Chapter 24: Endings
I was numb. My brain had been on automatic for three weeks since Dad’s death. Besides eating and sleeping, I remembered little. The Justice Department refused to provide his body for the funeral so his casket was closed for the service. Everyone offered their condolences and some offered anger towards the city. No one would do anything about it.
It mattered little to me. One of the few things that was good in this city was gone. And I was more obligated to stay than ever. Grandma came to live with me but maintained her house as well. We had a spent a weekend at her home to get away from the drones. Despite the quiet, I could still feel their presence. Behind the trees, I could hear their hum. In the night, I could see their glow. Waiting for me. Watching to see where I would go.
Grandma felt it was time for me to return to school, and I agreed. For the first two weeks, I had spent my time looking at photos of Dad, remembering how he loved me. My eyes had dried up from crying so much, and now I was taking eye drops to replenish the moisture. By the third week I had no more tears to give. With four walls closing in on me, I knew I had to return.
As I entered the school, most people gave me a wide berth. There were some sympathetic looks but no one wanted to be near someone whose father had been sentenced. I was tainted with the same brush. Someone grabbed me from behind.
“I‘m so happy to see you.”
“Thanks, Lacey.” I gave her a big hug. “I was going crazy being home. Sorry, I wasn’t really up to seeing anyone.”
“Don’t worry about it. Considering what you went through, I don’t blame you.” She looked down the hall. “What to come with me to class?”
“No, I have study period. I’m going to head over to the lab.”
“See you later in Mr. Stewart’s class.” She waved and walked into a classroom. I headed into the opposite direction towards the main school lab. A door swung open and a couple of guys passed me. Our computer lab was broken into cubicles, each one with a desk and a crown that was connected to the computer mainframe. The power of the mainframe could only be accessed at school; no student could login to the re-enactment at home. I sat down on a cushy chair and sank deep into its foam. It was designed to be comfortable, to help immerse the user in the environment. Sometimes it was too relaxing, and on previous lab days I had seen a couple students fast asleep.
I pulled out my tablet and looked over a number of missed assignments. Mostly standard stuff before and after the earthquake, negotiation, rescuing the survivors. All stuff I had reviewed several times before. But as I scrolled through the list, one item caught my eye. Most assignments had a standard call number using a combination of the teacher’s name and grade number. This had neither.
Thetruth.ent
I looked around the lab, as if I could spot from their guilty appearance the person who had sent the file. No one returned my gaze. I reached forward and slipped the crown over my head. I connected the tablet to the jack and clicked on the file.
I opened my eyes and stared at my surroundings. A rifle fired over my shoulder. The sound was deafening and my left ear rang. A man in a red coat charged out of the brush, his rifle long with a sharp knife fastened to its end. A horse galloped from my right, and a band of soldiers in blue charged towards the red coat man. He smiled — a strange thing for a man about to die. Suddenly, a huge man with a gun belt over his left arm emerged from the forest, spraying bullets from a machine gun. I shook my head. This moment in history didn’t match up.
The blue coat riders went down like dominos, no match for the superior weaponry. Bodies fell to the mud as a rider less horse stampeded away. One blue coat aimed his rifle to take down the one-man army. He fired and the redcoat giant was caught in the chest. He stumbled and fell to the ground but did not fall. He stood on one knee and grinned. He spat out blood and aimed his machine gun at the sniper, who promptly fell off his horse.
What kind of place was this? The weaponry didn’t match the time period! Who was this giant man? Although I didn’t make a sound, he started towards me. I ducked down, trying to hide in the roots of a tree. I covered my ears, trying to block out the sound of gunfire. The giant was aiming his gun around the corner of the tree. I closed my eyes, hoping to make the terror go away. When I looked up, it wasn’t the gun he was aiming at me, but his hand.
“You should leave this place.” He beckoned. I hesitated and as I reached forward to touch his hand, he disappeared.
The sky changed and became concrete. Instead of tree roots I was standing in murky water. I felt claustrophobic as the forest became stone walls and moisture dripped down from the ceiling. I had never been here before but I had seen enough pictures from engineering class. It seemed if I was in the underground storm pipes for the city. Mercifully, the sewage traveled through different pipes or I would have been overwhelmed by the gases.
My head hurt. The last location made no sense. It came from no history lesson I had ever learned, no movie I had ever watched and no book I had ever read. Was this another glitch in the re-enactment machine? What did it mean? Who were those people?
My thoughts were interrupted as shadows appeared at the far end of the tunnel. They loomed large and the poor lighting made them look monstrous. I moved my position and climbed a ladder that overlooked the tunnel. The pipe was rusted and I patted it softly so that I wouldn’t cut myself. I lay on top of it and tried to make myself small. Hopefully no one would look up.
The shadows became smaller and I could make out four people stepping through the pipe. I couldn’t make out if they were male or female. They were wearing bulky clothing with packs, and two of the figures seemed to carrying a crate. Besides the movement of the water as they stepped through it, they were silent. As they walked under me, I held my breath, worried they could hear my breathing. They passed without ever looking up. About half minute later, the crate was lowered as its sound reverberated throughout the tunnel.
“Let’s put the last of the charges here,” an older male voice said. The crate opened and three of them went to work. I tried to peer over but a lot of the overhead pipes obscured my view. But I listened and could hear the sounds of drilling, as if a machine was spinning in the wall. Sparks flew and illuminated the driller’s face. He looked old and worn, as if the weight of world was on his shoulders. The drill stopped and then another box was opened. I leaned my head down, avoiding detection but trying to get a better vantage point.
“We have one hour before the power plant is attacked. Are you sure about the power of the charges we’ve placed?” an older woman asked.
“We’ve gone over this ten times. The explosion locations are placed strategically around the city. The main square is just a diversion. All of the simulations show that the city will come loose,” the older man responded.
“Yea, we know how well computer simulations and reality compare,” a younger male voice chimed in.
“We’re well past the time for debates, aren’t we, Leah?” The other woman turned and the sight of her face made me lose my grip.
Leah was my mother.
I clutched at the pipe, pulling a lump of dirt, which fell into the water below. All four turned to look at my hiding place.
“Probably rats. I saw a nest earlier in the tunnel.”
“I’ll check it out. We’re done. Go back to the rendezvous place,” Leah commanded. The two men pack up the remaining gear in the crate and carried it off between them. The older woman pressed something in the wall and a light appeared in the same spot. She followed the two men, and within a minute, the three of them had disappeared into the darkness. My body quivered as the last person stood up and stared at me through the darkness. Seconds later, her foot splashed in the water as she stopped just below my location.
“Awfully big for a rat, aren’t you?” She knew I was there. I wondered if she knew who I was. I reached for the rungs of the ladder and dropped down. I stood before a computer simulation of my mother twenty years ago. I couldn’t control myself. I hugged her. Strangely enough, she hugged me back.
“Mom?” I whimpered. It didn’t matter if she wasn’t real. I knew this was a computer representation of what my mom was like. It might look like her and might have been programmed with her basic background and feelings, but it was an empty shell. But I didn’t care. This was as close I would ever get to holding her. My eyes filled with tears as her hand cupped my head.
“It’s okay, Pene. I’ve always been there for you.” My eyes flashed open as I realized what was happening.
“What are you? How do you know my name?” I pushed her off at arm’s length.
My mom started to smile. “I’m a computer representation of your mom, replaying history.”
“But I was a baby when you died. You shouldn’t know who I am.”
“True. I have been augmented with more recent memories. It was more likely that you would listen to me in your mom’s form.”
“Did you send me the assignment?” Before she could answer, the tunnel shook and the lights flickered. It felt as if reality was being challenged. My mom looked alarmed.
“There is no time for questions. Just listen. You need to leave, Pene. You don’t belong in this city.”
“But Dad said…”
“Your father is wrong. He means well but you’re not safe here.”
“Says you. You’re dead. How do I know you’re not someone trying to trap me? As far as I know, Lord Morall is controlling this whole conversation.” The tunnel shook and faded from view. In matter of seconds, reality was going to come crashing through.
“Would he know that I sang to you as baby? That I held you and sang you to sleep? Do you remember?”
Suddenly that nagging memory of my mother came flowing back. No one would know this, and it was long before drones recorded our every move. How did this computer simulation know about my mother?
“Leave the city now. It’s only a matter of time before you learn the truth.”
The ground shook. The tunnel vanished. I was back in the lab. My chest felt like someone had sat on it; there was no air. No one around me noticed, everyone focused on themselves. I stood up.
My depression was over. I knew what I needed to do. Promise or no promise, I wouldn’t deny my instincts. Something or someone was urging me to leave.
And I was going to find out who.