Virtual Prophet (11 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“You’ve been in a bad mood lately.”

Danni looked up and glared at the old man. The heat was heavy and uncomfortable, like a woolen blanket piled on top of her when she already had a fever. The sun burned through the sky and prickled at her skin, though the years of walking had toughened her to its attacking fierceness. They’d been plodding along the highway silently for most of the day. This had become their routine, and it had lasted for what seemed like an eternity.

“This is ridiculous,” her tone was both angry and bitter. “I should never have agreed to follow you! I certainly should have stopped by now.”

The old man turned to face her. His face was pleasant and he seemed genuinely surprised by her outburst. “We’ve had some fun times, Danni. Surely you can admit that.”

Danni shuffled to the side of the road and sat down on the hood of an abandoned car. She reached down to pat Zeus on the head, remembering as she did that Zeus was no longer with her. She missed that dog; he’d died bravely protecting her that night.

“We’ve had many adventures,” she conceded. “More than I would like to recall, if you ask me.”

“Good.” The old man nodded in satisfaction and joined her beside the car. He reached into his backpack and pulled out two energy bars and a bottle of cool, fresh water. She reached for one; she’d long ago stopped wondering how he always seemed to have a supply of energy bars and cold water at hand when he reached for them in that pack of his. “For a moment there I thought you were going to tell me that the only thing you recall about this journey is the moments spent walking down the road towards our destination.”

Danni drank as much from the bottle of water as she could, and handed the rest back to him. Then she opened her energy bar and took a bite. “It’s my birthday again, I think.”

The old man shook his head. “No, ma’am, it is not.”

“It’s soon, then.”

He chuckled and ate his own energy bar, not bothering to remove the wrapping as he took a big bite from it. “Yes, girl, it is soon. I have a very big present for you this year.”

Her eyes were flat as she stared at him. “I’m about to turn seventy years old,” she said.

“Really?” he looked impressed. “I would guess maybe forty at most. You are a very fit and attractive woman, Danielle Radfield.”

“I was sixty-three when we started this farce.”

“Danni,” the old man’s eyes softened with sympathy. “I know you think this has taken too long. I know there have been times when you wanted to give up. Look at all that we’ve accomplished, though. We’ve covered a considerable distance in the past seven years. The lives we have touched, the memories made, and the people saved... you have no idea how important this journey has been to the world, but let me assure you, the feats you’ve accomplished will echo across time and affect more lives than you will ever know.”

Danni said nothing. She looked at him tiredly. “I’ve decided that I no longer believe a word you say,” she said.

The old man smiled. “That’s okay,” he assured her. “Perhaps you’ll believe me when I give you your birthday present. I can tell you what it is now, if you’d like? It’s tomorrow, by the way; your birthday.”

She took another bite from her bar and shrugged indifferently.

“You look like you could use a pick-me-up, so I’m gonna tell you, even though you don’t seem too interested.”

Her eyes drifted back to rest on his as she waited expectantly.

“We’re gonna meet with Shane on your birthday, girl!” he exclaimed. “Tomorrow we finally reach our destination!”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“Any time now.” Brandon sat in what Trew referred to as ‘Sylvia’s office’ and strummed his fingers in boredom as he watched the static on the main viewer.

Trew looked up from writing notes. “You’ve been saying that for the past three hours.”

Brandon grimaced, not bothering to look in Trew’s direction.

“I’m impatient,” he said. “Sitting in boring offices and watching grownups work hard to accomplish little is not why I came back here.”

“You’ve shared much information with me,” Trew said, “and I’ve enjoyed spending time with you again.”

Brandon looked at Trew; he forgot that he was the only father figure Trew had ever had. He smiled and walked over to Trew, nudging him in the shoulder.

“Want to go outside and play catch for a bit?”

Trew smiled. “There’s no time. I never did get to do that... in this life.”

“We made sure you didn’t miss out on the experience, Trew,” Sylvia said. “There were multiple lives where you enjoyed those things in the Game.”

“That’s true,” Brandon said.

“She turns seventy today,” Trew said, changing the subject to wonder about Danielle.

“I wonder if she’s still hot?” Brandon asked. He laughed and shook his head. “Sorry, thirteen-year-old boys sure do have simple thoughts in their heads.”

Trew smiled. “I can’t wait to see her. I hope you’re right about the feeds coming back up today.”

“Everything was on track when I saw things last,” Brandon confirmed.

“What do you mean by that?” Trew asked.

“Um...”

“You could see the Game when you were in the Dream? You were able to watch what was happening in there?”

Brandon walked back to the monitor and looked deeply into it as if searching for detail behind the static. “Yeah, we could see into the Game.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I just did.”

Trew took a deep breath and sighed. He knew Brandon couldn’t reveal much. There was a master plan, and he could understand the need for keeping secrets. Still, a part of him wanted to learn more from Brandon’s mind before he departed. Trew controlled the impulse to begin interrogating the boy with questions that both knew couldn’t be answered.

Minutes passed as the two went about their own activities.

“I met him the other night,” Brandon announced. “In my dreams.”

“Who?” Trew asked. “The old man?”

“What old man?” Brandon looked at Trew sharply.

“Dirty old man with crazy white hair all sticking up,” Trew said. “Dressed in black garbage bags and heavy military boots with no laces. Has the most interesting gloves I’ve ever seen; made from red pop bottle caps somehow laced together.”

“I’d forgotten about him,” Brandon said.

“That’s not who you’re talking about?” Trew asked.

“No,” Brandon waved his hand, “but that’s who I want to talk about now. Did you find out his name?”

Trew shook his head.

“What did he say to you?” Brandon asked. “Have you only met him once? How many times have you seen him? Is it always in a dream? Do you remember ever seeing him here on Tygon? Or in the Game?” Brandon held up his hand to stop himself from firing out any more questions. “This is strange — I had totally forgotten about him, yet he is somehow in the simulation.”

“Sylvia? Have you ever heard of this old man? Have you seen him in the Game?”

Sylvia didn’t reply.

“Sylvia?” Trew asked.

“Yes, Trew?” she said.

“Did you hear Brandon’s question?”

“I did.”

“Why didn’t you answer him?”

“I’m trying to recall such a person inside the Game from the description you provided. Searching databases now.”

“That’s odd,” Brandon said. “Your answers are usually immediate.”

“I’m searching for more than just a grain of sand on the planet, Brandon. I’m searching for what was a grain of sand a hundred thousand years ago and has changed to become hundreds if not thousands of different things since then. That kind of search takes some time.”

“Okay, I understand,” Brandon smirked. “You have limitations. It was bound to manifest eventually. You’re a thirty-year-old computer, after all... they usually go out of date every couple of years or so.”

“I’m not even going to entertain your attempt to bait me into a reaction,” she said. “I’m as aware of my age as you are. I also know that you keep me updated with every new piece of technology as it becomes available, which makes me the most up-to-date technology on this planet. Good try, though.”

“Thanks, old gal,” Brandon smiled.

“My pleasure, young boy,” she said.

“Still no luck?” Trew asked.

“Putting an image up on the main screen now,” she said. “Is this who you’re talking about?”

Both looked at the screen and nodded their heads.

“Yep, that’s him,” Trew said.

“Incredible,” Brandon said. “How did he get into the Game?”

“No player is inhabiting him, Brandon,” Sylvia said. “Whoa, wait just a minute!”

“What?” both men asked in unison.

“Give me a minute,” she became quiet while Trew and Brandon looked at each other curiously.

“You didn’t put him in there?” Trew asked.

“I haven’t seen him since I was a kid,” Brandon smiled wryly at the humour in the statement. “I mean, I met him once, before Thorn began the simulations. He was in my own dream.”

“When you were a child on your home world? The one you call the Dream?”

“Yes, sorry, it gets confusing. On my home world... when I was dreaming... I saw him in there.”

“I’ve only seen him in my dreams since I exited the Game,” Trew offered.

“Let me write this down,” Brandon got a piece of blank paper and pencil.

“I saw him as a boy in the dreams of my reality. You saw him in your dreams in this reality. Sylvia says he’s been inside the Game.” Brandon looked at the information on the paper and held it up for Trew to examine.

“Looks like he can move into any reality he chooses,” Trew said. “I don’t see a reference to him walking in your world, or on Tygon, but my guess is that he has.”

“He’s old,” Sylvia announced. “Now that I know what to look for, I see him making appearances in the Game from the very beginning.”

Brandon moved to the computer at the main desk. “That’s not possible,” he said. “For the first ten years of the Game there were no Timeless. Only my Hand and some of the Twelve were inside the Game during that time. It’s not possible for him to have been there; we would have noticed it.”

“He was there,” Sylvia confirmed, “and none of us saw him, not even me.”

Brandon sat with his brow furrowed together in thought.

“Who is he?” Trew asked.

“I don’t know,” Brandon said with a serious look, “but I will be sure to look him up when I get in there.”

Brandon went back to watching the static feed of the Game while Trew looked to his plans on a tablet.

A brief time later Trew looked at Brandon. “If it wasn’t the old man you saw in your dreams, then who were you talking about?”

Brandon nodded his head at the reminder and flashed a grin. “Yeah, that’s right. I met Tygon’s version of Sylvia.”

“What did he have to say?” Sylvia asked quickly. She was always interested in discussing the mainly quiet spirit of Tygon.

“Some thoughts, tips, and recommendations for me,” Brandon said. “Nothing I can discuss yet, but I was glad to finally meet him.”

“You never met him before?” Trew had always assumed Brandon had.

“What was it like?” Sylvia asked.

“Like nothing I’ve experienced in any of my lives,” Brandon smiled. “It was incredible.”

“Perhaps I will meet him someday,” Sylvia said wistfully.

Trew could tell from Brandon’s body language that he knew more than he was able to say.

“Perhaps you will, Sylvia,” Brandon said. “With faith and belief... anything is possible.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Danielle heard a hissing to her right. She turned her head to look in the direction of the sound, knowing what she would see.

The bright white outline of a doorway appeared in the air. The white spread from the outside inwards, until there was a large rectangular doorway of light suspended in middle of the green field.

Danielle stood straighter as first the old man and then another individual emerged.

The old man walked calmly to stand beside her, while the other stopped a respectable distance away and stood facing her with an amused look on his face.

“I hear birthday wishes are in order,” he said with a smile. “You look very good for your age, Danielle. It’s a shame the old man didn’t teach you how to halt the aging process altogether; you could look even better.”

“That’s not the purpose of my life, Shane,” she said. “I don’t want to be Timeless; I just want to show the average person that they can live longer, happier, healthier lives.”

Shane grinned and his eyes looked at her with a mixture of cruel amusement and mocking humour. “Happy, Danielle? I think anyone who has followed your life wouldn’t rush to the front of the line to get the small amount of happiness that has trickled your way.”

Danielle smiled in return. “I don’t expect a monster like you to understand what happiness truly is, Shane. I would guess that for all your millennia of living, you haven’t experienced a fraction of the happiness I’ve enjoyed in my short life.”

“Agree to disagree.” Shane waved a hand. “Your friend here,” he indicated the old man with a nod of his head, “tells me that you’ve been searching for me for some time. He claims that you walked the entire way here?”

“That’s right,” Danielle confirmed. “It was his condition for finding you.”

“I’m amazed that you made it almost to my doorstep undetected,” he said. “It’s definitely because you didn’t use any significant energy. Good plan, old fella.”

The old man nodded curtly at Shane’s comment, but remained silent.

“Must have been some tough times during the walk, though,” Shane said. “Specifically, walking across the ocean.”

“What do you mean?” Danielle asked, shooting a glance at the old man who suddenly seemed intent on examining his gloves.

“You walked across the Atlantic Ocean to get to me,” Shane said.

“What? There’s no way that’s true...” but somehow, she knew that it was.

She looked at the old man. “How?” she asked.

“Tricky,” he admitted, “but possible. Anything’s possible, Danni, you know that better than anyone. I’ve had lots of experience doing things that are impossible. This wasn’t even one of the more difficult feats I’ve pulled off.”

“So you’re here,” Shane said. “What do you want?”

“I want you to turn it back on,” Danielle said.

Shane considered her for a moment, then smiled.

“What if I say no?” he asked. “Then you’ll try to fight me? Force me to do what you want?”

“No,” Danielle shook her head calmly. “If you refuse, then I will kill you.”

Shane gauged the seriousness of her comment, then nodded. “I’m afraid the old man has lied to you if he led you to believe you could kill me, Danielle. You made this trip for no reason. I hope it didn’t take up much of your time.”

Danielle wasn’t sure what to do. If he refused to do as she asked, then she would fail. Standing across from him, in this open field on a green peaceful morning surrounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of nature all around her, Danielle couldn’t remember why she had agreed to come on this journey at all.

“There is one certain way for you to die, Shane.”

Danielle and Shane both looked at the old man. He was now sitting on a large tree stump, although Danielle couldn’t remember it being there a few moments ago. His legs swung lazily back and forth, the loose tongues of his laceless boots making a gentle clicking sound as the flapped upwards and then down. He looked calm and peaceful, sure of himself in a way that was strangely threatening.

“The Game stops, you die,” the old man winked at Shane knowingly, then his eyes flicked quickly to look at Danielle. “The power has been off for ten years, boy, and I’m sure you’ve had some very fun times during this little episode. Enough is enough, however. It’s time to restart the system and get power flowing into the world again. If you’re not prepared to do that — right here, right now — then it’s Game Over.”

Shane looked from the old man to Danielle. He understood the mistake he’d made. He thought Danielle was coming to force him to do something that she couldn’t possibly accomplish. Now he knew that the old man was threatening to kill Danielle and end the Game if Shane did not comply.

“That kills you, too,” Shane said. He knew he was trapped and he was stalling in hopes of finding a way out of the mess he’d willingly walked into.

“After all these years you don’t really know anything about me, Shane,” the old man said. “There are lots of places I can go. But for you, this is it.”

Shane laughed. “This isn’t it for me. I would go home.”

“Oh, my poor boy.” The old man shook his head sadly. “It seems you have not been kept up to date on events in all realities. There is no other place for you to return to.”

Danielle nodded, wondering how Shane could not know his body was dead on Tygon after all this time. She didn’t understand that the two men were talking about an entirely different reality called the Dream.

Shane’s jaw ticked methodically as he considered the situation. Danielle could almost hear his mind working despite the twenty-foot gap between them.

“I never said I’d kill the girl,” Shane said.

“I never expected you would,” the old man replied.

Danielle turned her head to look at the old man. Had he just implied that he was going to kill her if Shane didn’t agree to restore power to the world? Why would he make such a threat? She wondered. Shane doesn’t care if I live or die? Why would he?

The old man kept his unflinching stare on Shane, even though Shane wasn’t returning the look. Instead, Shane looked at Danielle with a frown on his face.

“What is it that you’re not telling me?” Danielle asked. “I didn’t come all this way for you to threaten my life, old man.”

“Hush, girl,” the old man said softly. “I’m getting you what you came for.”

Danielle began to say something, but she decided not to interrupt whatever seemed to be going on. She could ask questions later, unless the old man attacked her, then she would do her best to defend herself.

“Time’s running out, Shane,” the old man said. “Give me your answer. Do you turn the power back on? Or does the Game end now?”