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CHAPTER FOUR521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4Wly4Of0v
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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?521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjljrQ30D5J
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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.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtkWdqLBEE0
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“HOLY SH--” Maverick explodes at something on his phone before glancing at Madeline’s little girl. “Cheerios...”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpbzhjnEuL
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Madeline gives him a tired thumb’s up as Dr. Fanfare hands her coffee.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLD4Sr89oDU
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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?!”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3i21tet1J
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Viggo raises scratched hands, “That’s a hoax.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKd0zc5yIn
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“Ooh,” Maverick shows something else to Simone. She gasps and hides a smirk.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNA47i7cpx
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“My gosh, Kirby,” Simone points at him. “Keep your pants on.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMaiUlDlFt
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Kirby makes abrupt and awkward laughter. Madeline cups Ruthie’s ears.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3MFJhPMdi
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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? 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekx4cMqG1Q
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Kirby sucks air through his teeth. Iris becomes concerned when she hears that.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxj61TRsTN9
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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?”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxuSO8yoSkn
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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?”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGoRQvn89wF
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Viggo can only grunt at her wisdom.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ipNS5ADVm
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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.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbfZpAP4oR
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmcMfIYdGH
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSHklmyiY3
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“Skulls,” Simone Chaput insists. “Tiny, tiny skulls and diamonds everywhere.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpifwQOut6U
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“Nice!” Maverick Clark nods. “Mine’s gonna have bricked gold.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYXAlplU99C
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“You like teddy bears, Ruth?” Madeline Desjardins asks. “Maybe puppies.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9BAHREx6c
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“A big puppy bear!” Ruthie smashes small fists together to her mother’s delight.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUG3fJKlclF
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCBPZXSOPj
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A silver glossy pod rises, spiraling up from the floor, before three others do.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQAsLvqVI4W
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGjBBwThVlU
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIe24VBRWId
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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.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xduk1KJBn
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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?”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO74EVVHJAu
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Iris raises a hand.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NvSnmQL5i
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“No questions I see,” Viggo rushes along.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuAUinmF83
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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!”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGM6WLKtRij
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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?521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xcGn6EilC
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Iris shouts something back but it’s dismissed. She sits down.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZ8ZEnYcXj
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Kirby texts Iris: Huh? What was your question?521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOfseovHvF
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7RHAx0IsT
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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?”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGrkFwK4bj
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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.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3QgeZHsZ5T
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“Yeah,” Iris agrees. “I’m sitting this one out too.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPJhUodBZp
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Viggo replies, “Iris.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxpCSmKcQP
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“Miss Frisk,” she happily reminds him.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYff6WNfwz
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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.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8n0aeLXvHX
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The room goes still and all eyes rest on Viggo and Madeline.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhspJV5u5vD
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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.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXvsXCikPW
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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?”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2u5xOQC8HW
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The girl fakes a vomiting sound, to everyone’s scattered laughter.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIuB1UL8TU
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“You can leave now,” Viggo chuckles.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRA6mG0zz3r
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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.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZc0tqkgEaL
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The Desjardins leave apologetically before a loud coffee spill.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQzvZaYZEX
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“Someone will clean that up,” Dr. Fanfare calls after her.
“Come on down,” Viggo tells the rest of the interns.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9iBBzhjk0
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqTQauCr7l
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Wonder how that will go.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFIfcy6vWHc
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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?521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJVRzbt7CK
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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?521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPib1HKuSge
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Chills crawl down Kirby’s arms to his feet just from thinking about it.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FjzKgGnAY
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYJV1NyteK
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What!? Kirby wheezes, tensing up.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIglmcN9hDG
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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. 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHtOZ2jdwNy
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPmUMPXb0w
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvyBXJkuGQn
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKlOFZMfpx
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Then with a low whine, MyHAVEN fades in with an eerie glow. It is loading.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJGAI49KyV
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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!”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHySTCrkbJ
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAElB1UfjN
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhiYOeoUaA
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZDkISApwA
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Soon, he will enter this world of Viggo Hayes’s design.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0fYSoteHe
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFNsDkBBtF
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Darkness splits, doors sliding open and revealing the vast galaxy.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWftN5xVT6y
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZY92gnqdSF
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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! 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAA0uSAYOME
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6AkdovmrZ
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Kirby clutches his head with agony. I don’t like this.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGcrxs2cTD
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCUJ8zuiKS
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eKcCeQx9f
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIxHKjKej9
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJaKZiUKlm
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lSHdFvI4t
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TRDTGigE9
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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!”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZsyxECQYK
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUmRysbRc8
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And people wonder why he doesn’t just get hearing aids or cochlear implants.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcp1jegqhd3
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwyqp0xzZ3k
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MaverickClark: Look at that! This theater’s YUGE!521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0VFEj3CBvV
SimoneChaput: I’m loving the red carpet. Ready for my close-up, fellas.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcb0JlaF8K
DrFanfare: You look sick, Kirby! 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHq4M4nf9Gw
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He smiles and assures her he’s feeling much better now.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmHKSguXrun
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvI50t9awMH
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5S54xLbJ6o
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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. 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7VCMvUVve
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It registers on Simone’s face.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQKuqriB6a
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SimoneChaput: You’re right... This is a real theater, but better. 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWx3bxZQex
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Maverick grips Kirby’s shoulder out of morbid fascination. They hug, which seems real and kind of a pleasant tingling.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uM0te90NN
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MaverickClark: Sorry. Now I kinda feel perverse.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIyuzBNr05
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9h0KBS28TV
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡloEKB9J7vs
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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? 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydtAKYQMLo
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Simone and Maverick eagerly admit they haven’t either.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQrle1LWDh
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SimoneChaput: I’ve been itching for an opportunity though.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfU7r6nmglW
MaverickClark: Especially here! And now! I’m so in. 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqti3ybKcTe
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHDkHc8sBL
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He frowns at a camera slowly tracking him.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCgQ1OQHos
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9ZTvE6o08
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCB3I3iLwu
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISIrXbOERo
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Fade to black. Credits crawl.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYhBBi6z9g
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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!521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL6PnPVp2NH
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPdeKuWeuC
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡczo61RGdp8
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0tCvuX8IGe
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The popcorn stand catches his eye. He gets that funny feeling.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWAYmwXwpa
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRzJwnQUrU
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Thought there was something secret here.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Pjdb79nQG
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9ODkvkzgK
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“HELLO!” Kirby shouts freely.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzlPaWwzAF
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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. 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXpcUOTLvc
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To his horror, Kirby looks back. Nothing stirs.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ4CcLFUNqX
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVPBHgIOVf
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He scrambles back from Viggo Hayes’s body hung from a red noose. Oh shit.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh379oGSvmC
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDb3ybhiJSD
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It’s just someone’s sick prank.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDnPbjyfKi
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsn0GGA6sP
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0qQ2sQS7G
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvavE5b7gw
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmyb3YsggS
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTKIxCN97EN
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DomTaylor: “Stop filming. I don’t trust drones.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zu4xcpAcE
ViggoHayes: “Sorry, cap’n.” 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpqXghTxFap
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoezvxQ1TqP
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEEQIduC6c
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DomTaylor: “I’ve handpicked the winners by the way.” 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuorSrvO3Hm
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This makes Viggo and Kirby pause. He’s talking about the contest.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3F0oeCkbMM
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ViggoHayes: “Winners? There should be only one.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8KYjjxujJ
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.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfMw2oJzi6
ViggoHayes: “All right. Who are they?”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WYrIbkKYg
DomTaylor: “Kirby Hayes and Iris Frisk.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsmLDFehfV
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This makes Viggo and Kirby freeze. But Viggo looks a touch betrayed.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡru5m5d9Osj
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DomTaylor: “What’s the matter? Thought you’d look more pleased.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRx2dDNQFQW
ViggoHayes: “Why are you doing this to me?” 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1FyIi0YNp3
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwqzKEiKkh
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoLDyv33yXS
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKnE7AddaH
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Viggo’s jaw smashes the floor. He spits out blood and a tooth.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRdndbgBlA
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Ishmael’s howls waver to whines.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrAyRhTv1dy
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DomTaylor: “Enough!”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ofNTNF31S
ViggoHayes: “You promised you wouldn’t choose them, Dom ...” 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTY7SdqIHSS
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Taylor stands to his feet, panting. He glares down at him with distaste.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqrJfBovq9
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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!”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8KPoS4fqk
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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?521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡED37Vd9LvB
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Subtitles inform him of the footsteps behind him. He slowly looks back and goes weak in the knees.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYv52iTL4W
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzutljvmPc
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He flinches when the Spook points a gloved finger his way.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRzkGWXtVbw
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“Boo.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflvpCl0pgC
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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…521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGr89ofCGD
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He peeks again. The Spook points at him, this time in broad daylight.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmAukOitwdQ
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“Sorry you lived. I’ll try harder next time.” 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqm4C3bzcL
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMGOuzYjMM
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He dies.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzBQZGGHILz
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5t0XVgCDxj
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0sHlbJRaHi
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GKRoViRSM
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEx3qPssid
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Kirby realizes Viggo has his hand wrapped around the emergency brake.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIY2m9hzoQ
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They stare at each other.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgcrBwl53lv
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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!521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX57uIekf5j
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The car flips.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGgJ1p00iA
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlKIAiGJQL
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Kirby’s face is thrown forward.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdb9GkVWJN
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTWlNp9pzb
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He dies again.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75gPsVgb9c
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvT49uqDPUm
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlhLwzNoWM
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXlYeuoqqbQ
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynsLvujgof
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Kirby grins a bigger one back at him.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1GbOoKCrV
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Anonymous: “You’re okay.” 521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEn4JEulthI
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINW9IOAhVQ
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKjgh1fSUM
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But the Spook emerges. “Your time is coming.”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfOt2SZyVNr
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Chance tenses up, seeing that sad mask for the first time. The plane smokes something terrible, setting on fire.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVcaEriTIG
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ZCD8dH5Q1
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Their world gets erased with a zip, turning blank. It in fact turns bright white, leaving nothing behind but three avatars.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcagDDpPDVX
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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!”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0fq7xpuyj
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Kirby jabs at the Exit button. Like a deflating balloon, it all goes black.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3SQUpTRkd
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The MyHAVEN pod unlocks, opening slightly ajar by itself.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkOzBlCSPc
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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?521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQS3o9VYePO
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRwwsEcPemg
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His wrist leans into the door, prying it open slightly. His shoulder presses into it. Fucking open.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEloGMwJnPC
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJoXDkXhb2
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgI9x7T2b8
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTBA1W59gu
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A shadow lurks through the rosewood study.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6eR3WEOJN
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His heart pounds. Please, he thinks. Not like this.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7PgSmh7a7G
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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?521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBEY4qrCct
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A haunting face.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63cr0tZTsa
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An impossible face, bearded white.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TW6kZOiCt
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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.521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebz72WHNyL
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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!”521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgexrfrXWCb
521Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9AF3d0icz
No, Kirby realizes. Professor Dominic Taylor is very much alive.
THE SPOOK IS SAD
Jack Steele Adams
ns216.73.216.169da2
