I wake up because I hear a knock and realize it's because of a man tapping on the car window. I bolt upright, completely disoriented. I open the door of the SUV and fall out. "Where am I?" I ask him, looking around and at the car I just left; I had never seen it before.

"What do you mean?" he says.

"Sorry, I mean, 'where am I?'" I ask again.

"You've been parked in the lot for the past two days. That's all you gave me before the credit systems went down," he explains. "I need some cash now, man."

This is Tyrell's car. Why were we in there? Where is Tara? I put my hands in my pocket. No phone, no wallet. Only a metro card.

"Ah, don't tell me you don't have any cash?" the man continues. "You're shit out of luck for a while, buddy."

"I don't understand," I tell him.

"How long have you been asleep?" he asks, a bit shocked.

I begin to panic and take a step away from him. I take a couple more steps, keeping him in sight before turning around and putting up my hood. My only thought is to get back to the arcade. Maybe Tara's there, maybe I left her with Tyrell. Either way there would be answers.

1010011010

"Jesus Christ! You're finally here!" Darlene shouts at me. "Where have you been?"

I look around the darkened room. The whole crew is here, working, but there's no sign I had ever brought Tara here at all. Did I make it all up?

"Yeah, man," Romero chimes in. "I mean not cool, not cool at all. I thought we were gonna execute together. What's going on here?"

"He's just saying that we had planned on something a little more ceremonial," Mobly interjects.

"Ceremonial, man?" Romero tries to argue. "We've been wiping drives, wrangling cables, pulling fiber taps, and the-"

"Everyone lay off!" Darlene interrupts him. "I'm sure he had his reasons. Besides, whatever, the point is, it worked."

Jesus, what did I do?

"We need to clean up and get the hell out of here," Darlene says.

I ignore her, still searching for some clue as to what happened this weekend.

"Elliot? What's going on?" she demands. "You disappear on me at the apartment and come here to execute without even telling me?"

Execute? It executed? But how? What happened to Tyrell and Tara?!

"Then you were gone for another three days," she continues. "Where have you been?"

"You're saying it went through?" I ask for clarification.

"Like gangbusters!" Darlene laughs. "Everyone's loving it. People actually want to join fsociety. They're organizing protests all across the city. Elliot!" she calls my name again when I don't give her an action. "What's going on? Are you still seeing him?"

No, but I need to. He could tell me where my Tara is. I try to leave, but she stops me.

"Dude! You can't just leave. We're in wipe down mode here and we need your help."

"I told you we shouldn't have done this. Call Ange, have her call Tara, make sure she's alright?" I call as I'm walking out. Not that any of them will be able to call me when they reach her.

1010011010

Chaotic is not enough to describe Evil Corp right now. I make it all the way through the building without being noticed. I don't even know where Tyrell's office is, I'm the only one not moving at warp speed. Then I spot the sign. Elizabeth Chen. Assistant to T. Wellick.

"Can I help you with something?" she asks from behind her desk.

"Yes. I'm looking for Tyrell Wellick," I tell her.

"He's not here," she answers. "He doesn't work here anymore. Why are you here? What do you need to see him for?"

Before I can come up with a sufficient lie, my attention is drawn away by a voice from the news. "-This is fsociety claiming responsibility for the hack."

I join the crowd frozen in front of the scene.

"We are cutting live to the video right now," the female anchor continues.

Just as I expected, someone in a mustached mask is speaking in a dimly lit room that I know as the arcade. "Evil Corp," the dubbed voice begins. "We have delivered on our promise as expected. The people of the world who have been enslaved by you have been freed. Your financial data have been destroyed. Any attempted to salvage it will be utterly futile."

This isn't me saying those words, but I know those blue eyes.

"Face it. You have been owned. We hope as a new society rises from the ashes that you will forge a better world. A world that values a free people. A world where greed is not encouraged. And while you do that, remember to repeat these words. We are fsociety. We are finally free. We are finally awake."

The video stops on a close up of the mask as the anchor's voice begins speaking over the still frame. "The authorities have been trying to locate the whereabouts of the mysterious masked man as well as other members of the fsociety collective."

Oh, fuck, Tyrell. I turn around and leave the building no more visible than when I entered it. I look for him next at his home address. When I hacked him it was listed in Chelsea.

1010011010

I knock on the door, but there's no answer. "Can I help you?" I woman asks.

I turn around and see a brunette with full lips pushing a stroller.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Tyrell Wellick. Is he here?" I ask her.

"No he's not," she answers simply.

"Do you know where he is?" I try again.

"Who are you?" she counters.

Good question. "We work together." It's only a half lie.

"He'll be home soon. Just called me from the car ten minutes ago. Got stuck in some traffic. You're welcome to wait inside if you want," she says.

A handful of guys wearing fsociety masks run by us. "Yeah, bitch! That's how it is. Fsociety, baby!" They call.

"What did you say your name was?" Mrs. Wellick drives us back on track.

"Uh, I'm…Ollie."

"What are you working on with my husband?" I thought I had made it past the interrogation, but she continues to grill me.

"He wanted my advice. You know, about the hack that's going on right now," I lie.

"When was the last time you saw him?" she asks without missing a beat.

She's lying. He isn't coming. She's fishing; for what? "I'm not sure," I admit. "It was last week I think."

"Really? You know, between you and me, I'm a little concerned for Tyrell." she picks up the baby. I know she's trying to disarm me by making herself seem more human. "Was he acting strange when you saw him?"

"No."

"That's funny," she says, but she doesn't mean it. "Cause he was acting very strange last I saw him. Three days ago."

Didn't she say he just called?

"Then he just vanished," she shrugs. After a moment she speaks again, but it's not in English.

Swedish, I think. Tara can speak Swedish. "Excuse me, I don't understand. Are you okay?" I ask when she doesn't answer or even look at me.

"Yeah, I think it's just the stress of the past few days getting to me," she smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. "Anyway, I shouldn't take up anymore of your time. Thank you…Ollie."

I walk away, fighting the urge to look back at her over my shoulder. No wonder Tyrell is violently psychotic. I would be too if I had married a woman like her.

1010011010

I make sure the man working at the lot has left before I walk up to the SUV. I'm not sure why, but I'm compelled to open the trunk first. There's nothing. I get into the driver's seat and rifle through the middle consul; nothing. Glove compartment; nothing. The car's GPS has been wiped too. I pull out a pair of sunglasses. The side is a USB drive.

"Alright! Come out!" I yell into the air. "Come out now! Come on! I need to know what happened. Come on out! I'm here waiting for you! Come on, man! Come out!"

1010011010

Utterly defeated, I go to a café I know that has desktops and free wifi. I plug in the USB, but it's password protected. He knows the password, of course, which means I know the password. I log in and the only file on it is a video titled Boardwalk Fail. I double click, a new window opens and the video begins to play. It begins with some teenagers skateboarding. Then it pans through them to a hooded figure sitting on a railing. He falls, suddenly. I fall. He edited the video, looping it so the fall happens over and over again.

What's he trying to say? I'm on the hook for everything? Maybe I gotta force his hand. "I need to use a landline," I tell the lady at the counter and she just passes it over without hesitation. I need to get myself arrested.

"911 what's your emergency?"

"I have a confession to make," I begin.

I hand disconnects the call. "Alright, you got me," Mr. Robot shrugs. "Calm down, get your caramel latte. It's on me."

I throw him against the wall. "Where are they?" I demand.

"You know how this looks right? Very weird," he replies calmly.

"I don't give a shit! Where are they?" I yell.

"We made a deal that helped both of us," Mr. Robot explains calmly. "You're starting to attract some attention. I recommend you get one of those Bluetooth headsets. That way people just think you're the local douche."

I am sick of him joking around. "Tyrell disappeared along with Tara. No one knows where he is, but you know!"

"So do you," he sighs. "You forget, kiddo, I am you."

1010011010

He brings me to Times Square where we are in the middle of a march mass of masked faces. "I know you did it!" I persist. "Just tell me what happened to them?"

"Shut up!" he yells at me. "I've played nice for far too long. I'm so sick of your whining. It's not gonna change anything."

"He's right you know," my mom says.

"You're hurting the whole family, Elliot," says the little boy standing in front of her.

No, no, this isn't my family. None of them are real.

"Neither is whoever you're talking to!" My dad breaks through.

"Then you're not real, you're not real," I say to him.

"Is any of it real?" he chuckles. "I mean, look at this; a world built on fantasy. Synthetic emotions in the form of pills. Psychological warfare in the form of advertising. Brainwashing seminars in the form of media. You want to talk about reality? We haven't lived in anything close to it since the turn of the century. As far as you're concerned, Elliot, I am very real."

"No! No! No!" I shout. "I want to be alone! I need to be alone!" And I am. Everyone disappears. Not only my family, but the protestors as well.

"No, you don't want that," I hear my dad's voice and look up to see him on one of the screens. "Remember how you felt when you were alone? You were in pain. You were miserable. That's why we're here. Those lonely nights when you sat and cried in your apartment, you begged us to help you. You asked us to come. You needed us to come."

"No, I want you to leave!" I shout up at him. "Leave!"

"We're deep down inside you, Elliot," little me speaks. "You can't leave us and we can't leave you. Ever."

"It's true, son," My mom agrees.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do!" I cry.

"I'll tell you exactly what you're gonna do," Dad speaks again. He's calm now, not so malevolent. "You're gonna start listening to us. The world is a better place because of what we did, Elliot, and you're gonna realize that one way or another. Now, here's what I need you to do."

1010011010

It's late and the subway's nearly empty. I can't help it, but I begin to cry quietly to myself. An entire weekend, gone, vanished from my mind. An entire day running all over the city: Coney Island, to Chelsea, to Midtown and I never found Tyrell or Tara. Nothing has changed. I'm still crazy.