Alive
Book 2
Pt36
1
… and he is witnesses to The Eight: Justin and Jason, born to tranc addicts and taken by the CLA; Charles and Devon, the boys he'd known as Three and Four, who had taught him how to best 101, and who had never learned their parents names or how they came to be held by the CLA, and so the data does not exist in 101's memory; Mahkah and Akecheta, born to Chatan and Chumani of the Lakota Nation, taken by the CLA when their parents perished in a landslide, which buried their farm and from which only the boys survived…
And Yua and her twin sister Ichika, born to Steven and Fuyuko, raised in a hostile environment and taken by the CLA when their parents finally divorced and the ensuing custody battle led to violence.
David can see the sisters as they are now in 101s thoughtfield, laying abed in a large white room … a hospital room? They appear to be sleeping, with cables attached to their skulls.
Are they attached to 101 at this very moment?
"Where are you!" he calls out in the vain hope that they will hear. But he doesn't have a chance to get an answer. 101 has pursued him.
"Noooo!" it roars as it thrusts itself violently into the memory. The image of the twin girls breaks apart and disperses into the now quaking thoughtfield, which flattens and spreads out to form an empty desert plain.
David turns to see that 101 has taken the shape of The Man again, but now as massive as a mountain, its burning red eye casting a feral glow across the expanse of the now vast thoughtfield.
"You deceived me!" the giant howls like the winds of an angry storm; pounding the virtual earth with its enormous steel-toed boots.
"That's called karma!" David shouts over the loud quaking of the thoughtfield and the deafening din of 101s rage
The giant manifestation raises an arm as massive as a battleship, and swings down. David jumps away as its bolder-sized fist smashes onto the virtual earth. The impact shakes the entire throughtfield and creates a great crater in the ground. The giant roars as it rises, preparing for another strike. David looks around desperately, seeking an escape before it strikes again.
This place has become a desert in the throughtfield that 101 controls. But David knows that they are actually still inside his own memory; that this 'reality' is more like a subfolder within his own created realm.
He is not just witness here!
As the great fist bears down, David lets go of his fear and closes his eyes. He doesn't know where to aim his intention in the memories 101 has edited out, but it's time to go!
"I am this…"
2
… and he opens his eyes on a stylistic, brightly lit room.… an office! Beyond the large oval windows, Rouge City is at rest in the afternoon sunlight. David is two now, in this memory; both halves of 101. He cannot see what faces the Mecha is wearing, but it is standing before a large ornately carved desk where a pudgy faced man is seated, gesturing wildly as he speaks.
That face… those gestures… that voice!
Dreven Olmier!
"I dunno! I dunno,! Didn't catch his name," the little megalomaniac is saying in an irritated voice. "Like I told ya, it was just some kid in a crew that worked my zone few weeks ago; looked just like one of those machines, ya know… one of Hobby's Mecha things. But the kid was skin, right? We checked him. I thought there might be a hustle in it, but the brat disappeared before I could do anything. What do you care?"
"What crew?" 101 inquires in the voice of the man it impersonates; a voice that David does not know.
"What's it matter?" Olmier replies with a dramatic shrug. "Been three weeks. Kid's long gone by now. Just let it go and let's get back to business on the Nexus deal. We're lookin to break ground in a couple months and if you don't want to be left out, you better-"
"What crew?!" 101 yells, interrupting Olmier. The man is silenced by the outburst. He leans back in his chair, thinking. A look of surrender finally comes into his face.
"Southwood Sy, Ok? Sy Cleve," he admits, reluctantly. "But you didn't hear that me from, get it?"
"Olmier!" David realizes. "Olmier led 101 to Sy!"
But he immediately regrets his loud reaction as a massive fist comes crashing through the walls of the office, filling the room with shards of virtual pulverized wood and blankets of virtual dust.
"I heard that!" 101 screams as it breaks into the memory.
As the force of the impact shatters the memory into fragments, David closes his eyes...
"I am this…"
3
… and he opens his eyes in a gathering of young Crash Jammers standing around a pit fire in the field outside Club 101. There are maybe a dozen of them, and they seem anxious, expectant; pacing around as if they are waiting for something. He is 101 now, watching from anonymous faces, and they don't know it is among them.
The headlights of a cruiser break through the forest and a tall CJ steps into view as the vehicle approaches. It is Animal, David realizes. But he suppresses his mental reaction so to not alert 101 of his location. As Animal greets the cruiser, the door opens and a dark figure climbs out. The stranger is facing away from David's point of view as the two exchange words. Then then they exchange something else... Animal passes the stranger an envelope and the stranger passes him a large package in return.
A dope deal? That's all this is? David wonders why 101 would hide this memory from him. But just as Animal is turning to leave, he reaches out to shake hands on the deal, and the stranger turns. He face is revealed in the firelight.
"Martin!" David blurts.
Then he thinks "Oops" as the giant 101 drops down from the virtual night sky to land on the virtual Club 101, smashing it to digital rubble.
David closes his eyes as he feels the ground quaking from the approach of giant feet.
"I am this…"
4
… and he opens his eyes on darkness. He feels a rolling motion and the muted squeaking of metal pulleys. He cannot see where this is, but he can tell that 101 was only a single unit when this memory was formed. The rolling motion stops suddenly, and the darkness parts like doors sliding open… because it is doors sliding open. He was on a dark elevator.
The room beyond is also dark… and large… and David has a sudden sinking feeling that he already knows where this memory took place.
It is the late hours of night, and the light of the moon is slipping into the broken windows that line the huge room. Cots are strewn around the place, holding sleeping Orga covered in blankets and sleeping bags. But one figure is awake. She is seated on a couch that sits by a large chair before a bank of monitors. She rises as 101 approaches in the guise of a man she knows.
David knows her face well. But he will not think her name aloud. The emotional impact would surely reveal him.
"Well, what the hell was going on down there?" the woman says. 101 replies with the voice of the man she thinks he is.
"It was nothing," it says dismissively. "Let's just stay out of their business."
But the woman isn't having it.
"Stay out of it?! Are you serious? The hell if I'm gonna stay out of this! This crew ain't gonna be part of whatever sick shit is going on down there!"
"You always gotta be charge don't you, woman!" 101 shouts back. "Can't never step off and let nothin' be! You forget who rules around here?!"
The woman reacts in disbelief, steps so close that 101 thinks she might see through its disguise.
"You have delusions of grandeur!" she hisses into the face of the man she believes 101 to be.
101 reaches into the pockets of the jacket it took off the man whose face it wears, and pulls out a wad of fresh newbucks.
"I meant the dead presidents, woman! They rule here! They rule everywhere!" 101 yells, and throws the newbucks on the couch. The woman hesitates, then picks up the newbucks and counts them. When she looks back at 101 her face is indecisive.
But the loud altercation has woken some of the sleeping Orga. They are sitting on the edge of the cots now, or propped up on their elbows, silently watching the argument. One of them rises and steps close, so that her face is illuminated in the light of the monitors.
David fights not to think her name. He must see the rest of this memory.
"Ya'll two need to cut this shit! We are trying to sleep!" the girl yells, stomping her foot to emphasize her point. 101 just shakes its head, knowing that if it can fool this little one, it can fool everyone.
"Go'on back to bed, Wizzy," it says gently… in Sy's voice … who was surely already dead when this memory was formed.
David can control himself no longer.
"Syyyyyy!" he roars. His angry scream is sure to bring 101s giant manifestation crashing into the memory. But he doesn't care anymore. He is finished running.
He waits for the walls to come crashing in, is ready to battle with the behemoth form 101 has taken…. But nothing happens. The memory feed just continues and David watches as 101 turns away from Nance and steps back onto the elevator. The doors close; leaving him in darkness again.
But he needs to see no more.
"I'm heeeere!" he taunts loudly, angrily, preparing for the fight. "Come and get me!"
But still 101 does not arrive to stop his witnessing. Where is it? Does it no longer care that he's found these memories, or….
In flash David realizes where 101 has gone and what it must be doing. He curses himself for getting distracted from his mission and focuses his attention on the memory of the twin girls in the hospital room, hoping that he is not already too late.
"I am this…"
5
… and he is suddenly falling from a crimson sky. The angry roars of 101 are like thunder in his ears. But his descent is slow as his body topples through the virtual air, as if held aloft by the force of 101s resistance.
This is not a memory, he realizes. 101 has somehow cast him out. He sees the ground far below and realizes that it is not earth he is looking at, but flesh! It is the digital manifestation of the twins minds in 101's thoughtfield! The thing has abandoned it giant form of 'The Man', and now appears as a great green vine, stretching from horizon to horizon across the width of the thoughtfield, writhing wildly as it snakes its way into the field of flesh below. David sets his focus on the hideous avatar.
"I am this…" he thinks, trying to force his way back into 101s memories.
But nothing changes. He is still slowly falling. He is still 'David'.
He attempts to leave himself behind, to become the unattached event that had eluded 101's perceptions and invaded its digital realm.
"I am this!" he screams in desperation. But still nothing changes.
There is no way to tell how much of the children's brain 101 has already corrupted; how far it has gone in taking over their bodies. He has to find a way inside!
"I am-"
But David stops this thought as something occurs to him. It's his desperation, he realizes. He is anxious, afraid. He is no longer witness… he is David again, and carries David's fear and hatred of 101. He slows his breath to find his center. Stillness comes to him as he falls slowly through the in the crimson sky of the thoughtfield. He lets the stillness take him; leaves his mission behind to be here, in the center of his being.
Three and Four had warned him that his judgements would cost him this battle; that he couldn't fear 101, even though it was a threat; that he couldn't hate 101, even though it was an enemy. His plan was to overcome his judgements, to abandon the Orga heart of David Swinton; to invade 101 and take control of the mad machine; to become 101 and trap it from within; as he had managed to do with the manifestation of the tear.
But 101 won't fall for that trick again. And as much as he tries to leave them behind, fear and hate are still a part of him; will always be there somewhere in his Orga emotions.
A dark feeling begins to seize his heart. Had he already lost this battle? Has his failure doomed the twins?
In spite of his unique mind, and his unique abilities, he is still Orga. And he still carries a beating Orga heart in his chest. No matter how hard he tries, he will always be David Swinton, the Boy From Between, the boy who had crossed the boundary of reality… for love.
"Love!"
Of course!
Something happens then; a new realization comes like a powerful gust of fresh air, whisking away the despair that had seized him.
The guidance Three and Four had given him was incomplete. But they couldn't have known what they had missed… it was their 'unknown unknown'. They'd been taken while they were still too young to know the full power of Orga emotions… the full power of 'love'. So this element could not have figured in their calculations.
Overcoming judgements does not mean abandoning them!
There is such a thing as evil! And there is such a thing as good…
It is called LOVE!
David begins to laugh aloud. The sound resonates across the thoughtfield, piercing through the roar of 101s desperate borrowing. The quaking thoughtfield starts to settle, and the crimson sky begins to change color.
"Love!" David screams, and his sense of falling turns into flight.
He allows himself to be David again; fills his heart with his memories of love: Her face, Mommy's face! His first love! His true love! How her smile had glowed with the sacred light of a billion suns inside his innocent Mecha brain.
The beautiful loving light of The Blue Fairy, as She had granted him this special gift of life!
Teddy and Joe and Angelo, his true Mecha friends who, never even knowing this gift of love, had sacrificed their all for him!
Hiro and Chioko! Amanda and Grace! Eddie and Skipper! Frill and Jazzy!
And Tamara! His new Orga love! She now, above all else, means love to him.
And his father! His creator. Yes, he too. In spite of all his blunders and misguided ventures, there is love in him! David can see this now.
"I'm aliiiive!" David screams. "And I am loved! I am loved!"
He is flying now, spiraling through the now beautiful blue sky of the thoughfield. The wretched vine is still moving, still working its sinister magic as it tries to burrow into the girls minds. The sight revives his anger and hate. But he lets these crimson emotions fall away and, instead, focuses his attention on the fleshy earth.
This is not earth, David knows that. It is a digital manifestation 101 has created for the twin minds it is trying to invade. And in a new flash of Orga insight, he knows what next to do.
101 has found a way to lock him out. But the twins…?
He slips his avatar into a steep dive, laughing as he races towards the landscape of flesh below.
"I am this!"
6
It is dark here. Cold and empty. It is the disturbed thoughtfield of children who had never known love the way they should have. It was this absence that had allowed for the corruption of their minds.
They are sleeping now, unaware of 101s invasion, and unaware of David as he nestles himself into the darkness of their unconscious minds. He can hear distant groans as 101 madly borrows into this place. He has no way of knowing how much damage it has already done, but it has yet to take root here. So David decides to give the darkness a form of his own choosing.
He does not abandon his identity, as he had done in his attempts to invade 101. Instead, he remains David, but lets go of his fear and anger; lets go of the memories of loss and sadness that had taken root in his mind… and he opens an emotion in his heart… his first emotion.
"I am love…"
… and David manifests as light, a gentle hue of blue, pure and loving; illuminating the dark passageways of the sleeping girl's troubled thoughtfield. He can sense their ugly memories now; angry adults with gritted teeth and rictus grins; the push and pull of reckless parents and the slap of rough hands; the din of angry screams and sadistic laughter… and the horrific memories of cages and ruthless men with savage tools, drilling into their skulls to implant the devices of their invasion.
The tragic images awaken David's anger, but he quickly casts it away. He allows stillness to calm his thoughts again, and lets his light shine on the pain of the girl's dark recollections.
"I love you…" he whispers.
The sound of this proclamation echoes through the void of the girls thoughtfield… and the darkness slowly lifts to reveal a bedroom in a quiet suburban home. The room is awash in his soft blue light and the gentle golden glow of a virtual sunrise that shines through the oval window.
David knows this room. It is a special room… a sacred room. It is the room where She had spoken the seven words of his birth into sensation.
He did not choose this form. Its manifestation was chosen by Love.
He sends a gentle beckoning thought to the sleeping girls, whose dark memories now lie beyond the room, along with the groan of 101's invasion, which has been muted to silence here.
He is not sure, at first, if the twin will hear him in their slumber. But he is elated to see them suddenly appear in the room; seated bedside, clad in bright pink kimonos, their long black hair tied in the traditional style of their ancestors. Their innocent young faces twist in confusion as they study their strange new environment. They look down at their clothing, and then turn perplexed expression on one another.
"Why have you brought us here?" says one to the other.
"This is not mine," replies her sister, equally confounded.
"It's not mine either," replies the first, scanning the room for something familiar. "Well, this is anomalous," she says when she can find nothing.
"Yes, anomalous and troubling," replies the other.
"And problematic," adds her sister.
The girl's clinical manner of speaking awakens sad memories of Three and Four. But David represses the mental images… for now. It is time to announce his presence.
"Hello, ladies" David says, in a gentle voice.
The girls stop their chatter and jump from the bed, surprised, looking around for the source of the strange voice.
"Who speaks?" they ask in unison.
"I am… a friend," David replies. "And I am guessing that you are Yua and Ichikam. Which is which?"
The girls faces grow confused again. They look at one another before replying in unison.
"We are the seventh and eighth of The One" they reply in unison.
"Ok, then," David says, "so which is the seventh and which the eighth?"
The girls look around the room with skeptical expressions.
"I would appropriately be labeled the seventh," says the first.
"And I the eighth," says her sister.
"So, I will address you as Seven and Eight," David says.
"That would be logical," Seven replies, quickly.
"And we will address you as Friend," says Eight.
"That too would be logical," David replies.
"Why do you not take form, Friend?" inquires Seven.
"But I have taken a form", David responds. "You are standing in it."
"You are … a bedroom?" inquires Seven, curiously.
"An unusual choice," observes Eight.
"And impractical," adds Seven.
"No, this room is a memory of my home," David explains. "My form is what fills the room."
The girls ponder this for a moment. Understanding comes into their twin faces.
"You are the light?" they inquire together, raising their eyebrows.
"Well, I don't claim to be 'the' light… but I am this light," David says with a chuckle.
The girls silently consider his response.
"You jest," observes Seven.
"A play on words," says Eight, with a subtle note of amusement in her voice.
"Clever but frivolous," says Seven, in a less amused tone.
"Do you like the kimonos?" David says. "I think they're from a book I read."
The girls look down at their own clothing again, and then each studies the clothing of the other.
"They appear to be an adequate representation," Eight observes, in a dismissive tone.
"You have misremembered the obijime," says Seven, critically, "This appears to be a rope tied in a simple sailors knot."
"That must be from a different memory," David says with a laugh. The girls don't seem to understand his humor. "I meant, do you think they are pretty… the kimonos?" he clarifies.
But the twins seem annoyed by this question and become suddenly businesslike.
"Why have you brought us here?" inquires Seven.
"Yes, and how?" adds her sister.
"I brought you here to tell you something," David replies, "and I learned how to do it from your brothers."
"Brothers?" The girls repeat the word with skepticism in their voices.
David delves quickly into his recollections and extracts two figures. The two appear suddenly, standing across the room. The girls seem surprised by the sight. They study the apparitions for a moment, and twin smiles slowly come into their faces… or at least what passes for smiles among 101's victims.
"Where have you been?" the girls say to the images of Three and Four. For the first time David senses excitement in their voices. But their faces grow troubled when the boys don't respond.
"This too, is only a memory," David explains, sadly.
"A memory?" the girls inquire, their faces now troubled.
"Why do they form as memory?" Seven inquires, cautiously.
"Have they been terminated?" asks Eight, something urgent behind her words.
So 101 has not yet taken their emotions, David thinks. He is about to reveal the tragic news, hoping that the sad shock of it will waken them from their slumber and, at least temporarily, put them beyond 101s grasp. But the plea in their voices stops him.
Their short lives have been so filled with tragedy and loss. He does not wish to add more. He decides to try a different tack. He decides to create his own 'noble lie'.
"I meant that… this is only my memory of the last time I saw them," he explains, quickly. "They are eager to see you both again. Just tell me where you are, and I'll bring them to you."
"But we are here," says Seven, confused by the request.
"Yes here," echoes her sister. "With you."
"I meant corporeal," David explains. "Beyond the stream."
The girl's expressions turn troubled and they looked hesitantly at one another before they respond.
"In the crude world?" they ask in unison.
"In the 'real' world," David corrects them, gently.
"But there is pain there," says Seven.
"And sickness," says Eight.
"It is confusing," says Seven.
"And it stinks," Eight adds, pinching her nose.
"Yes, very badly," agrees Seven, copying her sisters gesture of disgust.
The rumbling of 101's intrusion suddenly grows louder and the room begins to shake. It will soon breach the walls of his memory. David presses his lie with renewed urgency.
"The third and fourth have important information for you," he explains quickly. "But they cannot tell you here. So they have sent me to bring you back into the world… so they can tell you themselves!"
"If they have not been terminated, why won't they take form to tell us?" says Seven, her skeptical expression now turning suspicious.
"A logical inquiry," says Eight.
"Because the information is about 101!" David replies too quickly, and corrects himself. "I meant it is about The One. If they come into the stream The One will see them and try to-"
"Why should they hide from The One?" interrupts Seven, her suspicion now turning into hostility.
"Yes, why?" agrees Eight. "The One has promised us all glorious purpose in the new world. Why should they fear this?"
"You are a deceiver," they say together.
Their kimonos start to darken and their braids untangle as their minds begin to challenge the reality David has constructed. They grow transparent as they begin to revert back to their mentally projected self-images: the dark and disturbed, self-loathing avatars of abused children.
If they should flee David's thoughtfield, and return to sleep, 101 could overcome them before he can learn the location of their physical bodies! His lie has failed. It is time for the truth. It will hurt them. But love can sometimes seem like cruelty.
He yells over the growing sound of 101's invasion.
"They cannot take form because they are dead! They terminated their physical bodies so that The One would not find out that I was coming here!"
The girls stop their dark transformation and their forms become opaque again. They now appear like something from a dark manga, half innocent and half horrific, pallid skin, hair like thick black spikes atop their still cherubic faces; their still innocent eyes bordered by thick black mascara that runs like blood over their pale cheeks.
"You said they were waiting for us," they say accusingly, their voices now deeper and distorted, as if submerged.
"I lied," David confesses, yelling to compete with 101's roar. "I lied because I do not wish to hurt you. You've had so much pain, I was afraid to tell you the truth. It was a good lie… a lie born of love. The One lies to control!
"This is all a fiction! A lie! Everything in the stream is only a cloak that The One wraps around itself to manipulate your perceptions! It's just a warped representation of a reality far beyond 101s comprehension; a sad shadow of YOUR reality! You are Orga! You are too young yet to know the power of your Orga heart and soul! But you already have something The One can never offer; and something it desires more than anything else!
"You are alive! ALIVE! And that's why you must wake up NOW!"
"What are you?!" the girls demand loudly as the roar becomes deafening and the walls of the room began to quake and crack open.
101 has found them! Love alone could not stop it! David now realizes he must become something more; that love must be defended, and to defend it he must become a warrior! A warrior for love!
His power surges and his young heart burns with renewed purpose as he reveals himself. His gentle blue light flares into blinding brilliance as he takes form. He is David again, but not the nameless event he became to invade 101; not the simple obedient creation of Alan Hobby and no longer the love-starved Mecha child of Monica Swinton. He has moved beyond the insecure teenager he was as Orga, to become something more than all of these; something as deep blue as endless sky and as fierce as a raging spring storm.
Now bright and magnificent, glowing with the blinding light of a brilliant star, he reaches out to the astounded girls.
"I am the Boy From Between! And I have come to free you from this prison! Take my hand!"
As the girl's avatars reach out to him, the walls suddenly shatter into splinters.
7
Motion.
Distant voices.
Lights shifting at the edge of his vision.
Pinpoint pains come and go as he fades in and out of awareness.
"Can you hear me, David?" someone says.
He knows her voice.
"Wizzy," he moans.
He hears her relieved laughter; feels her weight on him and her arms embracing him tightly. But when he tries to open his eyes there is only darkness.
"I can't see!" he cries.
"It's ok, it's ok," Tamara says softly into his ear. "It's just blinders. The doctor was worried about you opening your eyes too soon. Said something about the Familiar overstimulating your optics, or some medical mumbo-jumbo like that. But you'll be fine, you'll be fine. He just wants you to leave them on for a while. Ok?"
"My Familiar?" David says, hesitantly. "I can't summon it up. Did they remove it?"
Tamara is strangely quiet for a moment. Then she sighs.
"No, it's all still there in your head," she replies with obvious disappointment in her voice. "The doctor just shut it down for now… till they can check you out, ya know?"
"Doctor?... Am I in a hospital?" David says, alarmed. Memories of the man named Grieg or Jeff or Frank awaken in his head. But Tamara shushes him as she runs her hand over his forehead.
"Shhh… Relax now. You're at home in your bed… with the girl who loves you," she says, and plants a gentle kiss on his cheek. David turns his head so that their lips meet. They kiss long and hard before she finally pulls away.
"No time for that," she says. "Everybody's been waiting for you to wake up, so I'm gonna go get them, ok? Now you leave that mask on, you hear me? Doctors orders. I'll only be a minute."
But David grabs her arm as she rises to leave.
"I failed them Wizzy," he says, his voice breaking. "The twins. I couldn't get them out in time! No matter what I tried, I couldn't stop that goddamned machine!"
Tamara falls silent again. He feels her sitting back down on the bed beside him. Then he hears her chuckle.
She's… chuckling?
"What the hell are you laughing about?" he barks, raising his head off the pillow. "Didn't you hear me? I lost them! 101 has them now! It's become them! How is that funny?!"
"Chill out, David!" Tamara says, laughter in her voice. "You won! Your plan worked! You're a freekin hero! You almost fried your brain in there, but you beat the shit out of that 'goddamned machine'!"
A flood of relief washes over David. He falls back on the bed and releases a long sigh.
"So… the girls got out?" he asks, hopefully.
"Yeah, they're safe. And 101 is contained," Tamara says with admiration in her voice. She is quiet for a potent moment. Then he feels her fingers running through his hair as she continues, thoughtfully.
"It's a damned good thing you didn't tell me what you had planned or I would'a ripped those plugs right outta your head, boy. I never would'a let you try that shit."
"I know," David replies, softly. "I love you too."
They are both quiet for a time, caressing each other, letting this feeling settle between them.
"And the cops even found the other twins," Tamara continues. "They got your message about where 101 was holding the girls, and swarmed the place… Don't you remember?"
David tries to summon up his last moments in the stream. But all he recalls is seeing the final hideous manifestation of the twins before 101 came barging through the walls of the thoughtfield he had created.
"I'm not even sure," he finally replies. "It's all such a jumble now. But I know I encountered the girl's avatars and… and I remember speaking with them, and …"
Something suddenly comes back to him and he pulls her close.
"I saw something in 101's memory!" he says, excitedly. "It wasn't you Wizzy. I mean, Sy wasn't your fault. It was 101… or probably one of the henchmen. But, the thing you shot wasn't Sy! He was already…" he starts to say 'dead' but stops himself.
"I know," he hears her reply, sadly.
"You know?" David says, cautiously. "But how could you possibly..."
"I figured it out," she says in a cryptic tone as she pulls away again. He hears her straitening up her hair and smoothing her clothes, then feels her pat him gently on the chest.
"It's over now," she whispers. "Put it behind you. You've got a lot to recover from. I'll be back with the doctor."
"What's wrong, Wizzy?" David says as he hears her start for the door. "You tell me the plan worked and 101 is contained. You say the twins are safe and that you know you're innocent… but you're sad about something. I can hear it in your voice. What aren't you telling me?"
She falls silent again. David can hear a soft sob in her breath. But all she says is, "I'll be back in a minute," before he hears the door open and the sound of her footfalls racing down in the hallway.
David lays still, calming his breath, finding his center. He tries to find peace of mind in the fact that he bested 101 and saved the girls. But something's not right. He can tell. A disturbing thought comes to him.
"Mommy," he says, alarmed. Could that be what Tamara won't tell him? Monica looked fine that last time he saw her, but… she was sick. She's been sick for years! What if…
David feels a sudden panic growing inside. He starts to rip the blinders from his eyes and stops himself. But he can't stop the panicked thoughts that come flooding into his mind.
What if Monica had some kind of manic episode while he was gone? What if someone carelessly allowed one of the other Davids into her room and she thought it was him? Would that cause some kind of guilt-driven relapse?
Or something even worse… what if she…
He pushes that thought away.
"She's fine," he says aloud, refusing to let any other thought enter his head. "She's fine," he says again, louder, forcing himself to calm.
Then he hears footsteps coming quickly down the hallway and entering the room.
"Hello, David," says a man's voice. He doesn't know this voice.
"Who are you?" David says as he hears the man pulling up a chair beside the bed. He hears the soft hiss of the cushions as the man sits down and the whisper of pages turning as the man reads something.
"I'm Doctor Frazier," the man says. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," David replies, hastily. "I've never heard your name before."
"I'm a longtime friend of, uh… the family, David," Frazier replies, hesitantly. "You can trust me."
David senses something cryptic in the doctor's answer. Does the man know about 'The Miracle'? But he doesn't know how to ask that question, so he changes the subject.
"How long have I been asleep?" he asks.
The doctor does not respond immediately. He takes a deep breath as if he is considering his answer.
"A few days," Frazier finally replies. "I, umm… I sedated you, actually."
"Sedated me?" David says. "Why?!"
"Calm down, son, calm down," Frazier says. "You were already unconscious when Ms West brought you home. You've been through things that no person has ever experienced and I wanted to take some time to examine you. You needed the rest anyway, so I just helped a little. It's standard trauma procedure."
"What's wrong with my eyes?" David asks.
"Nothing, as far as I can tell," Frazier replies. "The blinders are just cautionary on my part. I was concerned that your optic nerves… uh, those are the nerves that-"
"I know what optic nerves are," David interrupts quickly. He doesn't mean to be rude but his worry for Monica is getting the best of him. Frazier is quiet a moment. Then he continues slower.
"In rare cases the optic nerves can be overstimulated by habitual use of implants," he says. "There is a risk, however small, of neural ocular shock when exposing overstimulated nerves to visual light."
"But I didn't use my eyes in the stream," David points out.
"The stream?" Frazier inquires.
"I mean cyberspace," David explains.
"Ah, I get it," Frazier replies with a chuckle. "No, you don't use your eyes to see things in cyberspace. But the Familiar software activates the optic nerves in order to simulate light signatures; uh, like color, intensity and the rest. Your eyes will react just as if you are using them.
"I read in Ms West's incident report that there was a large electrical surge in the last moments of your time 'in the stream', as you put it. So I was worried that your brain might have been exposed to unnaturally bright light. Since I was already in the building, I thought I would take a look at-"
"Wait!... What?" David interrupts again. "You were already here? Why were you here?"
"Oh, uh…I meant… " Frazier stammers a moment, as if he realizes that he said something he wasn't supposed to.
"Hey, David," someone in the room says.
"Grace?" he replies.
"It's me, honey," she says in a motherly tone. He hears her footsteps approaching, and then feels her sitting on the bed next to him. She wraps her hand around his and pulls it to her chest.
"You can relax, baby. Everything is fine," she says, softly, running her hand gently over his cheek.
"I know that's not true, Grace!" David barks, urgently, unable to keep the desperation from his voice. "What's going on? Is it… Please… Is it Monica?... Is she ok?"
"She's fine," Grace replies, quickly. "She's in her room with her family. We've been keeping an eye on them. Don't worry yourself."
David releases a long sigh of relief as someone else sits on the other side of the bed. He knows her scent. It's Tamara. She takes his other hand and then he feels her lay down beside him.
"Will one of you please tell me the hell is going on?" he says.
"We're just going to take off your blinders, ok?" Grace says.
"Close your eyes," Frazier commands. David obeys and feels the man's hands on his face, slowly lifting the blinders.
"Ok, David," Frazier says when the blinders are gone. "Take a look around. Tell me if you feel any pain or discomfort."
Slowly, David opens his eyes. The room is fuzzy at first, but he's been unconscious a few days, so that's expected. He blinks a few times and everything comes into quick clarity. He looks up to see Grace smiling down on him. But there is something sad in her face.
"Hey, baby," she says.
"Nice to see you again," he says, returning her smile. He ponders the mixed signals in her expression a moment, and then turns to see Tamara curled up on the bed beside him.
"Nice to see you too," he says warmly. She smiles and plants a kiss on his cheek.
Then he sees an older man sitting in a chair by his bed, looking at him expectantly. The man is balding, wears glasses; is dressed in a rumpled shirt and trousers, as if he came here in a rush. And his eyes are weary, as if he hasn't slept in a few days.
"And you must be Doctor Frazier," David says. The man shoots him a tired smile and David turns to see someone else standing near the foot of the bed. This man looks like he hasn't slept in a few days either.
"Mario," he says. Mario smiles but doesn't return David's gaze.
"Looking good, kid," he says, looking down and pressing his hands into his pockets. "You're a damned hero."
"Yeah, I heard," David says. "So why does everybody look so miserable?"
Then something occurs to him. He looks around the room.
"Where's Mandy?" he says, suddenly concerned that this might be the thing they are keeping from him.
"She ok," Tamara says. "She's with her Dad and the Swintons."
David is relieved again, but…
"Hey… why isn't Alan here?" he asks. "He still mad at me? You can't stay mad at the hero, am I right?"
He laughs. But nobody laughs with him.
Grace grasps his hand tighter and bends down to kiss him gently on the forehead. Tamara presses closer to him, snuggles her head into the nape of his neck. Mario crosses his arms, staring at his feet.
When Frazier pulls off his glasses and starts rubbing his eyes, David begins to understand.
"C'mon, you guys," he says, feeling his panic renewed. "Where's Alan? He's with Jenna, right?... Right?!"
Still nobody responds. David bolts up in the bed, feeling his head spin a little from his days under sedation. He tries to rise but Tamara pulls him back into the bed and hugs him closely as Grace begins to cry.
"Is somebody gonna answer me?" David yells, struggling against Tamara's loving grasp.
"Where is my FATHER?!"
(cont…)