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CHAPTER FOUR491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMNfMyvOfq
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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?491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTo5P7mZfT
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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.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0vNd0WosQQ
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“HOLY SH--” Maverick explodes at something on his phone before glancing at Madeline’s little girl. “Cheerios...”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBitt4eIvV
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Madeline gives him a tired thumb’s up as Dr. Fanfare hands her coffee.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmFJXmZx9o
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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?!”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0RFigAvK6Q
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Viggo raises scratched hands, “That’s a hoax.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmizFm3rSe
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“Ooh,” Maverick shows something else to Simone. She gasps and hides a smirk.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEP6GmrV9zU
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“My gosh, Kirby,” Simone points at him. “Keep your pants on.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZKUQW0Hdb
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Kirby makes abrupt and awkward laughter. Madeline cups Ruthie’s ears.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEiCx78Xu0
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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? 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jPkpVWNpo
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Kirby sucks air through his teeth. Iris becomes concerned when she hears that.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNKn1yQsbT
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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?”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡweVBI8LlYE
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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?”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpq0rfjTSlM
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Viggo can only grunt at her wisdom.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynfMj29tDa
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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.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMJbnxRbiW
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCKSSkKab3
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6qysBwGkO
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“Skulls,” Simone Chaput insists. “Tiny, tiny skulls and diamonds everywhere.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7N8PR9vQ8v
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“Nice!” Maverick Clark nods. “Mine’s gonna have bricked gold.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9N0kZO40PP
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“You like teddy bears, Ruth?” Madeline Desjardins asks. “Maybe puppies.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7dxy44mGMD
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“A big puppy bear!” Ruthie smashes small fists together to her mother’s delight.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojujGrw2nH
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjp5X8YfNn
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A silver glossy pod rises, spiraling up from the floor, before three others do.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhM9EfV4X1
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72QCyMujhr
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72ao2juuoY
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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.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYTcP71zQE
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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?”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQs3lmq9kt
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Iris raises a hand.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzgW6kT7DT
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“No questions I see,” Viggo rushes along.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1TL7STclN
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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!”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtF5Z3l9O49
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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?491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJF5V09bj7
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Iris shouts something back but it’s dismissed. She sits down.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFPuR9wIiC
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Kirby texts Iris: Huh? What was your question?491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQZibsVbfST
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyj2kJ6myA
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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?”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIfhk2JNpY
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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.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuHtviraUn
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“Yeah,” Iris agrees. “I’m sitting this one out too.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtD4CJZ4Afq
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Viggo replies, “Iris.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9pWy5Id18
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“Miss Frisk,” she happily reminds him.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfy1x1gUgre
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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.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ878hkBkf38
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The room goes still and all eyes rest on Viggo and Madeline.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQBqL9Drh8
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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.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2LYnuQLa0
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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?”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3sjhtHJ4xr
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The girl fakes a vomiting sound, to everyone’s scattered laughter.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIy1lCXfT40
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“You can leave now,” Viggo chuckles.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4p2f2Jyqig
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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.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xdSlEqIFI
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The Desjardins leave apologetically before a loud coffee spill.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfBOq7yeq1
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“Someone will clean that up,” Dr. Fanfare calls after her.
“Come on down,” Viggo tells the rest of the interns.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ipUgT3m25
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdK7JWQlKXK
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Wonder how that will go.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBVmdTtFSn
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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?491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GWmVmkWwE
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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?491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDx8HfSoQSz
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Chills crawl down Kirby’s arms to his feet just from thinking about it.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGO5EkjwqLp
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4uVD8763z
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What!? Kirby wheezes, tensing up.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsA5uim1ipB
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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. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTqhlUNa1q
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYHDExMc5T
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFq6w3RiyR8
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXGrXfLxhm
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Then with a low whine, MyHAVEN fades in with an eerie glow. It is loading.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUjactLKiF
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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!”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4Sq34aqsa
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbyYK50x4I
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BuXJNOvt7
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCtqjY10Zk
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Soon, he will enter this world of Viggo Hayes’s design.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZtfzaDG8W
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBqtl0WVLv
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Darkness splits, doors sliding open and revealing the vast galaxy.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OFh9GKiAs
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gPZTiWlTu
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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! 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlOkJJXwkz
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7aRRUw7Gl
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Kirby clutches his head with agony. I don’t like this.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27s2C61Lie
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt59xkk0aFw
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY132WoSP2M
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnq0RZAufF
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ceErCJHlf
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJjpUspZ0Q
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOr9yj7DCXp
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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!”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgnQCp5B9n
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26O7phShgv
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And people wonder why he doesn’t just get hearing aids or cochlear implants.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfziQGtcZbv
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQLEmBUqX3
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MaverickClark: Look at that! This theater’s YUGE!491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrK9AnrhEaQ
SimoneChaput: I’m loving the red carpet. Ready for my close-up, fellas.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDoFUGzJ90
DrFanfare: You look sick, Kirby! 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK48Q6uDZI3
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He smiles and assures her he’s feeling much better now.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctVMVyFuAz
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcgX42Tkm2w
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡys2OH7wFr2
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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. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcS7V4oFYVy
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It registers on Simone’s face.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSiWHwIr4Sd
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SimoneChaput: You’re right... This is a real theater, but better. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSLI0L3wNm
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Maverick grips Kirby’s shoulder out of morbid fascination. They hug, which seems real and kind of a pleasant tingling.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLsAoMLw60
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MaverickClark: Sorry. Now I kinda feel perverse.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWzu7Remuw
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5GwtlzGaG
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHxDT0MbUW
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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? 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCI3qNcC7kT
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Simone and Maverick eagerly admit they haven’t either.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpTVJfwviO
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SimoneChaput: I’ve been itching for an opportunity though.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2JaJ8ceEg
MaverickClark: Especially here! And now! I’m so in. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQsMK91bhi
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1BKmZqUzL
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He frowns at a camera slowly tracking him.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡimrowJTzFj
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTarwaHeAGu
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLqnKEAwy0
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4jF9FeNRM
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Fade to black. Credits crawl.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0dwLaOBVe
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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!491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvSL98uTbQ
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ffc5pQyuq
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKD5dc8p2xI
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuM5TJg8y8l
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The popcorn stand catches his eye. He gets that funny feeling.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzXbqC6LU0
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2bbnxuVxI
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Thought there was something secret here.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2fHQ2b9Gw
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkfuSaJE7xV
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“HELLO!” Kirby shouts freely.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0G8DOruZVB
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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. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyNWHeGvgb
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To his horror, Kirby looks back. Nothing stirs.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5WwqJtvUY
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwpRJxZdbT
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He scrambles back from Viggo Hayes’s body hung from a red noose. Oh shit.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeRjU1ChrA
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtdITcgzCO
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It’s just someone’s sick prank.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiICn4e9f8c
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89Mwp7LRHA
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpZHwEjRoC
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7poWx0AjD
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcU0pKYwM7G
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNWrxYVSKJ
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DomTaylor: “Stop filming. I don’t trust drones.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyF3pPuwZeB
ViggoHayes: “Sorry, cap’n.” 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBPWOCoTtJ
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LjWNc0yoG
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWHe0eGtAs
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DomTaylor: “I’ve handpicked the winners by the way.” 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4nrcHthNy
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This makes Viggo and Kirby pause. He’s talking about the contest.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCdSnn7B3N2
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ViggoHayes: “Winners? There should be only one.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXtLTy2ZCCc
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.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPTHitISGB
ViggoHayes: “All right. Who are they?”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkE8BXimMk
DomTaylor: “Kirby Hayes and Iris Frisk.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLbusAR4Od
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This makes Viggo and Kirby freeze. But Viggo looks a touch betrayed.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKvtBFXGdW
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DomTaylor: “What’s the matter? Thought you’d look more pleased.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CVB8XGPwO
ViggoHayes: “Why are you doing this to me?” 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0O6v11huo1
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJB0NVqDGPh
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQ9AtqUyfU
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4jGehV7n8
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Viggo’s jaw smashes the floor. He spits out blood and a tooth.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUSjn45G6P
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Ishmael’s howls waver to whines.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ511RelmcRv
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DomTaylor: “Enough!”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPdaxjiAui
ViggoHayes: “You promised you wouldn’t choose them, Dom ...” 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErgpymvld4
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Taylor stands to his feet, panting. He glares down at him with distaste.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kt3H7CZjO
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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!”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoTaI5pkTP
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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?491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUaozLEs6W
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Subtitles inform him of the footsteps behind him. He slowly looks back and goes weak in the knees.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8fWH6iJd0
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HIWwlWj8c
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He flinches when the Spook points a gloved finger his way.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFFd1ofPOLw
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“Boo.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9DCJiUpxr
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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…491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TswIXKA6I
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He peeks again. The Spook points at him, this time in broad daylight.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTkIwbkX9n
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“Sorry you lived. I’ll try harder next time.” 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0urWXwXnK
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUJ8a33OBv
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He dies.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dsxCcdjXP
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMhbtnQEuS
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkyEMMIptz
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hJ7ibdMbv
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZU3Ttn6TMr
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Kirby realizes Viggo has his hand wrapped around the emergency brake.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYwyQP979Z
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They stare at each other.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiFFS76SHv
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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!491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dBfSlTNEM
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The car flips.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBYcIhJmAy
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzp0jPGdbs
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Kirby’s face is thrown forward.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7v2Xt81XJh
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mgBUDOmX0
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He dies again.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8Va9OgPsP
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCYoj59xSM5
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zpPAoMn7u
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mhK4lpIOZ
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGchFCoB5M
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Kirby grins a bigger one back at him.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhClIf52U3
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Anonymous: “You’re okay.” 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidwuJeQkAG
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflOmRfB4e5
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeG4LPTojF
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But the Spook emerges. “Your time is coming.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcyPrdnuOXn
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Chance tenses up, seeing that sad mask for the first time. The plane smokes something terrible, setting on fire.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlr2n2G9olz
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYFpF80ydWC
491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1csWfr0QY8
Their world gets erased with a zip, turning blank. It in fact turns bright white, leaving nothing behind but three avatars.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYASZLyigHR
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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!”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1wIee8sWD
491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW10cM4zgcy
Kirby jabs at the Exit button. Like a deflating balloon, it all goes black.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IJw56UEGd
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The MyHAVEN pod unlocks, opening slightly ajar by itself.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBb4HXMS3k
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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?491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUO8uvenrMZ
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPeOb3BBVT
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His wrist leans into the door, prying it open slightly. His shoulder presses into it. Fucking open.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4li2e8K3t7
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGn7PCkFq4c
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmyE1GeOIq
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngQN7Tlm8D
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A shadow lurks through the rosewood study.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRmol6BfJK
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His heart pounds. Please, he thinks. Not like this.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkEPd5WGyY
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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?491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKkLMmpymS
491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPBktK4dLn
A haunting face.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs89WRQn7l4
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An impossible face, bearded white.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0roMgBMC8O
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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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2NUcJVGAU
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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!”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUUnR6qbPKX
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No, Kirby realizes. Professor Dominic Taylor is very much alive.
THE SPOOK IS SAD
Jack Steele Adams
ns216.73.216.118da2
