WHAT LIES BEYOND
Chapter 3- The Beyond
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Tell me this, what lies beyond the borders of this peaceful place?
Only ancient evil which you, child, are not ready to face
Elusive, deceiving. Don't trust what lies beyond.
"What Lies Beyond" by Pyramaze
Only ancient evil which you, child, are not ready to face
Elusive, deceiving. Don't trust what lies beyond.
"What Lies Beyond" by Pyramaze
Day 2
Adam awoke to the chilly greeting of a cold room and the hardness of his mattress and pillow, which weren't much warmer than the air. The discomfort reminded him before he even opened his eyes: He was still here. This was still happening. He opened his eyes and pushed himself up into a sitting position.
Mira and Kai were already awake. They'd been talking in the corner of the room nearest the end of his bed. Both turned when Adam rose.
Mira welcomed him awake with a cheeky smirk. "Morning, sleepyhead."
Adam sighed softly. "Morning."
Kai tossed him an apple. Adam scrambled to catch it, not quite awake enough to have seen it coming. "We got you breakfast," Kai announced.
Adam frowned at the unwelcome fruit, unimpressed. "Couldn't you have gotten a banana?"
"If we'd known you wanted one, we would've," said Mira. "But you were asleep when we went over there. We didn't want to wake you."
"You should've," grunted Adam as he dropped onto his feet. "We could've gotten started sooner."
"We were gonna have to stop to eat regardless," sighed Mira. She took a few steps toward him and leaned forward onto the edge of his pod. "So, what's the plan today? I'm going to guess... more exploration."
"Yeah," Adam confirmed. He took a bite of the apple, finding it as suspiciously sweet as before, though not as offensive as it had been that previous night. He figured he'd be able to stomach it. "We'll make a day of it."
"Good thing I brought extras for the road," declared Kai. He pulled a pair of apples from each of his pockets.
Adam nodded. "Good idea, Kai. I was planning on checking out the other floors in this place. There may not be food on the other levels."
"Other floors?" Kai's tone was incredulous, though his face looked more intrigued than skeptical. "What gave you the idea there were other floors? Is that a hunch?"
"Call it an... educated guess," Adam replied.
"Um, we haven't even been here that long," said Kai. "We know nothing about this place. How can you make any sort of educated anything?"
"I've seen enough," clipped Adam. "That computer yesterday said 'floor,' remember? And Mira---" He looked at her. "Those noises you heard in the hall yesterday? I heard 'em too. You guys were both asleep at the time. Sounded like they came from way down below us."
"We heard them in the kitchen, too," said Mira. "Now that I think about it, they did sound pretty low down."
"Yeah," Kai confirmed. "Maybe there's a basement."
"Well. We'd better find it quick," said Adam. "I want to get done and out of here as soon as possible."
"How do we know we'll do that through finding the basement?" asked Mira.
Adam bit into his apple. "We don't."
After Adam finished his breakfast, the three set out into the unknown once again, this time in the opposite direction. The halls were as long and dull as before, stretched out before Adam as if trying to challenge him. And though he hated to admit it, it was rather intimidating. Who knew how many floors were identical to this one? How many would they have to explore before they found something even remotely different?
It was a daunting task for certain.
"Wow. Sure are a lot of doors this way too," Kai remarked with a nervous edge. "What if we pass up the stairs?"
"It'll probably be labeled, Kai," said Mira. "Don't worry about it."
"I'm hoping we'll find an elevator," said Adam. "That should make our job easier."
"Our job?" Adam could picture Mira's eyebrows scrunching. "We're just exploring. No rush."
A surge of annoyance shot through Adam. "The sooner we know where we are, the better," he stated.
"So you've said," said Mira.
The trio moved on in relative silence. At last, one divergent hallway led to two separate doors: A stairwell on one side and an elevator on the other.
"Yes!" exclaimed Kai. He approached the elevator first and pressed the button. It didn't light up, so Kai pressed it again. Then a third time--- still nothing. He frowned. "Great. It's broken."
"Let me see," said Adam. He stepped in front of the elevator and stood in silence for a few seconds. Then he pressed the button again--- harder and longer than Kai had pressed it. No indication the cab was coming. He pressed his ear against the door and listened carefully for any sign of movement within the shaft. Ear-splitting silence. He sighed and turned back to face his friends. "It's dead all right. We'll have to take the stairs." He marched over to the stairwell door.
"Huh. That is weird," said Mira, following. "Everything else is working."
"It's just one elevator, so no biggie," said Kai. "I'll bet there's another one around here somewhere."
"Well, we don't need to look for it now." Adam opened the door with a jarring creak and pushed it open as far as it could go. He kicked down the doorstop. "We've got what we need right here."
The teens entered the stairwell and took a look around. Both above and below, to Adam's relief and frustration, were long, tall sets of stairs. Neither the top nor the bottom were visible, even when he peeked over the railing to get a sense of how high up they were. So, he estimated, they had to be somewhere in the middle.
"Oh man," groaned Kai, staring upward.
Adam squared his shoulders. "Well, which way, team? We've got to start somewhere."
"Let's go up," said Kai. He approached the ascending case.
"Umm, I thought we'd already decided we were going down," said Mira.
"That was before we knew there was an up," said Kai. His hand was already on the railing. "Besides, we'll find what we're looking for up there." His eyebrows shot up as if even he didn't quite know why he'd made such a declaration.
Mira quirked an eyebrow. "How could you possibly know that?"
Kai giggled nervously and clutched his arm. "Dunno. The thought just sort of... happened. Hunch?"
"We can't be right about so many hunches," muttered Adam. He scoffed. "All of this feels wrong."
"Tch. Big surprise there," said Kai. "You always think everything feels wrong." He began to climb the stairs.
Adam followed. "I'm just saying. This feels too much like the setup to some kind of game."
"Well it's not any game I own," said Kai. "We got here through my hologame equipment, remember? I think I'd remember loading this, don't you?"
"Just hear me out, OK?" Adam stressed. "Everything just seems... set up. Like it was waiting for us to find it. Like it was put there for a reason."
Mira chortled as she joined the boys on the stairs. "OK. Now you're just paranoid," she said.
Adam grunted. Of course this would be their reaction. He'd have expected nothing less. "Just look. We're all perfectly healthy even though we were probably in those pods for weeks. And the clothes in the closet just happened to fit us. And the food just happens to be edible. Not to mention it tastes fake."
"It's weird, I'll admit," said Kai, now turning onto the second flight of stairs. "But if there's one thing about this place that I'm actually, totally sure about, it's that this can't be a game." His tone was sharp with annoyance. "You saw our scanatars in the classroom. We're way too detailed, like I've already said."
Adam growled. "At least consider it."
"I have!" snapped Kai. "It's a load of crap."
"Adam, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for everything," Mira said. "Just try to relax. Pretend this is real if it'll help. But it won't help to argue about it."
Her tone was not scathing like Kai's, but Adam still felt patronized. This... had to be a game, right? He could remember his life from start to current, and this place wasn't anywhere in those memories. Surely he hadn't been born and raised in that machine. He refused to accept that. Besides, if his entire past was in there and his "real" life was out here, how did he have a body out here in the first place? There had to be a better explanation.
Kai peered through the door window to the next floor. "Looks just like our floor. I say we keep going."
Adam nudged Kai aside and took a look himself. He pulled the door open and took a look around. Kai was right--- it looked identical to the hall they'd just left. "Let's check it anyway," he said. Pointless? Maybe. But Adam didn't want to miss anything that could be a clue to getting out of this strange place and back to the real world.
He entered the floor and turned the corner into the hall. It was indeed identical to the one they'd just left--- dull walls, metallic sound to the floor. Endless rows of doors on either side of the endless corridor. No signs of life as far as he could see. Kai stopped beside him. "See? Nothing new here. Just the same old doors." He turned to go back to the stairs.
Mira caught him by the shoulder. "Kai, what about those computers?" She pointed to one of the screens in the hall.
Kai perked up. "Ooh! Yeah! I'll bet we won't even have to check everywhere on foot." He dashed to the screen and activated it. "If there's something different, it'll say so."
Adam folded his arms and slowly approached Kai. "We should check out the major landmarks on each floor, whether the rooms say anything's different or not," he said. Kai snorted in response. "I promise we won't check every room."
"OK. Deal," said Kai. He scrolled down the room list. "But like I said, this floor is exactly like ours. Just with different room numbers."
"Easier to navigate," said Adam. He started to walk down the hall. "Let's go."
The process of floor-checking was long, slow, and tedious, even with the information kiosks providing a cheat. Hour after hour passed the three by without much, if any difference from floor to floor. They had to have checked around seven floors before they came across something new. The floor had looked just like the others upon entrance. But when Kai pulled up the Floor Info list, he had to do a double take when a new room appeared.
"Lookout deck?"
Mira gasped. "Maybe we've reached the surface!" she said.
Assuming they were underground to begin with, Adam mused. "I hope so. Let's find this place and figure out where we are."
The halls were, at first, identical to all the others. They passed by the familiar sights of countless doors and intersecting hallways. Some twenty minutes past the kitchen corridor, the hall broadened. It expanded into a sort of a lobby, complete with furniture. Most noticeably, however, was the massive five-panel window that stretched out across nearly the whole wall on the furthest side of the lobby. Before the window was a set of stairs that led down into a hollow, where a row of comfy benches stood.
This was it. This was the place they had been looking for. But the sky outside was pitch black and flurried with tiny diamonds.
Mira's jaw dropped. "No... way." She ran down to the windows and peered out into the starry blackness. A bark of unsure laughter escaped her throat. "We are!" She turned back to face the approaching boys, her eyes wide. "Guys... we're in space!"
Adam's heart dropped as he stared into the vast expanse spread before his eyes. There was no ground, no physical matter as far as he could see. Just a starfield that spanned the entire window and beyond. It was no screen. It was no illusion. As far as his senses were concerned, this was a real window--- smooth and cold to the touch--- and those stars had to be light years away. If he was right and this was a game, the illusion was convincing. Perfect, even.
"How did we get into space?" Kai asked, his nose pressed against the glass. He turned his frantic gaze to Adam. "Adam, why are we in space?"
Adam shook his head and returned his attention to the window. "I wish I knew, Kai."
They stood in awesome silence for a few moments, drinking in the sight of all those stars. Adam was convinced he'd never seen something as beautiful... nor felt something as lonely. If this was it... if this place was all there was here... if there was nobody else here after all...
Mira made a choking noise and fell to her knees. Concerned, both Adam and Kai turned to her. She buried her face in her hands as her shoulders jerked with another sob. "How far out are we?" she cried, voice strained. She sniffed. "I don't see the earth. Shouldn't we be able to see it? What if we're stuck here forever and we can't get back home?" She was full-on crying now.
Adam hurried to her side and knelt down. "Look, Mira... we will get back home. Whether we're... in a game or in actual space. I promise." He lay a hesitant hand on her shoulder, but drew it back when she reacted to his touch.
"How long until then?" Mira asked. "Days? Weeks? Months?"
"However long it takes," said Adam. "But we will get there." I hope.
"Yeah," added Kai. "Besides, this all but confirms there's a control room somewhere. Where there's a ship, there's gotta be a bridge." He hesitated. "If this is a ship, anyway. But if we're not in orbit around Earth, this thing, or... whatever it is, should be able to move."
Adam smiled, grateful for Kai's encouraging interjection. "See? All we need to do is find that control center and we'll be on our way home."
Mira sniffed again, then sighed. She wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, guys. I just... I already miss my parents. I didn't even get to say goodbye... and we just ended up here, and..." Her voice shook.
Adam reached out and planted his hand on Mira's shoulder again. This time, he held it firm. "I know," he said.
She brushed aside her loose bangs, embarrassed. "I didn't mean to break down like that."
"It's OK. You're stressed. We get it." Adam kept his tone gentle. "You need a break?"
"No... it's fine," said Mira. She took a deep breath and let it all go slowly. "I'll just walk it off."
"Well, I could use a break," said Kai. "We've been walking all day and there's chairs in here. I'll take it." He sat down on one of the lookout benches.
Adam helped Mira to her feet. She was still visibly shaken, her eyes blank and face pale. He felt a deep twinge of concern for his friend. Yeah, she'd had breakdowns of that sort before, but they were few and far between. And none of them had ever affected her like this. She trembled beneath Adam's touch. Mira never trembled like that.
Given the choice between taking a break and finding that control room, Adam would rather take the latter. But right now, his main concern was for his best friend. "You heard the man. We could all use a rest."
Mira hesitated, then sighed. "All right." She headed over and sat beside Kai on the bench. "Just a quick break."
Adam turned to the window once more. He could see his face reflected in the glass. He leaned in closer to observe the painstaking detail put into his features, textures, and countless subtleties. Some details even he hadn't noticed before--- like that tiny, barely visible mole on his neck. He could see the individual pores on his skin, and the light sheen of sweat from all the walking and climbing they'd done. So much detail. Kai was right, Adam had to admit--- there was no way that low-poly diagnosis program could be generating this amount of realism.
So what was? What had happened between that blackout and now? Nothing, as far as he could remember. But what if something had happened and their memories had been wiped? Had they been thrown into another game like before? Was this being televised too? And why erase everything but what happened before they entered that password? Adam clenched his fists. None of this made sense. He didn't want to believe this was reality, but that possibility no longer seemed any less likely than his "another game" theory.
Mira's voice interrupted Adam's thoughts. "Kai, can you hand me one of those apples?"
"Oh! Yeah, sure." He shifted to reach into his pockets. "Hey Adam, you want an apple?"
"I'll pass," Adam declined. The thought of eating yet another one of those sickly sweet fruits made his stomach turn, regardless of how hungry he admittedly felt. Something about them just wasn't right...
Kai let out a displeased yelp. Adam turned. Kai's hands were dripping with a white, gooey substance and his pockets were both damp with the stuff. "The... the apples!" He looked back and forth between his friends, dumbstruck. "I think they melted!"
"A-HA!" Adam punched his palm. "I knew those things were fake!"
"Yeah. No kidding," said Kai. He gave the glob of goo in his hand a few suspicious sniffs. "What even is this stuff?"
"Um... Some synthetic food... material. I guess," said Mira. She grimaced when Kai took a great big lick of the stuff from his hand.
He stared back at her. "What? It's edible!" He licked his hand again. "It even still tastes like apple."
Adam had already gone into thought mode, chin clasped in his hand. "So. Synthetic food. Maybe those containers are like... food generators. Like replicators on Star Trek but with different execution..."
"Adam. You're mumbling again," said Mira.
He looked up. "Am I?"
Mira's lip quirked upward teasingly. "Only all the time."
"I just wonder why they melted," said Adam. "Maybe it needs to be kept cold or it starts to turn back into... well, that."
"Uh, hate to break it to you guys, but I really need to go back and change into some clean pants," said Kai. He shook the stuff off his hands. "And get a shower!"
Both Kai and Mira looked at Adam, awaiting his response. Adam couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance. He would rather carry on and explore this place until the lights dimmed. But at the same time, he knew Kai couldn't go on covered in synthetic goo, and after Mira's concerning reaction...
"All right. We'll call it a day."
"What time is it anyway?" asked Kai.
The speaker in the room activated, and the weird guy's voice came through. "The time is now 2:36 in the afternoon."
"Whoah!" Kai exclaimed, standing up. "Voice interface! Do you think maybe he's an AI?"
Mira raised her eyebrows. "Sounds like it. But why is it... his voice?"
"Maybe he's involved with this place somehow," said Kai.
"What if it's another one of his games?" asked Adam, half to himself.
Kai huffed. "OK, Adam. I'll give you that one."
Adam trudged back up the steps. "We can think about it later," he said. "Let's get back to base."
The walk back to their home room was silent. Adam's head spun with everything they'd learned. He had been so sure of himself when they'd started that day, but now... not so much. Realism beyond anything he'd seen in a hologame prior... located somewhere in outer space... Mira's concerning outburst. It was all a jumble in his mind, and Adam hated jumbled thoughts.
At least they had a reasonable goal now. It didn't matter how confusing things got in the world around him. So long as Adam had a goal to grasp onto, he could stand firm. And that was all he could do now.
Find the control room. Find the answers. Get them all home.
Mira and Kai were already awake. They'd been talking in the corner of the room nearest the end of his bed. Both turned when Adam rose.
Mira welcomed him awake with a cheeky smirk. "Morning, sleepyhead."
Adam sighed softly. "Morning."
Kai tossed him an apple. Adam scrambled to catch it, not quite awake enough to have seen it coming. "We got you breakfast," Kai announced.
Adam frowned at the unwelcome fruit, unimpressed. "Couldn't you have gotten a banana?"
"If we'd known you wanted one, we would've," said Mira. "But you were asleep when we went over there. We didn't want to wake you."
"You should've," grunted Adam as he dropped onto his feet. "We could've gotten started sooner."
"We were gonna have to stop to eat regardless," sighed Mira. She took a few steps toward him and leaned forward onto the edge of his pod. "So, what's the plan today? I'm going to guess... more exploration."
"Yeah," Adam confirmed. He took a bite of the apple, finding it as suspiciously sweet as before, though not as offensive as it had been that previous night. He figured he'd be able to stomach it. "We'll make a day of it."
"Good thing I brought extras for the road," declared Kai. He pulled a pair of apples from each of his pockets.
Adam nodded. "Good idea, Kai. I was planning on checking out the other floors in this place. There may not be food on the other levels."
"Other floors?" Kai's tone was incredulous, though his face looked more intrigued than skeptical. "What gave you the idea there were other floors? Is that a hunch?"
"Call it an... educated guess," Adam replied.
"Um, we haven't even been here that long," said Kai. "We know nothing about this place. How can you make any sort of educated anything?"
"I've seen enough," clipped Adam. "That computer yesterday said 'floor,' remember? And Mira---" He looked at her. "Those noises you heard in the hall yesterday? I heard 'em too. You guys were both asleep at the time. Sounded like they came from way down below us."
"We heard them in the kitchen, too," said Mira. "Now that I think about it, they did sound pretty low down."
"Yeah," Kai confirmed. "Maybe there's a basement."
"Well. We'd better find it quick," said Adam. "I want to get done and out of here as soon as possible."
"How do we know we'll do that through finding the basement?" asked Mira.
Adam bit into his apple. "We don't."
After Adam finished his breakfast, the three set out into the unknown once again, this time in the opposite direction. The halls were as long and dull as before, stretched out before Adam as if trying to challenge him. And though he hated to admit it, it was rather intimidating. Who knew how many floors were identical to this one? How many would they have to explore before they found something even remotely different?
It was a daunting task for certain.
"Wow. Sure are a lot of doors this way too," Kai remarked with a nervous edge. "What if we pass up the stairs?"
"It'll probably be labeled, Kai," said Mira. "Don't worry about it."
"I'm hoping we'll find an elevator," said Adam. "That should make our job easier."
"Our job?" Adam could picture Mira's eyebrows scrunching. "We're just exploring. No rush."
A surge of annoyance shot through Adam. "The sooner we know where we are, the better," he stated.
"So you've said," said Mira.
The trio moved on in relative silence. At last, one divergent hallway led to two separate doors: A stairwell on one side and an elevator on the other.
"Yes!" exclaimed Kai. He approached the elevator first and pressed the button. It didn't light up, so Kai pressed it again. Then a third time--- still nothing. He frowned. "Great. It's broken."
"Let me see," said Adam. He stepped in front of the elevator and stood in silence for a few seconds. Then he pressed the button again--- harder and longer than Kai had pressed it. No indication the cab was coming. He pressed his ear against the door and listened carefully for any sign of movement within the shaft. Ear-splitting silence. He sighed and turned back to face his friends. "It's dead all right. We'll have to take the stairs." He marched over to the stairwell door.
"Huh. That is weird," said Mira, following. "Everything else is working."
"It's just one elevator, so no biggie," said Kai. "I'll bet there's another one around here somewhere."
"Well, we don't need to look for it now." Adam opened the door with a jarring creak and pushed it open as far as it could go. He kicked down the doorstop. "We've got what we need right here."
The teens entered the stairwell and took a look around. Both above and below, to Adam's relief and frustration, were long, tall sets of stairs. Neither the top nor the bottom were visible, even when he peeked over the railing to get a sense of how high up they were. So, he estimated, they had to be somewhere in the middle.
"Oh man," groaned Kai, staring upward.
Adam squared his shoulders. "Well, which way, team? We've got to start somewhere."
"Let's go up," said Kai. He approached the ascending case.
"Umm, I thought we'd already decided we were going down," said Mira.
"That was before we knew there was an up," said Kai. His hand was already on the railing. "Besides, we'll find what we're looking for up there." His eyebrows shot up as if even he didn't quite know why he'd made such a declaration.
Mira quirked an eyebrow. "How could you possibly know that?"
Kai giggled nervously and clutched his arm. "Dunno. The thought just sort of... happened. Hunch?"
"We can't be right about so many hunches," muttered Adam. He scoffed. "All of this feels wrong."
"Tch. Big surprise there," said Kai. "You always think everything feels wrong." He began to climb the stairs.
Adam followed. "I'm just saying. This feels too much like the setup to some kind of game."
"Well it's not any game I own," said Kai. "We got here through my hologame equipment, remember? I think I'd remember loading this, don't you?"
"Just hear me out, OK?" Adam stressed. "Everything just seems... set up. Like it was waiting for us to find it. Like it was put there for a reason."
Mira chortled as she joined the boys on the stairs. "OK. Now you're just paranoid," she said.
Adam grunted. Of course this would be their reaction. He'd have expected nothing less. "Just look. We're all perfectly healthy even though we were probably in those pods for weeks. And the clothes in the closet just happened to fit us. And the food just happens to be edible. Not to mention it tastes fake."
"It's weird, I'll admit," said Kai, now turning onto the second flight of stairs. "But if there's one thing about this place that I'm actually, totally sure about, it's that this can't be a game." His tone was sharp with annoyance. "You saw our scanatars in the classroom. We're way too detailed, like I've already said."
Adam growled. "At least consider it."
"I have!" snapped Kai. "It's a load of crap."
"Adam, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for everything," Mira said. "Just try to relax. Pretend this is real if it'll help. But it won't help to argue about it."
Her tone was not scathing like Kai's, but Adam still felt patronized. This... had to be a game, right? He could remember his life from start to current, and this place wasn't anywhere in those memories. Surely he hadn't been born and raised in that machine. He refused to accept that. Besides, if his entire past was in there and his "real" life was out here, how did he have a body out here in the first place? There had to be a better explanation.
Kai peered through the door window to the next floor. "Looks just like our floor. I say we keep going."
Adam nudged Kai aside and took a look himself. He pulled the door open and took a look around. Kai was right--- it looked identical to the hall they'd just left. "Let's check it anyway," he said. Pointless? Maybe. But Adam didn't want to miss anything that could be a clue to getting out of this strange place and back to the real world.
He entered the floor and turned the corner into the hall. It was indeed identical to the one they'd just left--- dull walls, metallic sound to the floor. Endless rows of doors on either side of the endless corridor. No signs of life as far as he could see. Kai stopped beside him. "See? Nothing new here. Just the same old doors." He turned to go back to the stairs.
Mira caught him by the shoulder. "Kai, what about those computers?" She pointed to one of the screens in the hall.
Kai perked up. "Ooh! Yeah! I'll bet we won't even have to check everywhere on foot." He dashed to the screen and activated it. "If there's something different, it'll say so."
Adam folded his arms and slowly approached Kai. "We should check out the major landmarks on each floor, whether the rooms say anything's different or not," he said. Kai snorted in response. "I promise we won't check every room."
"OK. Deal," said Kai. He scrolled down the room list. "But like I said, this floor is exactly like ours. Just with different room numbers."
"Easier to navigate," said Adam. He started to walk down the hall. "Let's go."
The process of floor-checking was long, slow, and tedious, even with the information kiosks providing a cheat. Hour after hour passed the three by without much, if any difference from floor to floor. They had to have checked around seven floors before they came across something new. The floor had looked just like the others upon entrance. But when Kai pulled up the Floor Info list, he had to do a double take when a new room appeared.
"Lookout deck?"
Mira gasped. "Maybe we've reached the surface!" she said.
Assuming they were underground to begin with, Adam mused. "I hope so. Let's find this place and figure out where we are."
The halls were, at first, identical to all the others. They passed by the familiar sights of countless doors and intersecting hallways. Some twenty minutes past the kitchen corridor, the hall broadened. It expanded into a sort of a lobby, complete with furniture. Most noticeably, however, was the massive five-panel window that stretched out across nearly the whole wall on the furthest side of the lobby. Before the window was a set of stairs that led down into a hollow, where a row of comfy benches stood.
This was it. This was the place they had been looking for. But the sky outside was pitch black and flurried with tiny diamonds.
Mira's jaw dropped. "No... way." She ran down to the windows and peered out into the starry blackness. A bark of unsure laughter escaped her throat. "We are!" She turned back to face the approaching boys, her eyes wide. "Guys... we're in space!"
Adam's heart dropped as he stared into the vast expanse spread before his eyes. There was no ground, no physical matter as far as he could see. Just a starfield that spanned the entire window and beyond. It was no screen. It was no illusion. As far as his senses were concerned, this was a real window--- smooth and cold to the touch--- and those stars had to be light years away. If he was right and this was a game, the illusion was convincing. Perfect, even.
"How did we get into space?" Kai asked, his nose pressed against the glass. He turned his frantic gaze to Adam. "Adam, why are we in space?"
Adam shook his head and returned his attention to the window. "I wish I knew, Kai."
They stood in awesome silence for a few moments, drinking in the sight of all those stars. Adam was convinced he'd never seen something as beautiful... nor felt something as lonely. If this was it... if this place was all there was here... if there was nobody else here after all...
Mira made a choking noise and fell to her knees. Concerned, both Adam and Kai turned to her. She buried her face in her hands as her shoulders jerked with another sob. "How far out are we?" she cried, voice strained. She sniffed. "I don't see the earth. Shouldn't we be able to see it? What if we're stuck here forever and we can't get back home?" She was full-on crying now.
Adam hurried to her side and knelt down. "Look, Mira... we will get back home. Whether we're... in a game or in actual space. I promise." He lay a hesitant hand on her shoulder, but drew it back when she reacted to his touch.
"How long until then?" Mira asked. "Days? Weeks? Months?"
"However long it takes," said Adam. "But we will get there." I hope.
"Yeah," added Kai. "Besides, this all but confirms there's a control room somewhere. Where there's a ship, there's gotta be a bridge." He hesitated. "If this is a ship, anyway. But if we're not in orbit around Earth, this thing, or... whatever it is, should be able to move."
Adam smiled, grateful for Kai's encouraging interjection. "See? All we need to do is find that control center and we'll be on our way home."
Mira sniffed again, then sighed. She wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, guys. I just... I already miss my parents. I didn't even get to say goodbye... and we just ended up here, and..." Her voice shook.
Adam reached out and planted his hand on Mira's shoulder again. This time, he held it firm. "I know," he said.
She brushed aside her loose bangs, embarrassed. "I didn't mean to break down like that."
"It's OK. You're stressed. We get it." Adam kept his tone gentle. "You need a break?"
"No... it's fine," said Mira. She took a deep breath and let it all go slowly. "I'll just walk it off."
"Well, I could use a break," said Kai. "We've been walking all day and there's chairs in here. I'll take it." He sat down on one of the lookout benches.
Adam helped Mira to her feet. She was still visibly shaken, her eyes blank and face pale. He felt a deep twinge of concern for his friend. Yeah, she'd had breakdowns of that sort before, but they were few and far between. And none of them had ever affected her like this. She trembled beneath Adam's touch. Mira never trembled like that.
Given the choice between taking a break and finding that control room, Adam would rather take the latter. But right now, his main concern was for his best friend. "You heard the man. We could all use a rest."
Mira hesitated, then sighed. "All right." She headed over and sat beside Kai on the bench. "Just a quick break."
Adam turned to the window once more. He could see his face reflected in the glass. He leaned in closer to observe the painstaking detail put into his features, textures, and countless subtleties. Some details even he hadn't noticed before--- like that tiny, barely visible mole on his neck. He could see the individual pores on his skin, and the light sheen of sweat from all the walking and climbing they'd done. So much detail. Kai was right, Adam had to admit--- there was no way that low-poly diagnosis program could be generating this amount of realism.
So what was? What had happened between that blackout and now? Nothing, as far as he could remember. But what if something had happened and their memories had been wiped? Had they been thrown into another game like before? Was this being televised too? And why erase everything but what happened before they entered that password? Adam clenched his fists. None of this made sense. He didn't want to believe this was reality, but that possibility no longer seemed any less likely than his "another game" theory.
Mira's voice interrupted Adam's thoughts. "Kai, can you hand me one of those apples?"
"Oh! Yeah, sure." He shifted to reach into his pockets. "Hey Adam, you want an apple?"
"I'll pass," Adam declined. The thought of eating yet another one of those sickly sweet fruits made his stomach turn, regardless of how hungry he admittedly felt. Something about them just wasn't right...
Kai let out a displeased yelp. Adam turned. Kai's hands were dripping with a white, gooey substance and his pockets were both damp with the stuff. "The... the apples!" He looked back and forth between his friends, dumbstruck. "I think they melted!"
"A-HA!" Adam punched his palm. "I knew those things were fake!"
"Yeah. No kidding," said Kai. He gave the glob of goo in his hand a few suspicious sniffs. "What even is this stuff?"
"Um... Some synthetic food... material. I guess," said Mira. She grimaced when Kai took a great big lick of the stuff from his hand.
He stared back at her. "What? It's edible!" He licked his hand again. "It even still tastes like apple."
Adam had already gone into thought mode, chin clasped in his hand. "So. Synthetic food. Maybe those containers are like... food generators. Like replicators on Star Trek but with different execution..."
"Adam. You're mumbling again," said Mira.
He looked up. "Am I?"
Mira's lip quirked upward teasingly. "Only all the time."
"I just wonder why they melted," said Adam. "Maybe it needs to be kept cold or it starts to turn back into... well, that."
"Uh, hate to break it to you guys, but I really need to go back and change into some clean pants," said Kai. He shook the stuff off his hands. "And get a shower!"
Both Kai and Mira looked at Adam, awaiting his response. Adam couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance. He would rather carry on and explore this place until the lights dimmed. But at the same time, he knew Kai couldn't go on covered in synthetic goo, and after Mira's concerning reaction...
"All right. We'll call it a day."
"What time is it anyway?" asked Kai.
The speaker in the room activated, and the weird guy's voice came through. "The time is now 2:36 in the afternoon."
"Whoah!" Kai exclaimed, standing up. "Voice interface! Do you think maybe he's an AI?"
Mira raised her eyebrows. "Sounds like it. But why is it... his voice?"
"Maybe he's involved with this place somehow," said Kai.
"What if it's another one of his games?" asked Adam, half to himself.
Kai huffed. "OK, Adam. I'll give you that one."
Adam trudged back up the steps. "We can think about it later," he said. "Let's get back to base."
The walk back to their home room was silent. Adam's head spun with everything they'd learned. He had been so sure of himself when they'd started that day, but now... not so much. Realism beyond anything he'd seen in a hologame prior... located somewhere in outer space... Mira's concerning outburst. It was all a jumble in his mind, and Adam hated jumbled thoughts.
At least they had a reasonable goal now. It didn't matter how confusing things got in the world around him. So long as Adam had a goal to grasp onto, he could stand firm. And that was all he could do now.
Find the control room. Find the answers. Get them all home.