THE ZETA PROJECT
SEASON THREE
Disclosure: I don't own The Zeta Project or its characters. (Or unfortunately any cool merchandise featuring such characters.)
This is my seventh episode so I'm over halfway done with season 3.Thank you to all of you who leave me reviews it's how I know that people are reading this, and it's what motivates me to keep writing. And sorry that it takes me so long to update. Homework is taking up ALL of my free time. Usually I'd start cutting into my sleep time, but my school work is already doing that. So I'm probably just going to try writing short chapters so when I do find some time to write I'll be able to post it more frequently.
"High Stakes" Ep. 7 Season 3
It'd been less than a week since they'd last been in southern California. They were alone on the interstate magway to southern Nevada, surrounded by a complete circular vision of barren dessert climate. This particular part of the desert was a graveyard of eerie skeletal silhouettes of antique billboards and old retired truck trailers—all completely stripped of any salvageable metal sheeting. What wasn't recyclable had been left there to rust and rot.
At first Ro had wondered why no one had bothered to maintain them to have prevented them from becoming scrap material, but as there was nothing around for miles, who would want to come all the way out here to do such maintenance work? Then again, the better question would be who had put them out here to begin with? No one drove into Las Vegas anymore with air transportation so readily available. The only reason they were driving in was because they still had their car and hadn't needed to abandon it somewhere yet. It just didn't make sense to her why someone would mix advertising images with scrap 20th century petroleum-powered truck cargo hulls. She could see having one or the other out here, but not both. Either they should just have the hotel promotional images, or they should completely turn the place into a landfill or storage area for old truck parts, but they certainly should never have mixed the two.
Completely reclined in the passenger seat of their car with no buildings, mountains, or trees to block her view, Ro stared up into the clear night sky. It felt like she was in the world's largest planetarium. She lifted her hand in the air and mindlessly began to trace the cloudy streak of the milky way with her finger. After tracing the handle, her hand veered off of the parabolic path, then came to a rest on the control panel of her right arm rest.
Zee smiled, laughing to himself as Ro fumbled to return her seat upright. First her window lowered a couple of inches, then closed itself again. Following that he heard the beep sound from her door being locked then finally he heard the sound of the electrical and mechanical parts working to slowly raise Ro's seat back to the upright position. "How much further?" she asked, rubbing her eyes to awaken herself more.
"Another hour or two," he replied, practicing his well-learned skill of casually replying rather than quoting the exact time. "You might still be able to fall back asleep," he suggested, knowing that sleeping would make the time go by faster for Ro. Also, they'd been up really early this morning, so he knew she was tired and needed the extra sleep. But then again, it wasn't always possible to sleep the entire way through a long car ride, and they'd been on the road for several hours already.
"Nah, I want to be awake when we drive in. And besides, I'm actually not finding the passenger seat of this model of car that comfortable." This was just greatthey'd been running so long she was now a connoisseur of sport car's seats, and which ones were the best designed for sleeping in…
Illuminated by the headlights of their car, it appeared that they were approaching another hotel advertisement. Ro had a brief imaginative vision of an army of feds jumping out from behind it… She blinked and they quickly passed the sign. She turned around to look at it behind them, but there was nothing behind it. She was paranoid, and she knew it. The whole concept of going to Las Vegas made her nervous, and driving in only increased her anxiety.
They were out in the middle of nowhere, cut off from civilization or any escape routes. What if the feds found them out here alone? What if they had a blockade set up for them just a few miles ahead? Or what if they were conveniently hiding behind one of the signs or behind one of the trailers? Stuck in the middle of this wasteland, they would have no where to run—actually, she would have no where to run. Zee would be able to stand going for days without water, wandering around in the desert or walking miles and miles back along the road or to the next town, but she'd not be able to withstand the heat for more than a few hours before she'd become dehydrated then have a heat stroke.
However, driving in had seemed like the only way to get around the problem of being identified by airport security officials. If they'd flown in, then they surely would have been found by the NSA and their plan would be ruined. But, on the other hand, their lone pair of headlights on this deserted road made them more suspicious to an overhead scout plane. Hopefully, though, Bennet didn't know they were going to be here so he wouldn't be using air support to look for them.
Her thoughts led her to ask, "Why do you think anyone would decide to start a city all the way out here?"
"Originally Las Vegas was a fort founded by a religious group that was traveling west through the area after suffering from persecution in the east. I'm sure the remote location was appealing to them."
"A religious group you say? Taking into account that Las Vegas can be considered the sin capital of the country they must be disappointed with the fruit of their labors, or they must have be the most liberal religious denomination ever."
She'd posed a question that extended beyond the small factual knowledge in his database so he said nothing in reply but tried to think of the solution for himself. "I think they all moved to Utah," he finally concluded.
"That's nice," Ro yawned, not really interested anymore in the topic. She was more interested in indulging in her newly self-aroused worries and anxieties than hearing more random trivia from Zee.
"You think he's going to be there?" she asked after a couple of seconds of silence had passed between them. For what she'd thought was a simple question, Zee seemed rather perplexed by it.
After thinking about the question for a moment, or delaying his response to make it seem like he had to think about it for a while, he answered, "It would seem pointless to be coming out all this way if he wasn't going to be."
His response didn't necessarily answer whether he personally thought he would be or not, which is what she'd hoped he'd admit, but his answer was still valid to her question.
"Do you think he'll be there?" he asked her.
Now it was time for her to confess or lie about her own doubts, "I should hope he'd be, because if he's not, or if we're discovered, there's not any easy way get out of this state. There's just miles and miles of, well, nothing."
While there really wasn't just nothing, she knew that there had to be something more than neon lights, all-you-can-eat buffets, and drive thru chapels that made Las Vegas so populated. Strip bars and prostitution were common things that could be found anywhere elseif someone purposely went looking for them. However, Nevada was the only state left where gambling was still legal.
Gambling was the only thing that could support an economy of this size, and it was the only reason that people came here. Personally, Ro didn't see much of a thrill in pulling down an arm lever then watching a machine eat your creds away with the odds set against getting a return. Was there even a law that said that the casinos had to give back any of the money?aside from the fact that people would stop spending their money there if it seemed like they never won anything… To Ro, gambling was a dangerous thing as chances of winning always slim, but apparently to those addicted to it, the possibility that luck could intervene and fate might chance its course, made it worth the risk of losing. In conclusion, she could then say that they were just heading into a city full of risk takers, and frivolous spenders. But then again, who was she to complain? They were just as guilty.
Most of the people who would be gambling would just be throwing away money that they'd saved and had already budgeted to not count on receiving any return . In their case, they were always making bets with something a lot more valuable—their lives. Even more risky than losing a couple of creds on the card tables or to the slots, they were taking a large gamble in coming here. It seemed that every time they appeared anywhere in public that they were putting their lives in jeopardy. Their addiction wasn't to the chance of winning, but the chance of living.
Ordinarily, just traveling through any town didn't pose much of a threat to being discovered. It was just in this case with these select circumstances that made the odds so highly staked…
"You suspect it's another set up…" Zee called her on her uncertainty. If she hadn't been thinking about it then she would have been confused from him stating something that so out of context from what they'd last spoken about.
"I'll admit that it does seem suspicious that we found this guy so easily," she readily replied. She didn't feel that it would be wise in this case to hide her anxieties from Zee.
"Locating Dr. Anderson's conference itinerary on the net wasn't exactly what I'd call an easy find." They'd spent hours and hours looking online before Zee had finally got a hit with this medical school convention. And with the speed that he processed information, that was certainly saying something about the scarcity of the information.
"Yeah, and I hate to bring up the fact, but Dr. Boyle did purposely put his travel plans on the net so we'd find them… "
"But this isn't something as frivolous as travel plans. This convention series isn't just something that you make up just to use as…" his processors had come up with the word almost instantaneously, but he paused to draw a little more attention to his carefully selected word, "bait."
"Also," he added, "the Association of American Medical Colleges is widely known… I don't think that this is going to be some hoax."
Ro sighed deeply. At some times like this one, she wondered if his processor was made from old recalled blender parts, as he always seemed to confuse and mix up what she was trying to tell him. "I'm not saying that the convention itself is a set up. It's just that to me, it seems a little too easy for someone like Bennet to simply add a name on the list of guest speakers."
"But the topic of his discussion is on the findings from electromagnetic scans of sheep hearts that show progression in the field of bioengineering… I don't know of many other people who would have that kind background in such a field for it to not be him…"
"You're not getting this are you? The lecture doesn't even have to exist at all! Bennet could just have put this guy's name on the list with a convincing discussion title so that we'd think he was going to be there. It could all be a lie!"
"Do you think we should turn back?" Zee asked. He was careful to hide the sound of disappointment in his voice as he knew that Ro's worries were very validated, and he wouldn't want her to feel guilty if she did decide that she didn't feel like going through with this.
"No, I just think we need to be at little more careful here."
"Ro, if at any point, you don't feel right, just let me know, and we'll cancel the whole thing."
She could tell that he was trying to make her feel good about her worries, but what she really needed was for him to help her to get rid of them rather than feeding them. "If we're coming out all this way then I think that we should go through with it…"
"Ro, no excuses. I want you to promise me that if you don't feel right about the situation and that you'll tell me so we can get out of it."
She smiled at him, "You're lucky you didn't make me promise that a couple years ago or we'd have never gotten this far. And it's for that reason that I can't promise you that now."
"Ro, I'm going to call it off now if you don't!" Zee insisted. Ro knew he was serious because the car began to slow down as he was breaking to pull over to the side of the road, or even pull a U-turn.
"No you're not, because you know that even if I did make you that promise I'd just break it anyway so it wouldn't do any good."
Zee sat resolutely back in his chair, but the car didn't speed up again. "You'll at least tell me when you don't feel something is right then?" he asked.
"I promise you that, but there'll be no more of this talk of turning back."
"It's a deal then," he said, extending his hand to Ro. She clasped it and lightly shook it up and down. The car then began to quickly speed up again.
He hated to admit it, but part of the reason that he'd wanted her to promise him that she'd let him know when something didn't feel right, was because he lacked the sense to be able to discern such a thing for himself. While he had a more refined skill of intuitiveness, the "gut" feeling of knowing when they were walking into a bad situation or at trap was something that eluded him because of his naïve, honest and naturally trusting nature. He didn't expect people to lie to him, so it often left him subject to being taken advantage of. Thankfully, for these past two years, Ro had been with him to fend him off from such people or circumstances.
After releasing his hand Ro readjusted her seat one more time, getting comfortable for the remaining drive in. However, even though her intention had been to stay awake until they made it in, she found herself growing tired again from lack of a conversation and nothing around her to look at to keep her interested and awake.
She felt a slight surprise and alarm as she unexpectedly felt herself being awakened as she hadn't yet realized that she'd fallen asleep again. As her senses slowly revived she became awake that her neck was sore from how she'd been uncomfortably sleeping against the window, and also, of the threatening feeling of a cold, black metal claw grabbing her hand. Her thoughts were muddled and confused as her mind remained temporarily trapped between being awake and asleep. She was willing herself to wake up, but she didn't seem to have any control over her body as she couldn't will her eyes to open. The feeling of defenselessness scared her to the point that she wanted to call out for help, but she was unable to speak or even move! In her mind she was screaming for Zee to come save her, but she was paralyzed!
Then, suddenly, she awoke with a sharp inhale of breathimmediately feeling absolutely sick with guilt. It was when she'd thought to call to Zee for help that she was able to make the distinction between her imaginative vision and reality, which had then enabled her to awaken. Upon thinking of Zee, she'd realized that it was not some malicious mechanical hand holding her, but Zee's hand, holding hers. She felt disgusted with herself for what her first initial impression of what his kind gesture had been.
He quickly released her hand, almost as if he had just touched something hot or sharp. Her lower lip was turned under, almost as if she were biting her tongue to prevent herself from yelling at him for having woken her up. Or maybe she was pouting because he'd released her hand?—No, she wouldn't do that, and how absurd his processor was to have proceed in such a direction of thought.
She began to chew on her lower lip, using the dull pain as a way to ensure that she really was fully awake. "Something wrong?" Zee asked anxiously silently cursing himself for having startled her awake when he'd just meant to slowly wake her by gently squeezing her hand. But by her sharp breath when she suddenly woke up, he knew he'd failed.
"Yeah, you were holding my hand and I woke up before I realized this so I couldn't savor the moment," her inner most thoughts whispered for her to say.
"Nope, nothing." She recited instead. Was she crazy? What was this nonsense she was thinking? "Something up?" she introduced a topic quickly.
"We're here," Zee said timidly, still feeling embarrassed with himself. How could he be so clumsy? It was easy—he had little sense of touch so he'd frightened Ro awake with his cold metal hand rather than gently retrieving her from her sleep with a soft, warm touch. Next time he'd stick with just calling her name or shaking her shoulder. Their exit off of interstate route 15 was easily identifiable by the bright luminosity of all of the lights of the hotels all located on just the one boulevard.
At four a.m. there wasn't any night life to excite the streets, but the strip was still impressive with all of its neon affluence. Each casino was earnestly competing with all the other hotels around it to be the most enticing opportunity for someone to fall into the lies of the possibility to "get rich quick." Everything was designed with the intention to lure any passerby inside, where they could then spend their money on the whirling wheels of the slot machines, or on the green felted gaming tables, or on the entertainment shows that were readily available inside.
Everything was just so overwhelming with all of the displays of luxury and the glamorous appeal of pure escapist fun. The casinos with their elaborately decorated décor were probably the most impressive figures of architecture that Ro had seen on her travels. One of the first sites was another fairytale castle. This one had four large stone turrets with several red, blue and gold spires. She didn't have much time to count them all because then there was a ten story sphinx guarding the entrance to an ancient Egyptian pyramid! It was like the entire world was represented in these few square miles! There was a hotel for ancient Greece, Paris, Tuscany, Arabia, China, South America, the Mediterranean, New York… There was one with a pirate ship out in front, one advertising white sandy beaches and tropical paradise. It seemed like there was a hotel for everything. Heck, there was even a hotel for flamingos! She began to wonder whether people really did come here for the gambling of it they just came to stay in one of the rooms of these magnificent hotels.
"So which one will we be staying at?" Ro asked as they came upon a tent shaped hotel.
Zee looked over to her, but then quickly returned his eyes systematically to the road, "Pick one."
Ro gasped in surprise. While she'd been hopeful that he hadn't already made accommodations at one, she hadn't really expected her wish to come true. In a way she almost wished that he had though, because she didn't think that she could pick one out of the lot! There were just too many choices and they all looked so inviting.
"Wait," she stopped herself from becoming too excited with her choice. "Which one will Dr. Anderson be staying at?"
"I'm not sure," he replied. "His accommodations weren't on the site. He could be at anyone of these, or he could be flying in on the day of."
She couldn't help but guiltily smile with having no conscience restrictions on her choice, but still, she did feel some obligation to pick the hotel that it seemed most likely he'd be at. She doubted he would be at one of the family oriented casinos such as the circus or castle one. There were several up class hotels, such as the one themed with fine art or the one that just looked sophisticated and nothing more… It seemed more plausible that he'd go to one of those, or because he might be attending this conference on the government's dime, maybe they should go and find the cheapest discounted hotel? She doubted that they'd bother to put him up anywhere too expensive, and she'd give them some credit in assuming that he wouldn't be at one of the downtown grubby, old strip, casinos that were ignored because they were so outclassed by the uptown ones.
From the look of careful consideration on her face as she gazed at the lat of the hotels on the strip, he could tell what she was thinking. "You know, it might be better if we don't try to stay at the same hotel as him, for safety reasons," he suggested.
"Then how do you expect that we'll find him?"
He knew that he'd gone over this with her once before, but part of replicating human-like activity would be to not assure her that he had, but to repeat himself as if he was just telling her for the first time, as if she was asking, clearly she must have forgotten. "Hopefully tomorrow we'll have the chance of visiting each of the casinos to check their lobby computers for the list of registered guests. And if we don't find him that way we can always sneak into the lecture."
This was just too perfect. Even if they didn't get to stay in the other hotels they'd still get to visit them. She'd just have to make sure that she didn't get too caught up in the vacation aspect of it but that she remembered why they'd come here in the first place. "Well then in that case, I've always wanted to go to Paris," she smirked.