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CHAPTER FOUR495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8i1IaNd0bZ
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Kirby Hayes stares right at his older brother with a growing fire, an unquenchable thrill, until Ishmael the German Shepherd woofs. They have made it off the planet. They have lost a fistfight with each other. They have stopped and survived a disastrous car wreck together. They’ve ping-ponged their first scandal, leaving Kirby banged up for the wear. And it’s just day one. But Viggo is the one who has somehow made it out on top, unscathed, above the law, and absolutely dominating Skyden. How his brother’s achieved it, Kirby has only begun to imagine. Money? Politics? Loyalty?495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXKrER9T48
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Iris Frisk’s wondering the same thing, seeing Viggo prowl like a bristling animal. The interns watch him toss a manila folder in a trash can and snaps a lighter. He sets the trash can on fire and says, “New curriculum.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfP9AhhJaSF
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“HOLY SH--” Maverick explodes at something on his phone before glancing at Madeline’s little girl. “Cheerios...”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HqwNfuMNf
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Madeline gives him a tired thumb’s up as Dr. Fanfare hands her coffee.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS82ygB2Oc5
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Simone snatches Maverick’s phone, eyes widening at the news, and screams. She grips her mouth, “You guys just came out from that wreck?! How are either of you even alive?!”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSSazoaCEo
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Viggo raises scratched hands, “That’s a hoax.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwytThsb1T0
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“Ooh,” Maverick shows something else to Simone. She gasps and hides a smirk.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeIhpu5giFV
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“My gosh, Kirby,” Simone points at him. “Keep your pants on.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9qKegAajR
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Kirby makes abrupt and awkward laughter. Madeline cups Ruthie’s ears.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6oJ7EZ3Tmm
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Simone and Maverick go seriously quiet at something else. No longer laughing. Viggo demands the phone to be handed over. They get jittery but he insists nothing would happen to it. Viggo blinks at the latest news, processing it as calmly as he could. He hands it back to Maverick and shoots Kirby a glare. He signs too casually: Nice. Playing the deaf card, you little bitch. Does it feel good making your brother look like an audist in front of the world? 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡba57YMsWHc
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Kirby sucks air through his teeth. Iris becomes concerned when she hears that.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GhmJ7orvv
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Viggo announces to the room, “I propose we ban phones from all future meetings. Saves us the trouble. What do you think, Dr. Fanfare?”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBiCcfdrqs
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July stammers for a minute, studying the interns before asking Viggo, “Oh, have a little pity, will you?” She gestures to the others with timidity. “It’s only the first meeting. Perhaps we can let them off with a warning. For now?”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7S7SWcFeqG
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Viggo can only grunt at her wisdom.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0QMSvmo6c
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“Here’s a pro tip. If you really want to be a successful writer,” says Viggo with rambling hands, “or actor or producer or insert job title here, there’s something else you got to be. You have got to be a business. An icon. You and your name must be a brand.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87WsAn3ueq
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Kirby imagines it. His name pops up in his mind as some kind of a summer fuchsia splash, a super fun and mini-sized invitation to a beach party at sunset. He remembers seeing Viggo’s as neon orange and black metallic with a razor sharp edge.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFu2f1OaBg
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“Branding is psychology and sociology behind marketing magic. I mean real subliminal stuff. If people can recall your image, people can recall your message. That fits the profile Pegasus Studios always looks for. This is your mission and your first assignment: look like a superstar. Today.”
The interns gab about how awesome their brands are going to be.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0U5kGwbwCd
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“Skulls,” Simone Chaput insists. “Tiny, tiny skulls and diamonds everywhere.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcPVmqFQ4O
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“Nice!” Maverick Clark nods. “Mine’s gonna have bricked gold.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWb45oPDqEZ
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“You like teddy bears, Ruth?” Madeline Desjardins asks. “Maybe puppies.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBlqJe5PQz
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“A big puppy bear!” Ruthie smashes small fists together to her mother’s delight.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTwLubZavIn
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Walking over to one of the globes, Viggo opens a latch. To everyone’s amazement, he presses a button. Hollow clanking roars through the walls. Kirby could sense that. The rumbling grows nearer. The interns look wildly about to see where it’s coming from. Paranoid of the superimposing compass for a domed ceiling, Madeline holds Ruthie’s hand as they huddle.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJKVg5zkCH
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A silver glossy pod rises, spiraling up from the floor, before three others do.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpeRxvSyDE8
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They’re humongous dragon eggs, Kirby thinks. Might have come from an Apple lab. The pods emit a spreading chilly fog and then beam a celestial white light show. The name MyHAVEN is impressed into their shells along with their barcode version indicating the latest of its kind. Ruthie, Simone and Maverick make oohing and ahhing noises. Kirby stands on his toes to peek inside them.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphpZ4nFkHs
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There’s roomy black chairs with gel support and wired black sunglasses that’s hooked up to the machine. Rainbow striped lights scroll down the inner walls. If they were a game console, Kirby is sure they’re the coolest he’s ever seen. Gnarly.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkMbsgDQtj
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“The most effective marketing tool for the best of the best,” Viggo explains. He gazes into the wide eyes of his interns, obscuring a fox-like smile. “As you’ll come to know, nothing seems as real … as virtual reality. That is why it sells.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqycAsK33kw
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“Last month, Professor Taylor purchased these four MyHAVEN pods and had them installed here for your internship. Twenty grand per model, but they came in a bundle deal for seventy five k instead of eighty k. I know, I know, it’s pretty cool. Any questions?”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7CinQ8HV8
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Iris raises a hand.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8ouDxpTS2
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“No questions I see,” Viggo rushes along.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3Bn5GhqX3
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Iris slams her table with both palms with angry puckered lips. She addresses the room, “In fact, I do have a question!”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRzugK0bCT
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They burst into laughter. She asks the question but Kirby misses it in a blink. Don’t panic. He looks to his brother to see what he says. Maybe he can still figure it out. Viggo makes an obviously annoyed eyeroll. He does respond to her but not with one word in sign language. Kirby’s mouth slacks as nothing comes to mind. Is it worth the trouble?495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZuPOBUSopm
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Iris shouts something back but it’s dismissed. She sits down.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bdl9fUAnN
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Kirby texts Iris: Huh? What was your question?495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiIhe69dFW
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Frustrated, she texts back: Why would Prof Taylor go thru what he did after a big investment on us? V says it’s an inappropriate topic. We’re not in a class in criminal justice. He says fame can be nasty, that it’s not all glitz and fun for everyone. Whatever.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZHD6IdydA
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Viggo claps. “You should register with MyHAVEN and when you’re done, type my first name in the search bar. Viggo. My profile and logo will pull up; you should be able to see it. Take your time. It’s a real mind trip. It’s up there at Inception level. I am going to set each pod at a two-hour tour limit. After that, the meeting is officially over and you are all free to go. So ! Are you ready to see... what real branding looks like?”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKZdXZKZPZ
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“Can I do this another time? Or never?” Madeline declines as she goes through her bulky bag. She brings out a book for her daughter and a binder for herself. Viggo looks at one spot, getting peeved. “I don’t feel comfortable, I guess, going ‘under’ or going into people’s heads. And I-I’m not taking my eyes off my Ruthie here.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcIelGqgxWb
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“Yeah,” Iris agrees. “I’m sitting this one out too.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡziFr1in0WN
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Viggo replies, “Iris.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbPkRYZFMv
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“Miss Frisk,” she happily reminds him.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYM6GlEZmn
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“Miss Frisk, we’ll talk in a minute,” Viggo says, gritting his teeth and cringing. “Miss Desjardins, since this is the first meeting, you get a warning.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0pBNJoXXD
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The room goes still and all eyes rest on Viggo and Madeline.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlfmpIcSrN
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“As cute as she is, and we all love her, you can’t bring her to the meetings.” Madeline nods painfully. “We need your focus.” She nods again, even harder. “Have you looked at daycares or babysitters? I know of quite a few.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagnmR0Gssc
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Madeline sips from her venti mocha and gulps. She stammers, “Um yes, I have, Mr. Hayes. We should find at least one that we like by today, I’m sure? Right, Ruthie?”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3lDlOtvCd
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The girl fakes a vomiting sound, to everyone’s scattered laughter.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVfV0TDtmP
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“You can leave now,” Viggo chuckles.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZZqmEJyE5
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“Okay,” Madeline says, putting her books back into her bag. She looks put on the spot, humiliated, like a pathetic struggling single mother. Kirby feels bad. Viggo’s clearly being discriminative with her. She gets out of her seat, taking Ruthie’s hand. “Come on.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6vV62AjQk
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The Desjardins leave apologetically before a loud coffee spill.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQlQgIXYAL
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“Someone will clean that up,” Dr. Fanfare calls after her.
“Come on down,” Viggo tells the rest of the interns.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODhkVPTGSF
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Fantastic. Simone and Maverick leap from their seats and hurry down the steps while Kirby and Iris amble on. The pods hiss, spraying them with faint mist. Viggo assures them that the worst thing that could happen is falling asleep. Kirby doesn’t believe him. But what real choice does he have? Viggo decides for the group that Simone Chaput, Maverick Clark, Kirby Hayes, and Dr. Fanfare are the four participants while he and Miss Frisk will have their moment of privacy.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHnMQhx9d8
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Wonder how that will go.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡATm7Tt3ckn
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The four step into their egg. Kirby feels already relaxed, body-hugged by his gel recliner. Bathed in rainbow lights, his breathing turns shallow. What if something goes wrong? Something won’t, but what if it does?495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpxMEHC9Ua
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His heart starts pounding. Anxiety’s back. He can just see it. The pod spirals down, the floor swallows him up, and this ends up his weird flickering coffin. Trapped under the floorboards deep; hearing nothing; not knowing when to scream. Should he just climb out now? Before it’s too late?495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrn9gfSL47k
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Chills crawl down Kirby’s arms to his feet just from thinking about it.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwea2ZqwKA
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Viggo sets each pod’s timer at two hours except for Kirby’s. He says: I hope your bladder is okay. I’m setting yours up to four hours.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmFoI4dhr6
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What!? Kirby wheezes, tensing up.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuS7uknU10
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Relax! Viggo pushes him back down in his seat. I’ll join you after everyone has gone. Got to look like I am in charge, right little bro? I have a lot to show you. You’re going to have fun, I promise. You know how I keep my promises. 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVWOIPxxG6
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Kirby feels sick to the stomach. He checks his phone. It is roughly 9:30 AM right now. He imagines that the interns would be gone by 11:30 before he would by 1:30 PM. Somewhat late to lunch, but he won’t miss it. Four hours don’t sound that bad, he thinks it over.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyK3et6tLTM
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He could barely shrug and nod. Good enough for Viggo who does a small wave and returns to Iris and Ishmael before the egg closes and locks. It seals shut.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySTDbTzZ16
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Kirby runs his fingers over the lines, almost not feeling them at all. He locates several vents and breathes easier. Just keep cool. Nothing will go wrong. The rainbow lights cut to a dull gray. He fits the black sunglasses over his worried, shifty eyes. All he sees is a warm fuzzy black screen with incredibly high resolution.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGyf077fqR
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Then with a low whine, MyHAVEN fades in with an eerie glow. It is loading.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3fGqWIJTd
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He takes a few minutes to register, typing his username as Kirby-Hayes. The egg does a full body scan, firing like a child’s laser gun. As it zaps, he shouts “Whoa!”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BDKSK0jDz
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An avatar that is an exact replica of him appears before his eyes. He marvels at his twin who acts too freely to be a mirror. Kirby adjusts his avatar’s clothes to a sharp tux resembling his brother’s. Call me lazy. Instead of orange, he goes for ghostly fuchsia. That’s enough decorating, he’s decided.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUR5o0MU2qs
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He types in Viggo’s name which brings up at the top of the list, just above Viggo Mortensen. It’s not in alphabetical order, but ranked by popular searches. Of course, I shouldn’t be this surprised but for some reason, I am.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpVRTZjVqF
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MyHAVEN cuts to the same warm black screen with a gray side menu on the right. He sees that there’s options to choose from like going to his Profile or to Exit entirely. It is loading. He sees the empty horizontal bar fill up with billowing smoke.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFDwe2RdRD
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Soon, he will enter this world of Viggo Hayes’s design.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8yCXXO4iU
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Oh god. Is this such a good idea? Kirby holds his breath, assuring himself that it’s only in his head, that it should be safe.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsy1Y5nEOit
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Darkness splits, doors sliding open and revealing the vast galaxy.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7eqPYxlly5
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Trillions of stars, all around him and underneath, welcome him with nothing propping him up. Oh my god, it’s loud with heart-stopping howls. His legs scramble through nothing and start kicking frantically. It’s no use. He falls.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf43vqwQLnh
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He spears headfirst to the bright nearby Moon. Hundreds of craters and thick moon dust await him one mile below. Heavy layers of wind collide with his body and rise. Whoosh-slap, whoosh-slap, whoosh-slap! 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZdRWlwSZS
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When the interns skydive in formation with him, cheering and laughing, he realizes he can hear their echoing voices among the other unearthly noise. There’s a deep background of sounds, and he’s deaf to none of it.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbht1IXRey
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Kirby clutches his head with agony. I don’t like this.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4jQjAbQT0
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He struggles with the explosive wind to lean his body in closer to the interns, preferring to be closer to them. It’s different from seeing them together in a hallway or in a rosewood study. This time, they’re skydiving.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6Ny1mAyER
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Despite that they’re falling to the Moon, there is at least unlimited air. He gasps it all in and breathes out. This is okay. This is epic, this is soothing, and this comes with a youthful essence. He tells himself as outrageous as it is, it’s still a lucid dream.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWPuYElyUb
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This is Viggo’s dream, Kirby starts to understand. This is what his mind looks like. The Moon approaches dangerously near. His heart wants to leap out of his chest right now.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyyIkyZo6h
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Kirby notices a gleaming multiplex theater smack dab in the middle of the white desert. He careens there, somersaults, and lands softly with a thump in a dune. He bounces off and hops, startled from the feeling of how the ground hit his feet. Too real, he thinks with terror, smelling the bitter gunpowder. This is too real for me. I want out.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxHBggwFmu
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Simone Chaput lands, showing off her dark black skin in her blue filigree dress. She wears a silver wig straight and long enough to rustle at her eyebrows and naked shoulders. Her heels stomp, sporting two diamond human skulls that cradle her toes.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RFahEf7sV
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Maverick Clark lands, showing off the world’s tallest punk hair. He rocks his erectile crest back and forth like a pink cockatoo and riffs at his invisible wailing electric guitar. He’s dressed from head to toe in heavy black clothes and boots with pink earphones that blink eyes and grin at other people like cartoon characters.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjIltYwqbw
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Dr. Fanfare lands and bounces besides Kirby. Her white grandma hair is tethered back in a loose bun. She dusts her same vest and blazer from before, coughing up a storm and laughing. “Now I can finally say that I’ve been to the Moon! Yahtzee!”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6F21PnzUz8
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But Kirby is hardly happy or can stay coherent. He gets dizzy. People are chattering and overlapping too loudly, and the multiplex theater is playing deafening music. What a migraine. Kirby’s head feels like it’s about to burst. He finds the Mute button to toggle. Sweet, sweet silence! He sighs orgasmically. The pain and nausea cease altogether.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEtYQ6aHVr0
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And people wonder why he doesn’t just get hearing aids or cochlear implants.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYlTcdmSiU
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English subtitles spell out for him like magic, translating every word they say. He smiles. That’s perfect. This is good. I’m liking this already.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqEX8PppGlu
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MaverickClark: Look at that! This theater’s YUGE!495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hoM6xQ9cr
SimoneChaput: I’m loving the red carpet. Ready for my close-up, fellas.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHnbkhGzuY
DrFanfare: You look sick, Kirby! 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGMZJBeAer
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He smiles and assures her he’s feeling much better now.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrIFP28JUYr
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Entering the busy multiplex theater is overwhelming. First, the reflection of the lunar scape in the glass door startles him. As Kirby’s hands wrap around the cold steel bar that is surely a door handle, his dress shoes scrape against the ridges of the metal door frame. He knows he is not here. He knows he has never been here. That doesn’t matter. Here feels like a physical place, and it feels wrong.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUcCs5f2QEm
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The rich aroma of buttered popcorn and kettle corn hit them like a wall. Crowds of moviegoers pack the place, standing in lines for twenty-dollar tickets to virtually real Pegasus films and all kinds of candies and sodas sold.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6aGvx4eNr
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DrFanfare: All that junk food, no side effects. No upset stomach, no acid reflux, no bacne. It’s genius if you ask me. 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡADTlnJGt0e
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It registers on Simone’s face.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1NmTop9WA4
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SimoneChaput: You’re right... This is a real theater, but better. 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPP6wrrvD3
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Maverick grips Kirby’s shoulder out of morbid fascination. They hug, which seems real and kind of a pleasant tingling.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf76swrKRYC
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MaverickClark: Sorry. Now I kinda feel perverse.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwLhh4qc2h
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“You should be,” Kirby mouths, getting them to laugh. He tries tapping his knuckles hard against the wall. It’s solid, and damn, it kind of smarts. Actually, it does hurt. He checks his avatar’s knuckles but sees no cuts or blood.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImW4eY6h1P
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They approach an enormous banner, a poster, and a cardboard cutout of Sky’s Falling! It is decked out with a square version of Skyden, bombing and falling in pieces. It is an exaggerated, horrific doomsday for those onboard hurtling towards planet Earth.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1civGQJ1Y
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DrFanfare: I’ve never actually seen the movie, Sky’s Falling, yet. I heard it’s incredible! Have you seen it? 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvleYnShuBk
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Simone and Maverick eagerly admit they haven’t either.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyQDCFQQ0u
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SimoneChaput: I’ve been itching for an opportunity though.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SwJGn9DzG
MaverickClark: Especially here! And now! I’m so in. 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdpsRXvJ7L
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Kirby blushes, not knowing what to say other than he hopes they’re left at least entertained. He hasn’t even begun to fathom how his screenplay would play out in virtual reality. That’s beyond 3D, that’s like 5D, isn’t it? He wonders. Huh.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GJ33De8EG
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He frowns at a camera slowly tracking him.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaoTmwMBjF
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They spend twenty dollars and two hours through Kirby’s movie. He could hide and beam the entire time, proud of his only accomplishment. Even though he didn’t touch the movie or influence the final cut in any way like his brother had, Kirby has still locked down the credit of being the sole writer. It says “Written by Kirby Hayes. Directed by Viggo Hayes.” Kirby thinks it sounds better that way instead of “Written and Directed by the Hayes Brothers”. Everyone will start believing that Viggo will have relinquished some creative control when it’s far from the truth. Though the Hayes brothers thing still may be in their near future.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmJwbMxz3h
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Kirby ignores the dread of how much heartache he’s going to get from Viggo. He focuses instead on other moviegoers. The way their faces light up and their mouths collectively gasp remind him why he’s come here. I am going to get in Pegasus Studios. Kirby makes fists. I have to.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm7toLNrZ33
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The audience screams at last at the menacing part when the satellite city rips apart. Boom, boom, boom, a succession of flying bodies and metal scraps! Spinning debris fling down to Earth. They storm through the skies exactly the way they arrived to Viggo Hayes’s moon theater. They fall towards the tumbling ocean blue.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkk42rotIf
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Fade to black. Credits crawl.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXEIH45UFd
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DrFanfare: Good job, Kirby! I loved it. Whoop, our two hours are just about up. Byebye. See you on the other side, everyone!495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGLyx4PA6C
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As Simone and Maverick dote him shamelessly, they murmur dazed farewells and log out with Dr. Fanfare. Kirby stays behind and can’t stop grinning like a fool. Even Simone would want to work with him now. This is a dream come true, a dream within a dream.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMoyIXvizB
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He wanders through his brother’s world, the idle halls of his brother’s owned theater. Kirby can’t help but respect him. He sits back on a bench to rest his eyes for a second. Oh wait. He starts to remember. I could fall asleep right now. No wonder the others sounded so drowsy.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK31zZwwzc9
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Man, I have another two hours left to wait around for Viggo. I can’t simply leave either. He’d be livid from looking for me for too long. Kirby gets back on his feet, looking around the theater for a good distraction.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2TL55FQhD
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The popcorn stand catches his eye. He gets that funny feeling.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWazY3JtwtO
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Kirby makes it behind the counter, inspecting the area for something abnormal. So far, it’s a boring and greasy workplace. He becomes irritated with crunching over kernels. They stick to the soles of his shoes. Hmph, nothing.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjxXTRqkXMs
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Thought there was something secret here.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnV6XRq25i
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Another door catches Kirby’s eye. It would lead to the back of the theater. Tucking his hands into his skin-tight dress pants, he follows the empty hallway farther into what seems like a dark warehouse or a garage. The air gets colder. Moon sand is blown inside.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa23145CfXm
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“HELLO!” Kirby shouts freely.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsNVqw8VGqz
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The subtitles notify him that the shout echoes a dozen times before fading to a sad droning whisper. He pauses. That is a particularly creepy detail for Viggo to add in his world. What is this place? He looks among the shadows.
A distant thud echoes. 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARg60EC9RC
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To his horror, Kirby looks back. Nothing stirs.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMnWLMfiK4
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This place is still otherwise empty. His hand presses against his chest, calming his blipping heart. Okay, I think I’m getting out of here. He turns face and bumps into dangling feet.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQo3mhpUaoh
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He scrambles back from Viggo Hayes’s body hung from a red noose. Oh shit.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXYj5sqLhez
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His brother’s psycho orange eyes bulge, jaw open and aghast. Drool drips from his perfect white teeth. There’s not a finger twitch or a muscle clench, but the body looks real. And dead. The suit blinks orange like a Halloween tree. Kirby could die himself right now from the fright. It’s just an avatar, he tells himself.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPls4awgNMj
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It’s just someone’s sick prank.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfg3wmt972
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He gasps at the sight of a single bedbug on the cement floor. Okay, now he is sure something’s terribly wrong. Viggo hates bedbugs.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcB4WaCZK5b
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Kirby frowns. What’s going on? He’d never put that in his world. One bedbug becomes hundreds skittering and crawling from the darkness.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWcGtUjhxy
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Oh! He pulls back. Hordes of bedbugs stampede and flood toward him, becoming thousands and counting, drawn magnetically to the smell of his blood. That’s awful. He can’t get away from them. They smother his shoes, covering them completely from sight. Kirby moans and leaps back, stomping on them. But they continue to smother. He itches at his neck like a madman. Too disgusting. Too real.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWOXdAdZD8
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A bright light bursts. A video plays, projected on one wall. It is dated earlier this year. What’s this? It’s the rosewood study, Kirby recognizes. He’s still there.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5esMeGrST
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Professor Taylor watches him from afar with furious, fearful eyes. He’s bearded with white hair, like a sea captain who’s now a dead one.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7meO2taOT
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DomTaylor: “Stop filming. I don’t trust drones.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3xIkbAGcV
ViggoHayes: “Sorry, cap’n.” 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwrFn4piTZm
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Viggo Hayes steers the camera until it lands across Professor Taylor’s large desk. Ishmael lopes over with protruding wet nostrils and sniffs. Kirby moans again at the swarming bedbugs that now creep up his legs. It’s not real. But his gut tells him that something about this video is real, and it’s something he shouldn’t be seeing. He searches for what that is.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnaCRM7Y39
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The bugs reach his inner thighs. This is so wrong, he whimpers, but the bugs are nothing. Nothing! He clamps down his lips, watching the video.
Professor Taylor rifles through his manila folder.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1BG4ZTloo
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DomTaylor: “I’ve handpicked the winners by the way.” 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZk097x0kg
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This makes Viggo and Kirby pause. He’s talking about the contest.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bO7nLUTA4
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ViggoHayes: “Winners? There should be only one.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZ9bDuh5HP
DomTaylor: “Oh, there’s one, publicly. The other’s a runner-up; her name won’t be announced but she’ll be one of the interns.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyLrhoCTaq
ViggoHayes: “All right. Who are they?”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvokLl54g9P
DomTaylor: “Kirby Hayes and Iris Frisk.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfQGQlD0ND9
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This makes Viggo and Kirby freeze. But Viggo looks a touch betrayed.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11OWJTup9B
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DomTaylor: “What’s the matter? Thought you’d look more pleased.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV7LeCctej5
ViggoHayes: “Why are you doing this to me?” 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsEZEQyhae3
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Viggo’s forgotten he’s filming himself as his face contorts into something ugly. He suddenly tackles Professor Taylor to the floor. Ishmael goes insane and hysterical, barking nonstop, but cannot break them up. The men wrestle onto the floor, banging and slamming into the furniture. The camera falls next to the floor.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhDpztD6y9
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Each man throws wild punches at their faces and unprotected areas, but Taylor’s the one who quickly makes it on top. The camera’s kicked away.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HBM3jwDdJ
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Kirby can’t believe his eyes. Ishmael fills the office with his mournful cries and howls. Using both hands and all of his weight, Professor Taylor chokes Viggo who digs his nails deeper into Taylor’s long gash of a cheek scar. The man screams out before a beefy fist clocks Viggo hard.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYFBkMM0mTQ
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Viggo’s jaw smashes the floor. He spits out blood and a tooth.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0vyf1PFRmp
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Ishmael’s howls waver to whines.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLRNUV403L
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DomTaylor: “Enough!”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0YXOI6NDQ
ViggoHayes: “You promised you wouldn’t choose them, Dom ...” 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2ymaAhdFj
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Taylor stands to his feet, panting. He glares down at him with distaste.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE91vJD24oT
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DomTaylor: “That was before I saw their work. I would be one stupid son of a bitch to turn them away. When I look at them, I don’t see interns. I see cash cows. Golden goose eggs. You and your personal feelings have gotten in my way for the last time!”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9LXCqXEw1
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The video is put on pause. It glitches. Kirby shakes the bedbugs off his face, trying to make sense of it. That’d be inspiring and uplifting for him if it weren’t for the fact that they got violent over it. I didn’t know Viggo would get that upset. And why ... is there a video playing of it?495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1U0OIDAPN
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Subtitles inform him of the footsteps behind him. He slowly looks back and goes weak in the knees.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Gf3VGHZZO
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The Spook trudges out of the dark, out of the steamy home of scattering bedbugs, with a wooden sad mask. Kirby is rooted to the spot as it all comes together. It’s the same person he’s seen on the road this morning. Their near death experience, these bugs, and that video have everything to do with that weirdo.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7Bq3pWDaa
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He flinches when the Spook points a gloved finger his way.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVWk45hs7I
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“Boo.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuuVslUveCY
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Kirby squeezes his eyes. It’s just virtual. It’s MyHAVEN. It’s just a bad dream. I am untouchable. Seeing nothing, I’m feeling nothing. His breathing starts to regulate, calming down back to normal. Deny, deny, deny. It’s purely psychological…495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2wShrcujv
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He peeks again. The Spook points at him, this time in broad daylight.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdpGIN78B9
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“Sorry you lived. I’ll try harder next time.” 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8V5eaNamN4
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Sitting cross-legged in the middle of a railroad, Kirby feels the pebbles jump and nip at his skin. Oh no. He realizes it too late when the train rams into his spine, two hundred tons ripping through his puny body, severing him in half.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKWeTFAMkt
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He dies.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopkwZ557y3
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This numb brutality snaps him awake in mid-air. The sky, the road, the grass, they all rush by in a savage whirl. Kirby’s back in the car now with Viggo’s dead body, spinning about in slow motion.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7zsbsR0Jh
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His brother flails about like a dead-eyed mannequin. There is no sense of control. Only weightlessness and the promise of weight being delivered. Only suspension and the promise of a delayed end. He lets out the longest scream in his life.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYKUpu8PLg
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Kirby’s head slams into the ceiling when the roof of the car hits the ground. A sharp spasm jolts through his boiling neck and spine. He coughs out liters of blood, watching Viggo fly out of a window. His leg gets torn on the frayed window, being left behind a wobbling carved piece of flesh.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcI9pS4Lcl0
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Bits of glass and drops of blood rain into the deep pores and wrinkles of his face. The car tumbles across the ground, turning over and over. He wakes up again in mid-air. Viggo’s back inside the car. So is he.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiun9yvn7z3
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Kirby realizes Viggo has his hand wrapped around the emergency brake.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbbGezpdBa
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They stare at each other.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXjVaPUg2L
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The Spook means to torture him for as long as the timer on his pod keeps ticking. A two-hour night terror. He looks at his right where the side menu should have been but is missing. Somehow the Spook has blocked him. Overriding him. Viggo nods at him this time. Kirby croaks out a no… ! The car smashes through the parked police cars. The Spook watches them from behind their seats as bedbugs crawl all over them. Wait, wait, no!495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphfGQu5WeJ
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The car flips.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmulj0c5tNp
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He braces himself as the car slams into a guardrail. They are showered in sparks as blunt as hail. Viggo’s torn asunder, scattering apart in all directions with glass. Strings and gobs of milky blood stretch out thinly, a strange crimson.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykySAkkL2U
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Kirby’s face is thrown forward.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WfSEGCNph
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His skull shatters grisly upon impact, skin shuddering and splattering along the gritty asphalt. He feels his arms snap. He feels how his clavicle cracks. His neck is bent out of shape. His body is mangled all wrong, and he can feel every dislocated joint. He learns the mesh of road and bone. He tries also to become numb to it.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeykQeTi638
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He dies again.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDdkdla4aK
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His eyes are squeezing shut when the engine sputters to life. His seat rattles. His skin crawls. His hair rises. Deja vu. Kirby braves opening his eyes back on the plane.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0q79Czqku
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His knees shake freely and out of control, no longer knocking into anyone. It is an evacuated plane, but it’s surely the same plane that blows up.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM55n14rclY
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No way. Kirby yanks at his seat belt but it does not budge. He pulls with everything he has, yelling to suppress the raw burn in his hands. The plane starts moving. No, he thinks sobbing like an useless thing. Trapped.
He sees someone familiar rush at him, fumbling with his seat belt. His jungle green eyes grow feral. Kirby is startled to see Chance again. That handsome face he hasn’t seen in forever hollers at him to snap out of it. The man brings out a long military knife and starts sawing crazily through the thick restraints.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94cO9REYdS
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When Kirby’s finally freed, they claw at their shirts, embracing so tightly that they feel each other’s heartbeats. Chance smiles at his smile.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIv0NOvYHm
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Kirby grins a bigger one back at him.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8isPuod1HT
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Anonymous: “You’re okay.” 495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UFvcppJH3
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Kirby nods. Despite the recent nightmare, he’s now convinced that this is still nothing. It’s just for two hours, even less. He can do this, now that his hero Chance Gott is really here.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScddom1oJk
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtClvEH2G2
They run out of the plane on wobbly legs. They make their way into a seemingly empty airport. They look wildly around. No passengers, no reporters, and no dead bodies. There’s no one.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqFKdKyAUc
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXW6NQDi1uy
But the Spook emerges. “Your time is coming.”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0qhOqrYDn
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLujyMhvSyH
Chance tenses up, seeing that sad mask for the first time. The plane smokes something terrible, setting on fire.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirK9E9zXqw
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Kirby grips Chance’s arm. He brings out a keyboard and clacks away, piling up strings of coding and symbols. Line after line, formulas and their functions go way over Kirby’s head but they bring immediate changes to the environment.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHyfwdpftY
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0g7uiKsEL
Their world gets erased with a zip, turning blank. It in fact turns bright white, leaving nothing behind but three avatars.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm7p8R79Ken
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GwcbmB9tl
Kirby sees the side menu light up again at his right. He’s no longer blocked. He should be able to escape now. His fingers are ready to jab at the Exit button but hesitate. However, Chance roars at him. “Go! Now!”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYULfUz0QS
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAsCKQAngDd
Kirby jabs at the Exit button. Like a deflating balloon, it all goes black.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrwz2bKqOr
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The MyHAVEN pod unlocks, opening slightly ajar by itself.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDHH4wQJ3U
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXrSGyTD73c
Kirby pants heavily. He’s all numb and can’t keep his eyes open. His heart is pounding at its hardest, as if he’s done a triathlon. His hair and his clothes are drenched in cold sweat. His trembling fingers reach out of the egg. Doesn’t anyone see me?495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCMHm7g5zF
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ161soeFLAv
He can’t see either. He rests for another minute, panting. However, the silence doesn’t mean no one’s there. He knows that. Come on, Kirby begs of himself. Wake up.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5S0SWJ35T
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pkFSVLdFH
His wrist leans into the door, prying it open slightly. His shoulder presses into it. Fucking open.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLfMpDjHVf
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UpIfyW6Ty
The door opens to a dark room. The sun has gone down, leaving Skyden a pitch-black one-o-clock in the afternoon. How long was I under? His phone tells him that only four hours have passed, like Viggo’s said.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSyQaHUWgD
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhW79HuMXl
Kirby sighs with relief, drooling on the floor. It occurs to him that Skyden orbits the earth twice in one day. Two sunrises, two sunsets. Noontime here is always as dark as nighttime.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVemWCDTSUH
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4f9xZ5b1p
Kirby climbs out of the pod and his shoulder crashes onto the floor. He moans softly. Not so numb anymore. That hurts. The room starts spinning back and forth, leaving him dizzy and blind. He blinks as much as he can.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAKyfcdAOx
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A shadow lurks through the rosewood study.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdbI0bONml
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His heart pounds. Please, he thinks. Not like this.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkw9QFqU46d
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The silhouette passes some windows, walking briskly for someone who’s seen Kirby. Unless he hasn’t. Kirby remains still, holding in his ragged breaths as best as he could. It is a man or a woman walking by with a familiar face. Who is it?495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbP8bOTKgE
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A haunting face.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8keiZD594
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An impossible face, bearded white.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZsxsMMPPY9
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The ghost of Professor Taylor passes a dim lamp. His furious, fearful eyes glare. Taylor roams around his study in the darkness before slipping through the back door. Kirby squints, rubbing at his eyes.495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRaeIDyCqwr
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkcZ5096Gd
His brother saunters out of Taylor’s office, chasing after who left. Viggo looks terrorized as he kicks a giant hole in the wall. He screams, “Fuck!”495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdh2Y5UtKkE
495Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8EyQMwVOu
No, Kirby realizes. Professor Dominic Taylor is very much alive.
THE SPOOK IS SAD
Jack Steele Adams
ns216.73.216.84da2
