"Whalebones and buskbutts may hurt you (thwackaway thwuck!) but never lay bare your breast secret (dickette's place!) to joy a Jonas in the Dolphin's Barncar with your meetual fan, Doveyed Covetfilles, comepulsing paynattention spasms between the averthisment for Ulikah's wine and a pair of pulldoors of the old cupiosity shape."
Rosa read it again, feeling a sense of unease tighten in her chest. Jonas. Gum's curling ‘s’ shape definitely ended right by the name. The shape might just as easily be an infinity symbol with the name bridging the middle. But was it just coincidence? Gum was just a macaque after all! Then again, he and Rowan were far from ordinary monkeys.
The strange, surreal phrases on the page made Finnegans Wake more enigmatic than useful to her. She checked her Instagram messages as she tried to make sense of it. A couple of days had passed since the conversation at the café, and now, back at home, they were still awaiting a response from @gj522019. Still nothing.
Gum might have marked the word Jonas, but the cryptic warning lurking in the text wasn’t his doing. “Never lay bare your breast secret.” The phrase sounded too much like advice - or a warning. Was it something to do with Jonas? The idea that exposing too much could put her in danger nagged at her. And the mention of being hurt by whalebones…
“I’m either drowning in literary pareidolia or I'm missing something,” Rosa muttered to herself, trying to piece together the connections. It felt like the passage was pointing to something, but she couldn’t quite grasp it.
Selina walked into the room, rubbing her eyes as she stretched. “Still stuck on that?” she asked, glancing over Rosa’s shoulder at the screen.
Rosa sighed, nodding. “I don’t know… There’s something here. I just can’t put my finger on it.”
Selina raised an eyebrow. “You mean aside from the fact that it’s Finnegans Wake and everything in there is intentionally opaque?”
“I mean, yeah,” Rosa said, tapping the screen. “But this Jonas… The stuff around it feels like a warning. I just… I’m not sure what to do with it yet.”
Selina leaned over to look at the blackened swirl. “Well, whatever it is, it’s not exactly giving us a lot to work with.”
Rosa shook her head. “I don’t know… what are ‘buskbutts’? Who's ‘Doveyed Covetfilles’? And why is it all jumbled like this?”
Selina blinked, unconvinced. “It's all just Dickens-related wordplay isn't it? David Copperfield. A bit further on it's referencing The Old Curiosity Shop, and wasn't there a Jonas in one of his books? You really think he’s trying to communicate through this?”
Rosa’s gaze lingered again on the passage, her thoughts spiraling. “It’s strange, but maybe not impossible. He was more aware than he let on. I can’t shake the feeling that everything we’ve seen so far - the VR, the monkeys, the references to Jonas - they’re all connected somehow. Like pieces of a puzzle, but we’re still missing the frame to see the bigger picture. Gum’s trying to lead us to something.”
Selina watched Rosa, arms crossed, her expression unreadable. “Maybe. Or maybe we’re just overthinking it because we’re both exhausted after trying to jam two days’ worth of catching up into one.”
Rosa leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples. “You might have a point there. Did you manage to finish your reports?”
Selina smirked faintly. “Just about. I’m not saying they’re masterpieces, but they’re done. I even threw in a few buzzwords to make them look thoughtful.”
Rosa chuckled despite herself. “Efficient as always. I’m still slogging through emails from Friday. Feels like they multiply the longer you ignore them.”
“Like gremlins,” Selina quipped. “Don’t feed them after midnight.”
Rosa laughed, but her gaze drifted back to the screen, the weight of the mystery pulling her thoughts down again. “Still… I can’t shake the feeling that we’re running out of time to figure this out. There’s too much at stake to let it slip through the cracks.”
Selina softened, her tone losing its teasing edge. “I know. But at least we've bought ourselves another couple of days.”
Rosa hesitated, then nodded slowly. “You’re right. I just… hate feeling like I’m playing catch-up on so many fronts.”
Selina leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling. “Oh, by the way, those graphic novels I ordered arrived yesterday. I stayed up way too late flipping through them.”
Rosa glanced at her, momentarily distracted from the gloom settling over her thoughts. “Graphic novels? Anything good?”
Selina nodded, her expression brightening. “They’re by this author, Ananth Van Der Lekh. Fantasy and sci-fi, mostly. One series is about a knohm who gets sent on a quest. The other’s more like a modern-day odyssey - time travel, dreams, alternate realities. Proper mind-bending stuff.”
“Just stories,” Rosa said, unsurprised.
Selina hesitated, her excitement dimming as a strange unease crept into her voice. “The characters’ names. They’re… the same as the Paignton monkeys. Mistletoe, Gum, Elmo, even Heather. It’s not like they’re common names either, so it’s kind of weird, right?”
Rosa frowned, the weight of the mystery shifting in her mind. “You’re saying the author used their names in his stories? That's an odd synchronicity. What was the gnome called?”
“Razzles, and it's knohm, not gnome.” Selina leaned toward her, lowering her voice. “I don't know whether to tell you this, but… Well, there are details that feel uncomfortably familiar. One of the main plots is about people’s Dreams being interfered with, blurring the line between reality and imagination. Like scattered hints of what we’ve been living through. With your love of pattern-spotting and interrelated connections, you'd probably have a field day.”
Rosa’s stomach knotted. “You think the writer knows something?”
“I don’t know,” Selina admitted, her unease deepening. “But I've only just begun reading them really. I'll bring them over tomorrow.”
The room fell silent, the hum of the computer and the distant noise of seabirds the only sounds as Rosa and Selina exchanged a look. A chill ran through Rosa. If the graphic novels really were tied to their situation, then Ananth Van Der Lekh might hold answers they hadn’t even known to ask.
Rosa checked Instagram again. The message she and Selina had composed together still sat unanswered in her messages, an ominous reminder of their isolation.
> Hi Mr. Jonas,
We’re researchers exploring animal rights developments in recent years. Your name came up in connection to some fascinating initiatives. Would you be open to a quick chat about your experiences?
“Are you sure we shouldn't give this whole thing up while we still can?” Rosa asked, looking directly into Selina’s eyes. “I've put us both in serious danger.” She began replacing the phone when a notification pinged.
Jonas’s response was curt:
> Who are you really, and what do you want?
Selina frowned. “Suspicious or what?”
“Maybe we overdid the ‘fascinating initiatives’ angle,” Rosa murmured, typing out a reply.
> We’re genuinely interested in your connections to the Yorkshire activists. Specifically, the police station incident. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it in detail - we’re just piecing together a timeline.
The reply came almost instantly.
> Yorkshire? Forget it. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Leave it alone.
Selina leaned over Rosa’s shoulder. “Oh, we’ve definitely hit a nerve.”
Rosa hesitated. “He won’t tell us anything online. If we want answers, we’ll have to find him in person.”
Selina nodded slowly. “Okay. We know he works for ClearView. They’re a small company based in London - specialising in window and office cleaning - but they've got a node in Infinity NexUs. There's a chance Jonas might spend time online there.”
“But how do we figure out if he’s there?” Rosa asked.
Selina smirked, already typing into her phone. “Corporate schedules, employee forums… Maybe even Infinity NexUs’ public events calendar. Give me a sec.”
Rosa watched as Selina sifted through pages of corporate jargon and promotional material. After several minutes, the young woman sat back smiling.
“Got it,” she said triumphantly. “ClearView hosts a weekly showcase in Infinity NexUs for clients and collaborators. Guess who’s on the presenter list most days?”
Rosa leaned in, her pulse quickening. “No… Jonas?”
“Yes. Jonas.” Selina closed her phone with a flourish. “He's even there today. We’re going back into Infinity NexUs.”
Rosa hesitated. “Can't say that thrills me. What’s our plan when we get there?”
Selina grinned. “Find him. Corner him. Ask the right questions. And hope he doesn’t log off before we get the answers we need.”
“Hmm…” Rosa was reluctant, looking for sufficient motivation to go online again. “Perhaps Rowan might find us.”
Soon Selina was adjusting her gloves as Rosa looked over her VR headset, checking the connection to the home system. “Ready?” Rosa asked, her voice steady, though a flicker of tension betrayed her.
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“Almost,” Selina replied, fiddling with the last strap of her gear.
Rosa slipped on the headset, and Selina heard the faint hum of the Infinity NexUs welcome screens come to life. Quickly, she followed suit, tugging her own visor into place and letting the transition begin.
As the world around her rippled and blurred, Selina saw a brief flicker around Rosa, like a fleeting distortion in the air. Momentarily, Rosa’s form seemed to fracture, her outline fragmenting into static before it was swallowed whole by the shifting virtual space.
The sensation passed almost as quickly as it came, and Selina’s vision shifted, the familiar vertigo pulling her into virtual space. By the time the transition settled, Rosa was already standing in the welcome section, calm and waiting.
“You good?” Rosa asked, as the usual moments of weightlessness gradually settled. She glanced over her shoulder at her friend as her avatar defaulted to her previous appearance.
Selina hesitated, the odd moment still nagging at her. As she had logged on, she could have sworn Rosa had actually vanished, but it was a fleeting moment, too fleeting to trust her own perception. Not to mention impossible. “Yeah,” she said, forcing a casual tone. “Guess I lagged a second… or… something.”
Rosa and Selina navigated the welcome screens and spawned into Infinity NexUs, once again awestruck by the breathtaking vista of towering glass skyscrapers, shimmering neon shiftsigns and AI-generated holograms that adjusted to their eye movements. Autonomous drones buzzed overhead, while wraparound ads, disturbingly attuned to their personal preferences, wisped around them, projecting hyper-realistic sensory experiences.
Finding their bearings, they made their way toward ClearView’s official VR platform. Their avatars barely turned heads as they passed through the virtual crowds, whose hyper-customizable avatars and augmented reality overlays made Rosa and Selina look positively tame.
As the pair neared ClearView’s node, they were struck by the architecture, gleaming with immaculate clarity, as if the entire structure had been buffed to an otherworldly sheen. The walls shimmered with sterile perfection, reflecting the surroundings in a flawless mirror-like surface, as though no speck of dust or imperfection could dare exist here. The sleek, minimalist design created the illusion of infinite space, with angular lines leading them forward.
Inside, a man stood before a small crowd, delivering a presentation. He was demonstrating ClearView’s cleaning technologies, gesturing toward a glowing display as he spoke. He looked nothing like Jonas, but then who looked like their real selves here? The man’s avatar was meticulously tailored to match the company's pristine image - neat, composed, and radiating an almost obsessive enthusiasm for the art of glass cleaning. His every word seemed designed to reinforce the flawless, clinical perfection of the space around them.
As the women watched, another figure could be seen farther inside the virtual building. He appeared as a neatly bearded man in a black waistcoat and red tie, the faint glint of a pocket watch chain adding a subtle touch of elegance. His look wasn’t ostentatious, but it exuded an understated precision, mirroring the meticulously designed space around him. Leaning slightly against a pulsating neon console, his posture was relaxed yet purposeful.
They drew closer and the presenter’s voice became clear - steady and well-rehearsed, the tone of someone who had delivered the same talk countless times. He gestured toward the display as he spoke, unloading his presentation with a polished ease. “Remember, SLAP: Speak, Lead, and Project,” he said, his hand slicing the air in a practiced gesture. The small audience murmured in polite acknowledgment, absorbed in the display. Meanwhile the red tie man busied himself adjusting the settings on the console beside him.
“That's him, isn't it?” Rosa whispered. “He's built his avatar round his RL appearance.”
Selina tilted her head toward Rosa in agreement. “Don’t imagine he'll be too thrilled to have company,” she muttered, glancing at Jonas’ crafted features, now creased in a frown as he noticed them. Selina was undeterred and walked directly in toward him.
Jonas held up a hand, his expression shifting from mild surprise to thinly veiled irritation. “Excuse me,” he said, his tone clipped as he looked them over. “I’m sorry, but there isn’t a Q and A. If you need something, you’ll have to… ” He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly as though trying to place them. “Wait… who are you, and why are you here?”
The professionalism in his voice faltered just enough to betray his unease.
Rosa stepped forward, adjusting her tone to sound as non-threatening as possible. “We’re not here to waste your time, Mr. Jonas. We just need a moment to ask a few questions about something we believe you’re connected to. Something involving the Yorkshire police station incident.”
Jonas' frown deepened, his eyes flicking between them. "Police station? You tracked me down - or stalked me, rather - to here?" he snapped, crossing his arms defensively. "I have no idea what you're talking about. And even if I did, I wouldn't discuss it with complete strangers barging into my workplace."
Selina shared a look with Rosa, then leaned in slightly, her voice low but insistent. “We know about the monkeys. Were you with the activists that released them?”
Jonas stiffened, his expression darkening as his hands gripped the edge of the console. “You need to leave. Now. I don’t know what nonsense you’ve heard, but you’re wasting your time. I’m not discussing anything with you.”
“We were sent by someone who trusts you,” Rosa said, her words deliberate and calm. Jonas’ expression didn’t change immediately, but his posture stiffened ever so slightly, his fingers tightening their grip.
Jonas scoffed. “Trusts me? Who, exactly, are you talking about?”
Selina didn’t hesitate. “Gum.”
Jonas froze, his face carefully blank. “Never heard of him,” he said, but his tone cracked slightly.
Rosa and Selina exchanged glances, undeterred by his denial. “He knows you,” Rosa said firmly. “Gum is being held in a secure facility near Paignton.”
Jonas looked away, his mask of indifference slipping for the briefest moment before he straightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said tightly. “Now, unless you have something else to say, I suggest you leave.” But his eyes betrayed him, a ripple of unease hinting that the name had hit its mark.
Rosa stepped closer, her voice softening but carrying an edge of urgency. “Look, we’re not here to expose you or make trouble. But we know you were involved somehow, and we also know that M.A.S.S. or RealityStep is experimenting on the monkeys. They need our help.”
Selina nodded, folding her arms. “Gum trusted us to find you. And whatever history you have with him, it’s clear he thought you’d be the one to help. So, are you really going to stand here and pretend you don’t know anything while the people who are experimenting on him get away with it?”
Jonas’ jaw tightened, and he glanced around, as though gauging who might be listening. His shoulders dropped a fraction, and the irritation in his expression shifted to reluctant curiosity. He sighed heavily, pushing off the console, staring at them for a split second, before he turned and ran.
Their eyes meeting in a brief, urgent exchange, Rosa and Selina hesitated a moment. Selina’s lips tightened into a thin line. "We’re going to stand out like neon flares if we go after him," she muttered, scanning the shifting crowd of avatars. Rosa’s pulse quickened, but she nodded sharply. "We can't lose him now."
Her heart pounded as she sprang into action, Selina right on her heels. The crowd parted as they charged forward, avatars flickering and phasing out to avoid collision. Jonas tore through the bustling business and shopping district, weaving between holofronts and popup kiosks, shoving past unwary shoppers. Without breaking stride, he veered sharply, vanishing into a narrow alley away from the main thoroughfare.
The alley was a riot of colours, its walls plastered with shifting graffiti that morphed into leering faces advertising products for those slightly off the beaten track. Wisps of electric blue mist drifted on the air, bearing ephemeral slogans that drifted in and out of focus. "Unlock Your Inner Potential," "Dream It, Live It, Buy It," and "Experience the Unseen, Today" swirled like disturbed smoke as the women charged through, curling into fragmented tendrils before reforming in their wake.
Jonas burst from the far end of the alleyway into a sprawling marketplace, a riot of sound and activity crashing over him like a digital tide. Artificial vendors peddled their wares from floating stalls, their cries rising and falling in a discordant symphony that mingled with the music of their displays. The air shimmered with digital dust - ephemeral particles, fragments of fractured data or holographic residue. Tiny, radiant motes drifted like fireflies, catching the light, turning the market into a dreamscape where everything blurred and shimmered. Jonas moved through it all like a shadow through mist, his path stirring the dust into delicate, glittering swirls that lingered in his wake.
"Don't lose him!" Rosa yelled, her voice cutting through the cacophony. She surprised herself by vaulting over a display of writhing neon fungi, their spores puffing up in meandering perfumed clouds that floated in the air, momentarily distorting her vision. Mingled with the digital dust, their perfumed essence bathed the radiant motes, creating a breathtaking aurora of light and fragrance. Thickened by the musky scent of incense, the particles clung to Rosa’s skin, adding to the already dreamlike feel of the bazaar.
Selina followed as Jonas darted left, then right, his path erratic but calculated. He leapt onto one of a set of escalators at the edge of the market, connecting to the levels above.
Rosa gritted her teeth and followed, feet slamming onto the rolling steps, which trembled under the sudden weight. The clinging perfumed spores gradually blew from her body as she moved, shimmering like tiny spangles through a fogged lens. Selina landed behind her, their pace barely faltering as they climbed higher into the NexUs.
As the escalator ascended, the environment shifted. The vibrant neon glow of the market below was replaced with colder, sharper lights from the commercial zones higher up. Around them, vast display windows reflected towering skyscrapers, their facades alternately glassy or pixelated. They passed by open-air terminals where passengers disembarked from gleaming hovering transports, their hums reverberating in the open space. And still, Jonas pushed on, his figure barely more than a blur against the vibrant roofscape as he pushed his avatar to its limits.
Then, without warning, he vaulted over the edge of the escalator and flung himself into the abyss, vanishing into the yawning chasm between two looming structures. Rosa gasped, her heart pounding in her chest as she reached the place he'd jumped from, eyes wide with horror as they traced his descent. The void seemed immense, an overwhelming maw of shadow that threatened to swallow Jonas whole. But there - just before the darkness consumed it - she caught a glimpse of a narrow ledge, barely discernible under the cold glow of neon strips clinging to the wall.
"He jumped," Rosa breathed, her voice trembling with a mixture of disbelief and awe. "He's insane."
"Then we need to be even more insane. It's virtual reality," Selina declared, her voice steely with resolve. Without a second's hesitation, she hauled herself over the barrier and launched into the void, her silhouette vanishing into the depths as if swallowed by the expanse.
Rosa hesitated, her mind racing as she stared into the void where Jonas and Selina had disappeared. Her breathing stalled as she fought to maintain her position despite the moving escalator beneath her, which was still rising relentlessly.
Could she really do this? What happens if you fall in virtual reality - if you die here? Would it kick her out, send her crashing back into her real body, leave her stranded in some liminal space between worlds… or worse? The thought made her stomach twist.
Selina's voice echoed in her ears. "It's virtual reality," she had said, but Rosa couldn't shake the unease. She clenched her fists, trying to summon the courage, struggling to steady herself as the escalator continued to pull her upward, her feet relentlessly stepping down against its flow.
Finally, Rosa gritted her teeth and took a shaky breath. You have to keep moving. She clambered over the barrier, her heart hammering in her chest, and leapt into the void. The fall was a blur of neon light and shadow, and for a terrifying moment, she felt weightless, suspended in nothingness.
Her feet hit the ledge harder than she expected, sending a sharp jolt up her legs and making her stumble. Instinctively, she grabbed for a cable running along the edge. Its smooth surface slid through her grip and she felt her foot slip from the ledge. She failed mentally, trying to recall the exit procedure when Selina's hand shot out, grabbing hers and pulling her back from the brink. Her breath came in ragged gasps as she looked up - Jonas was already a distant figure, his avatar disappearing into a district bathed in ominous red light.
They sprinted after him, hope dwindling as their surroundings shifted into a cybernetic overworld. The buildings here were jagged and angular, their surfaces bristling with exposed circuitry and external ducting. Overhead, the sky was a maelstrom of artificial clouds that sailed over the dark streets below.
Jonas was moving with the ease of someone who knew how to handle the precarious architecture of the virtual cityscape. His avatar darted across the rooftops with fluid precision, as if the glass facades and sharp edges were second nature to him. He reached the edge of the next building and, with practiced speed, propelled himself off the rooftop, his avatar briefly flickering as it cleared the distance between him and the next building.
"He's done all this before," Rosa muttered under her breath, watching his avatar disappear. "He knows this environment too well."
Selina cursed under her breath, looking up at the towering buildings that separated them from Jonas. “Wonder why he didn't just log off?”