain sight, and we’ll be invisible.”
“But her mosaic,” John said. “It’s embedded in her identity chip. VainGlory is lousy with surveillance cameras—they’ll recognize her mosaic. What if it’s not just surveillance cameras? Recognition devices could be everywhere.”
“Easy,” Rameen said. “We’ll take out her identity chip and replace it with somebody else’s.”
Zuri rubbed the fleshy part of her thumb, feeling the hard edge of the identity chip beneath it. “No. If you take it out, it’ll wipe out my mosaic.”
“Yeah,” Rameen said. “So?”
“You’re forgetting where she came from,” John said. “You’re forgetting what it’s done to her.”
Zuri backed away, ready to fight back if they tried to pry the chip out of her hand. “You’re not getting my mosaic! I can’t lose it. It’s my life!”
She remembered how Milan had explained the mosaic to her.
It’s everything I buy. Everything I want. Everything I consider. Each individual thing is like a tile in a mosaic. Everyone has hundreds of thousands of tiles in their mosaic. My mosaic is who I am. Without it, I’d be nothing.
“A mosaic is nothing more than data,” Rameen protested. “It’s just a way for companies to target you for selling their products to you.”
“But that’s me,” Zuri said. She kept backing away until a wall stopped her. “All of those tiles in my mosaic. They define me. They create me. They’re what make me me.”
Rameen leaned back in his chair and stared at her. “God, Zuri. What have they done to you?”
John took a careful step into the room. “You’re not made up of things,” he said. “Sure, you’ve got a mosaic. But the tiles in your mosaic are made up of experiences. Decisions you’ve made. The woman you’ve chosen to become.”
His words made no sense. “But that’s all the same thing,” Zuri said. “It’s the same as all the things I want. What I have.” Her voice choked with emotion. “What I had before you took me from VainGlory.” Tears fell down her face. “Before you took away everything I spent my whole life working for!”
Rameen perked up. “That’s not what John means.”
John pointed at the bank of screens and said, “Show her.”
Rameen’s gloved hands wiped away the display from all screens except the one showing Zuri being led out of the courtroom and through a jeering crowd.
One screen filled with the image of a very young Zuri catching first sight of a large egg in a field of hay bales and children scampering among them. The young Zuri’s face brightened as she trotted forward only to pull up short when she noticed an even younger child toddling toward it. Smiling, the young Zuri held back, happily watching the toddler approach the large egg, on the verge of winning the hunt.
“That’s just one tile in your mosaic,” Rameen said. “It shows how you’re kind and generous. Here’s another one.”
A different screen showed the same image from another angle, its audio track filled with whispers from her parents—oblivious to the fact that Zuri stood still—telling their daughter to let the toddler win.
“You’re right,” Rameen said. “They didn’t see you. They didn’t give you credit for who you are. But your mosaic does.” He brought up another screen.
The new image showed the same egg hunt where a young Rameen shouted at his parents while wrapping a comforting arm around his weeping sister.
Zuri stared at the different angles of the same event. “Where did you get these?”
“Archive footage.” Rameen shrugged. “In this case, the sponsors kept it and let me have a copy. In other cases, surveillance footage survived.”
Astonished, Zuri said, “You have more?”
Instead of answering, Rameen replaced the images on the screens with other recordings. A store surveillance camera showing how a long-ago friend had tried to shoplift candy but Zuri stopped her. A school surveillance camera showed a girl immersed in a screen device walking onto a crosswalk and Zuri grabbing the girl’s shoulder and hauling her back to the curb as a car sped past.
“You’re not pulling these out of thin air,” Zuri said. “You have them stored somewhere. How long have you had them? Why did you get them?”
Rameen turned to look at her. “Because you’re my sister. When you disappeared ten years ago, this is how I found what was left of you. This is how I kept my sister in my life.”
Zuri thought about the shift in the way her parents now perceived her. In Zuri’s childhood, they’d ignored or misunderstood her. Since arriving in Middlesex Province, they’d acted like the parents she wished they had been. “You showed what you found of me to them. You showed them how they failed me.”
He stood and turned off all the screens. “I like to think of it as inspiring them to do better, now that you’re back in our lives.”
“Who said I’m back in your life?” Zuri said. “That’s not something you can tell me to do. It’s my choice. Not yours.”
Rameen’s voice softened. “I was hoping you’d want to be my sister again.”
“There’s only one way that’s going to happen,” Zuri said. “Take me back to VainGlory.”
CHAPTER 34
Following an afternoon flight and staying overnight on the mainland coast, Zuri arrived at VainGlory by drone taxi the next morning. She crossed the bullseye painted on the landing area as the drone took off, pleased with herself after giving Rameen and John the slip by waking up early and slipping away to catch the first taxi of the morning without them.
Smugness tugged at the corners of her mouth as she smiled.
I showed them!
Yesterday, Rameen had made Zuri reconsider how she lived her life with his sappy wish that she be part of their family again. He made her doubt her experience in VainGlory by showing her ridiculous footage of people calling for Zuri to
be hung. Worst of all, Rameen claimed that Franklin Buckingham—the biggest and brightest star of VainGlory—had manipulated her invitation to the city because her healthy heart proved to be the best genetic match to his failing one.
Shaking her head in disbelief, Zuri marveled at how she’d believed Rameen at the time, not realizing he probably fabricated everything he showed her. Now that she’d had time to think it over, Zuri doubted that anything Rameen had presented was real.
Last night, he’d said, “We can’t afford to draw any kind of attention. Remember, the goal is to slip in, watch a fake version of you hang, and slip out.”
Zuri liked the plan she’d thought of this morning much better. She’d go back to her home in the Platinum Tower, find a way to contact Donna, and describe how she’d been kidnapped by crazy family members. Once Zuri explained that her brother had forced her to remove her Personal Bubble, surely Donna would provide a new one.
Then life could go back to normal.
While she ambled down the walkway through the water garden toward the Carnival of Animals, the silence startled Zuri.
Where is everyone?
Zuri flexed her hand, where a small bandage covered a slight gash left after Rameen replaced her previous identity chip with a new one storing a copy of the identity and mosaic from a willing resident of Middlesex Province.
Just as Rameen promised, no streetlamp surveillance cameras noticed her presence. She walked through the water garden, invisible to all of VainGlory. Rameen had programmed this new chip so that it allowed her into the city without drawing any undue attention from its security system.
But Zuri had to move fast. Despite her pleas, he’d refused to remove the tracking device, which meant Rameen could find her. She assumed he and John would track her, and she didn’t know how much time she had before they found her.
Zuri picked up her pace.
The water garden brought back uncomfortable memories of the mob that had chased her through it.
Zuri shook that memory away. No one had wanted to kill her. It had been a simple misunderstanding. Once Zuri obtained a new bubble, she could set everything straight.
At the same time, she remembered something she’d seen this morning when she’d been in the air, approaching VainGlory.
But even now, Zuri couldn’t be certain of what she’d seen when her airborne approach to the island gave a broad view of its shores. At first, Zuri saw the concentric rings of marinas around the island, all filled with yachts and other luxury boats. But then the Tall Ship building where Milan lived caught Zuri’s attention because it appeared to shimmer.
Situated on its own concrete island like a lighthouse, Zuri had spotted the building only to lose sight of it as her drone taxi had banked, changing its angle toward VainGlory. Shaken, it had reminded her of art that tricked the eye: look at a drawing one way and you see a young woman. Look at the same drawing a different way and you see an elderly lady.
Except, in this case, the shape of the Tall Ship building didn’t merely change.
The building appeared to vanish into thin air.
The same building where Milan lived.
An uncomfortable thought nagged at Zuri, and she decided to check up on her friend.
She remembered what Rameen had said last night.
Milan isn’t real. She’s a construct. A program designed to catch your attention and keep you occupied.
Just as she’d done last night, Zuri gave a bitter laugh. She spoke out loud, as if Rameen could hear her. “You’re one to talk.” She hesitated and spoke in a pointed voice. “Benjamin.”
Rameen swore he’d checked the records in VainGlory when he hacked in and found no record of anyone by the name of Milan existing. He said the Tall Ship where Milan lived was just an illusion.
What a bunch of nonsense.
A distant whirring caught her attention. Looking back, she saw a couple of drone taxis high in the air.
It had to be John and Rameen. They must have come awake earlier than she’d guessed and now wanted to force their plan on her.
They claimed Zuri’s “hanging” was scheduled for late morning. That gave her plenty of time to check up on Milan. By the time Rameen and John could track Zuri, she’d be safe behind Milan’s locked door.
Zuri veered off on another sidewalk leading away from the water garden. Wherever she walked, the city stood empty. Only rarely did she see anyone outside, and everyone in sight wore a maintenance uniform.
When Zuri had first arrived in Middlesex Province, she’d immediately noticed how many people spent time outside and that they all walked instead of using any kind of vehicle. Discovering she had to do the same, Zuri’s muscles had ached at first but recently became accustomed to the amount of unwarranted exercise.
Now, she noticed an unexpected bounce in her step and steady breathing. Previously, this kind of distance made her pant for air.
Rounding a corner, Zuri felt relief at the looming sight of the Tall Ship, apparently floating in the sea at the end of the street, looking forward to celebrating her return with Milan. Zuri felt even more excitement when she thought about how all of VainGlory would welcome her back.
Her step faltered when she looked up at the impinging Tall Ship only to see it shimmer.
It had to be a trick of the light. Maybe a cloud had passed overhead, and the returning sunlight had bounced off the building.
But the closer Zuri came toward the building, the more it looked like an image projected in the air. She saw the outer marinas through it—behind it. She rubbed her eyes, hoping that would help.
Impossible.
Zuri ran toward the Tall Ship. Where the street ended at the water’s edge, a narrow pedestrian bridge connected to the Tall Ship. Zuri raced across it.
Gasping for breath when she reached the end of the bridge, Zuri choked on a foul stench.
She now stood on the concrete platform where she’d seen the Tall Ship stand. Still shimmering, the illusion of the building wavered all around her.
But an empty food delivery box crunched beneath her feet. Seagulls screamed and floated on extended wings beyond an incline ahead.
There was no tall ship, only a trash dump.
CHAPTER 35
Zuri felt dizzy as her entire world spun upside down and turned inside out. She backed up until her feet landed on the edge of the pedestrian bridge, where she clung to its railing to keep from collapsing into the field of garbage spread before her.
“Milan,” she whispered, missing her VainGlory friend.
Is Rameen right? Was Milan nothing more than a program, like Benjamin?
Zuri’s next thoughts sickened her. She’d confided in Milan. If Milan was a program, had that program been designed to extract information from Zuri? Private information that Zuri shared with few people? Was it now available to anyone who wanted it?
She remembered something else Rameen had told her last night.
Shepard Green was a construct, too. He’s no more real than Milan.
Nausea crept along Zuri’s throat. Still wobbly, she leaned over the bridge railing, thinking about every intimate moment she’d experienced with Shepard Green. Had that been elicited from her, too? Recorded? Made available to anyone who wanted to see it?
Shame filled every cell in Zuri’s body.
How could I have been so stupid?
But then a new realization hit her.
Mae Lin was still in VainGlory. Were they doing the same to her as they’d done to Zuri?
Zuri shook her head. It couldn’t be true. Even if what Rameen said about Buckingham was true—that he’d brought Zuri to VainGlory as an unsuspecting organ donor—that wouldn’t apply to Mae Lin.
With a start, Zuri considered the fact that Mae Lin was a pretty girl. Someone like Buckingham and possibly his friends had other uses for pretty girls.
A new wave of shame filled Zuri as she realized she’d given no thought to Mae Lin since Shepard Green died.
How could I forget a
bout Mae Lin? How could I forget about someone so important to me?
Zuri thought about the day she’d left her family, the way she’d pushed them away from her mind, determined to never think of them again.
Had it become a habit? Once she’d arrived in VainGlory, she’d forgotten about Aspire and everyone she knew there—with the exception of Mae Lin. But then Zuri had left VainGlory and forgotten Mae Lin.
Pushing away her shame and regret, Zuri turned her full attention to the task at hand. She had to find Mae Lin.
Last night, Rameen had shown her how to trigger a privacy wall and a tracer. Zuri pinched the skin covering her new identity chip, wincing at the pain. He told her she could use it to find anyone.
The light around Zuri turned pale gray, establishing the privacy wall.
A pinprick of red light hovered in front of Zuri, ready for a command.
“Mae Lin,” Zuri told the light. “I want to find Mae Lin.”
Zuri turned toward the island, scanning its crowded buildings. She noticed one that peeked above the others.
The Platinum Tower. Of course. That’s where Mae Lin should be.
That’s where Mae Lin had to be.
Before Zuri could run back across the bridge, the red light flickered and beeped.
A grid map of the city appeared in the air within Zuri’s wall of privacy. The words “You are here” appeared clustered at the edge of the grid. The words “Mae Lin is here” materialized next to it, surrounded by three dots of bright yellow light.
“That can’t be right,” Zuri told the flashing red light. “You make it look like Mae Lin is standing here next to me. She’s not.”
The red light beeped louder.
The words “Mae Lin is here” were replaced with “Mae Lin is inside the dump.”
* * *
Zuri rushed into the dump. She trudged through urban quicksand, ankle deep in putrid rubbish. Every uneven step threatened to turn her ankles, but Zuri pressed forward, climbing over hills of refuse. When she reached a crest and looked down below, her stomach turned.
