"Dad let me!"
"Luc, did you let Max eat candy?"
"Well, yes, I did."
"Before dinner?"
"He behaved, Sylvia. I don't see why he couldn't have a treat."
"I told him he couldn't. He's not going to eat dinner now. You might be the law's arm in town but I've got something to say in my house."
"Why are you making a fuss about it?"
"I make a fuss because I can't say something without you contradicting me!"
"Not in front of the children, I'm begging you..."
"Mph...Go take a shower, you're not getting in bed with me with that stench."
Luc woke up and thought for a second it was time to get up, but the clock on the night table showed it was just 11 P.M. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but it was useless, so he remained there, quiet and still, just hearing the clock ticking.
By his side, Sylvia slept. Luc could see her face thanks to the dim light which filtered through the blinds. She was usually a pretty woman but now that expression of peace made her look really beautiful. His beautiful wife, the mother of his two sons.
...Why did he look at her and felt nothing at all?
In fact...He started to question if he had ever felt something for her.
They met at a bar in Paris. She was there for her Spring break, along with four more college friends. He was back to his motherland after a mission abroad, wanted to have some fun after a hard time seeing the worst and the best of human being. Since danger was his old friend, he was courageous enough to approach. They talked, shared some experiences, had some drinks together; they continued to see each other after that meeting, then went out as friends...Given the course of things, Luc felt a marriage proposal was in order. People said they made a cute couple. Where would he find such a pretty wife who understood what it was like to be married to someone who exposed himself to bullets and missiles every day? He had a promising career in France, he could have easily become a captain, but left it all to move to Sylvia's birthplace, Warner Falls. Cities were becoming a bad place for children. Having them was part of the program, he guessed. Two years later Max was born and then Victor followed three years later. Two wonderful sons. He had nothing to regret.
But now, now that he was looking at her, after having seen the innocent, inexperienced, sweet kind of love Cadet Gansburg had, he saw that he had never had that kind of engagement. No butterflies in his stomach, no spontaneous visits to each other's workplace.
Maybe they just got married because they grew used to each other. Or because people convinced them that they were made to each other.
That night, Luc felt an uncomfortable tingling feeling inside his chest upon noticing he was lying by an acquaintance's side, just as if it had been some woman from the streets, a distant cousin, a neighbor, the cashier one always encounters at the grocery store. Someone he knew, nothing else. That was such an uneasy feeling that he considered getting up and leaving the room. He actually did it. He went to the garden and sat on the stairs to smoke a cigarette, even though he promised himself he would cut it out. He needed a bit of air and calm his nerves.
He didn't want to admit what seemed obvious to him. He fought against the idea with all his might.
What a silly feeling and what a silly man he was for thinking that he had no idea of what love actually was.
"Luc, oh, there you are."
He didn't know for how long he had spent sat in there, just looking at the moon and the stars. Sylvia opened the door, phone in hand.
"I looked for you everywhere. It's Warren on the phone."
Well, Warren was not the kind of man who called people late at night unless it was important. Luc took the phone, wondering what the matter was.
"Oui?"
"Luc. Sorry to bother you on your free day but it can't wait. I need you to come to the station now. You have to see something."
"What is it?"
"You have to see it with your own eyes."
"Okay, okay, I'll be there in a moment."
Sylvia gave him a worried look as he hanged.
"Go back to sleep, don't worry." Luc kissed her—a kiss colder than death!— and rushed to put some clothes on and drive to the police station.
Warren was waiting for him outside, his arms folded and an impatient, grave expression in his face. Warren had always been such a laid-back man it made Luc understand that the situation was very serious.
"Good night." Luc greeted him. He didn't even had time to ask what happened, because Warren immediately started moving:
"No, it ain't, I say, it ain't a good night. Absolutely. It's the worst of nights. Ol' Billy escaped. And you know how he did it? You want me to tell you? Well, take a look."
Luc followed Warren inside with a little bit of difficulty catching up with him because the sheriff was practically running. When he stopped at the entrance of the cell room, Luc understood why he wanted him to see the scene himself: the wall, made of solid bricks, was all torn down, as if a hurricane had stormed into the room.
Like usual, a veil of clouds hid the moon, like if their inhabitants had it forbidden to see the skies. Not even a solitary cricket made a sound. Sheldon and Kath walked among the trees with the help of the light of a torch Sheldon was carrying. They wandered in silence for a bit, until she spoke, thankfully for Sheldon, because it was being quite an eerie silence:
"I told my mother I had to help you with a big mess you had at home, a pipe exploding."
"Ah. Fine."
"...We're probably venturing into the lion's den. We don't know what we'll find in there. That guy may have had dangerous stuff in his hut. If something happens to me, she'll have no one."
Her mom. Always her mom. Sheldon licked his lips. "...I don't want you to feel bad because of me...You're still in time to go back home..."
"I told you I wouldn't leave you alone. I just...Sorry, I didn't want you too feel bad either."
"It's fine."
Kath chuckled softly. "I had a hard time convincing her. She suspected I was tricking her. She thinks we're dating or something...But don't you get any weird ideas."
"Wha...? No! Of course not! I wouldn't dare!" Sheldon quickly said, acting innocent. "I mean...This is the 21st century: a man and a woman can be friends, with no double intentions, of course..."
"Yep. You are the closest person I've got to talk to, to vent and stuff..."
"Same here. If it wasn't for you, I would have probably gone nuts..." Sheldon frowned.
A pause. They had been walking in circles for a long time, probably. And it would have been so, so much worse for Sheldon if Kath wasn't around, since she clearly had a better sense of direction than he had. Too bad there were no signs like 'This way to the madman's cave'. It would have made things easier. And all that darkness surrounding them and preventing them to see beyond their noses didn't make help things at all.
"But, hey, if you're up to..." Sheldon let it slip.
"Sorry." Kath destroyed all of his hopes before they got too high.
"Okay. Fine. Just saying..." Sheldon muttered.
"Still feeling nervous?" Kath quickly changed the matter.
"Yeah."
"I still wonder why don't you just forget about that guy and keep moving forward."
"I don't know, but...I've been thinking about it...I've done nothing but think about everything he said to me. He said he knew me, and I knew him. I'm sure I've never seen him before, but...You know? It's weird. Those big eyes...I've got the feeling I've seen them somewhere..."
"Perhaps he just reminded you of someone you actually know."
"Perhaps..."
Kath paused because they had stumbled upon what they were looking for. A hut built with woodblocks and steel plates, a big telescope, homemade too (and strangely well made too) sticking out from the ceiling. The door was padlocked. How to get in became the question.
"As long as you don't buy that fairy tale about us being in a simulation, you'll be fine. I don't want to see you with a tinfoil hat on your head and preaching about the end of the world."
"There's just one problem: if philosophers don't agree about what reality is like, how can we say for sure all of this is real?" Sheldon replied, inspecting every inch of the hut. "I am no genius but I know something. Duck Dodgers. I don't know what that means, but it sounds big...and it sounds better than Sheldon Schwimmer...It sounds right...And I keep asking myself who or what is that and why is it so important."
"Well, we might find out something in there, but how are we going to get in? The door's locked."
Sheldon took a few steps away. Kath thought he was going to inspect the surroundings, put some distance to think, but then she saw him get impulse and knock the door down with a charge.
"The guy's dead, ain't he? He's not going to sue us..." Sheldon shrugged.
Kath shrugged and followed him in.
It seemed the man dedicated his days to meditation. He had a simple bed to sleep in, an ewer and a basin to wash himself with, a portable stove to heat canned food. That was all—the rest of the space, as well as his time and effort, was dedicated to papers, photos, files, all tidy but so many they filled the little space.
Sheldon handed Kath an extra light and started examining that window to the mind of the madman.
The first thing the male found was a drawing notepad resting on the seat for the telescope. There, the Man from the Stars had drawn the galaxies he saw through it, what seemed like routes, coordinates...Also what seemed to be aliens, the most insane creature designs he had ever seen. He wondered how many of those went to the toilet. Was that what he remembered the space to be filled with, what he saw every night? He saw an ant-like creature dressed in a Roman soldier attire, with tenis shoes, with no mouth or nose. Sheldon found similar creatures in the next pages, with different uniforms but all the same. One of them got his attention particularly: one of them seemed to be a female, lightly dressed, with long white hair, nice proportions, particularly human, at least in comparison to the rest. A strangely arousing drawing. «Queen Tyr'ahnee», a note said at her feet. Did Martians have queens? All of that, was it what Marvin remembered from his home?
...Marvin? Who was Marvin?
Sheldon turned back the pages to look at the first creature again. There were no notes, but he was convinced—that was Marvin. He didn't need any note to know.
And that brought him an unsettling feeling.
Kath stepped on a paper as she walked around the room. She took it and saw it was a drawing, of five grotesque men, bulky, monstrous, dressed like basketball players. Her heart shrunk for a second. She shook her head and put it on a table. She had seen something else.
"Hey, Sheldon, look."
The man walked to her side, saw what she was seeing. The guy had glued photos to the walls in a corner—photos of the inhabitants of Warner Falls, taken without their consent or without them even noticing, with little notes written on them. Gossamer?, in the photo of a tall, hairy ginger man who was reading the newspaper sat in a bench at Blanc Park. Sniffles, for a child with brown hair who was walking out of the local school. A man of tan skin and blonde curls was called Pete the Puma. Even the sheriff was there, and had a strange note added to him: Foghorn Leghorn. And they saw Kath herself, too. The man had taken a picture at the supermarket, at some point in the Winter. Lola Bunny.
"Dude, did that guy call me a bunny?" Kath muttered, and she frowned.
"Lola...Does that ring a bell?" Sheldon asked.
"I don't know..."
"I've heard that name before...I don't know where...Maybe the guy had notes of where that comes from. He knew you..."
Sheldon inspected the surroundings and took a notebook from a corner.
«Day 1: Now that I am back to my senses, I can't remember with much precision the moment when I woke up, how. All I know is that it was the most painful torture one can make their brains endure. I put all of my brain cells to it and that is why I feel so excitable yet at the same time so tired, so glad yet so glum. At first I was like everyone else, I don't know for how long. I believed I was a common wildlife biologist, with a common life, a common human appearance, a common dog...But something felt—out of place. Wrong. One night, I looked at the night sky from the window of my bedroom, and I saw at a fraction of second the clouds allowed me to see the stars—Mars was there, a little shiny dot in the sky. It was very brief, but, after all, explosives only need milliseconds to blow...And I started to remember. I almost believed it was just my imagination, but I wallowed in that feeling. Everything was telling me to stop, but I was stubborn: I fought, fought those feelings before they turned off the spark of my judgement. It was a long process. It wasn't painless, either. I refused to take aspirins to mitigate the pain or distract myself with something else: I had to go on and see. Many questions came to the surface and I needed answers. Then I saw. I saw how monstrous I had become...all the holes in my face, the teeth, the inconvenient stature, hair...I almost fainted, finding myself in such state. I recognized my right hand as a dog, a very simple creature unable to understand the most simple orders...I walked around my house now knowing it wasn't so. Where am I? Where are the others? I must find them. I cannot be sure of my victory and that is why I have decided to document my whole experience in this log, so, in case my memory fails again, I have something to cling to.»
"Hey, look at this." Sheldon handed Kath the notebook for her to read. While she did so, Sheldon went back to the doodle notebook and looked at the depiction of Marvin. If this was what the Man from the Stars was supposed to look like, he understood his dismay, finding himself in the body of a human being. For a creature like that, humans were probably monsters.
Kath turned the pages and they kept reading together, Sheldon holding the torch while Kath read out loud:
«Day 100: I have not found anybody. It is like they vanished from existence. No one even knows what the Looney Tunes are. There are no references on the Internet or books. Nothing. This is extremely suspicious. They are out there, somewhere...Maybe they went through the same experience as I did? Maybe they have changed as well? I will keep my eyes open.»
The next entry...
«Day 104: I was right: they still are around. They are closer than I thought. They were here all along! They have a new appearance now, new names. Roles and behavior have changed as well, making them almost very different individuals, but it is still them. I have a gut feeling about it, and these kind of feelings have proved to be very useful. They don't show a worry. They are the way I used to be before I became aware. I will help them open their eyes.»
Kath and Sheldon exchanged a look.
«Day 313: I know of parasites from Saturn that take over the mind of their victims and put them into a blissful state, like a potent drug, to suck their brains better. Maybe the mental fog is the way this reality makes sure that no one thinks...They give us false jobs, false priorities, so we don't question a thing...My attempts have been futile. Nobody listens to me. They think I am crazy. My own beloved Queen has almost called the police on me. They are very deep into the lie, but if I could wake up, the others can. I will not surrender.»
«Day 335: I am very tired. Very, very tired. I know it is this twisted universe's method to undermine my will and make me go back. Sometimes I wonder why I do this. Why don't I just give in and give my poor mind and heart a rest. What does it matter, anyway? But I keep going. Even if it kills me, I am not living a lie.»
"The guy was really beating himself up. I almost feel sorry for him." Kath said.
She turned the pages to find the drawing of a man along with the log entry.
«Day 482: I don't want to forget Mr. Jones. I have been forced to believe I have a mother and a father in Connecticut, named Humbert and Linda. They keep calling all the time, to distract me, of course, but I know I owe my existence to this man. I was not born: I was drawn. I don't want to forget him. I have drawn him in case my brain fails, so I will always remember his face. I don't want to forget his hands gave me life.»
Jones...?
"We have to talk, Chuck. You and Mike are making me look like the rabbit's stooge!"
And he smiled and replied...he replied...
"Sheldon?"
Sheldon had his eyebrows furrowed.
"Are you okay, Sheldon?" Kath gave him a concerned look.
Why did he have such lump in his throat? Why did he feel that way all of a sudden?
He pointed at the portrait.
"This man...I know this man. But I got no idea why...A-And I have the feeling that I should know who he is but..."
Who was he? Who was he?! It was exasperating that the more he tried to remember, the further the answer was.
"...I do feel like I...like...Why can't I even describe what I feel like?..." Sheldon raised his eyes to Kath and she saw they were shiny. "Kath...I think the guy was right about us having met before...I...I've met this person here as well...I don't know where...But he used to be someone important in my life. And I can't believe I've forgotten why..."
"Maybe we should get out of here...You're getting really nervous..."
"No, I want to stay. I need to know...Don't you...Don't you feel that?"
Mom is alone. It's time for her pills.
Kath wanted to go back home that instant, leave immediately. The thought was like a bullet to her head.
But the words from the Man from the Stars returned to her mind. He said...«Maybe the mental fog is the way this reality makes sure that no one thinks...They give us false jobs, false priorities, so we don't question a thing...» So she tried to push the thought away, forget about her mother—she was alright, she had made sure she could manage on her own for some hours...
She left Sheldon struggling against his own memory and returned to the drawing of the five monsters and pressed her lips, eyebrows furrowed.
She had definitely seen those guys before; somehow she knew they looked small on the paper but they were gigantic in person, and they were hostile too...But...Michael...Why did that name pop into her mind? Her head span, but she made the effort to keep thinking about it. Now she knew what that weirdo meant when he said he was going through a living hell. It was so exhausting, so disturbing...
"What was the last entry before he got blown up?" She asked then, turning her head towards him.
Sheldon searched and, when he found it, read it aloud:
«Day 678: I am coming to terms with the fact that I am the only one who has awaken. With the solitude. There are days when I am not capable of leaving the bed. But, last night, this thought gave me hope. Maybe my spirits rely too much on this, but it has been the only motivation I have found to get out of bed. If all the crew is here, that means Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck must be around as well. I must find them and talk to them. It is simply impossible that they succumbed to the illusion. Bugs is way too sly to be fooled. Daffy, my old nemesis, is simply crazy. I will find them and tell them everything. I am hopeful about the future. They always saved the day. They will, once again.»
"Bugs..."
Sheldon and Kath looked at each other, after having muttered that name at the unison.
"Do you know him?" Sheldon asked.
"I'm not sure. How about you?"
"Couldn't tell...Don't you have a feeling, here inside, that..."
"Yes...From the very second I read that name, I..."
Kath paused, not even sure of what to say. That feeling inside her chest was leaving her breathless.
Bunny.
Bugs.
Lola Bunny. Bugs Bunny.
What did that name have that left such an impact on her?
She turned her head to the open door. Outside there was only darkness and a soft breeze blew...
Then, suddenly...
"Sheldon..." She whispered, growing so tense she became petrified.
"What?"
"Someone's out there watching us..."
Sheldon had no idea of how to dissimulate and turned towards the door with an aggressive pose: "Who's there?!"
There was no answer. Not the kind of answer they expected. At first there was silence, after which something went zooming above their heads and stuck into the wall behind them, right on Mars in a map of the Solar System.
A flaming arrow.
The hut was entirely made of wood and filled with combustibles, so the fire spread in the blink of an eye.
"Let's get out of here!" Kath grabbed Sheldon by the arm.
"Wait!" Sheldon exclaimed. He resisted. He wanted to grab everything he could, save as much as possible. The portraits. The notes. The dairy had slipped from their hands and he tried to pick it up, but Kath prevented him from doing so, dragging him out before he could. Smoke was starting to fill the room and it would soon be difficult to find the exit and even breathe. Seeing how quick the flames started devouring the whole place, he didn't regret her choice.
Outside, they found no one waiting for them to finish the job, fortunately, but that didn't mean they should stay. They both ran for a long while in the dark, tripping and crushing against everything, until the ball of fire that minutes before was the cabin was just a distant light in the dark.
"Did you see somebody?" Sheldon panted.
"No, and you?"
"No. So where did that arrow come from?"
"Yes, I saw that...I saw that and that proves it wasn't an accident...I...Maybe I was wrong and you were right..." Kath swallowed. "First they blow him up, now they burn his house down...That guy...That Marvin guy maybe wasn't imagining things..."