Upon returning from Philly I dove straight back into testing Ryder. Or training him. Or whatever I was doing with my digital twin. My double.

I wrote off the strange vision of Ryder popping off the screen and the dream about Dawn to stress. I took the vitamin D April had given me. And, indeed, my first few days back at the Lab were nothing special. As normal as anything there could be. I tested Ryder and trained him to become accustomed to oxygen deprivation.

After a while, I realized I was also training myself. As Ryder’s oxygen levels dropped, I felt nausea and got light-headed. We eased into a lower and lower percentage of oxygen until we reached six percent.

“Congratulations! Now you can survive on Mount Everest!” The screen flashed. “Summit Level Reached.”

Ryder gave me a thumbs up, and confetti poured from the top of the screen.

Mount Everest? That’s weird. I thought and pushed my chair back. I checked the time. It was five and, likely, Ben and Kate were still upstairs, so I could catch them before they left for the day. I rarely saw them most days now. Kate would sometimes pop in to say hello, ask me about the ‘oxygen training,’ and leave. Ben rarely spoke to me, but sometimes I caught his gaze on me. He looked as if he were checking me for damage, but I wrote it off to imagination. I pulled off the finger monitor and ripped off the headphones. Suddenly, I felt light-headed. I needed a break. Ryder wasn’t moving. I pressed ‘Attach,’ and the screen went dark. And then I saw the words typed on the screen. Green on black. All on their own.

Talk to me.

My jaw dropped. I felt like Neo in the Matrix. I stared at the screen in silence, then backed away from it. I got up from the chair and walked to the other side of the room, shook my head, then walked back to the desk. The letters were still there.

Talk to me.

“What?” I mouthed. Then shrugged and, with a sigh, typed, assuming the computer meant ‘typing’ by ‘speaking.’

Yo.

Hello! It’s nice to meet you. The green letters appeared. I’d like to get to know you better. My name is CM.

Sure! I typed and shook my head. Whatever.

Get ready for an upgrade!

At this, I rolled my eyes and pushed the chair back once more. I was done. Must be a system bug, I decided. Maybe now that Ryder reached the Everest level, he doesn’t have anything better to do?

Come with me. He mouthed and winked at me. I let out a scream. I saw an image of the Count of Monte Cristo on the screen. The count was wearing a wide-brimmed hat, just like he did in the illustrations of the book we brought from Russia. It was the older count, during his revenge stint, his posture stiff, the imprint of years of being a prisoner, the mark of his age.

Do not be afraid of me, Rodion. The count smiled. We can play a game together. Tell me what you want and I’ll make it happen.

I sat still in front of the screen, unable to move. The tips of my fingers felt like icicles and a knot formed in the pit of my stomach.

The messages started flashing on the screen in quick succession.

Rodion, I’m here to help you.

I am CM. Count of Monte Cristo. But you can call me the Count.

We can help each other, Rodion.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

It has to be our little secret.

He put a finger to his mouth.

Shh.

“What?” I screamed and jumped up. I’d reached my limit. This was simply too much. Either I was going crazy or the testing was doing something it wasn’t supposed to. I didn’t care what happened to the screen, whether the count was still there. I ran upstairs, pushing the door open and catapulted into the kitchen. There, I caught the end of what sounded like a fight between Kate and Ben.

“I told you, this isn’t right.” Kate stood with her back turned to me, hands on her hips.

“Kate!” Ben yelled out a warning, seeing me emerge from the Lab. I’d never seen him look so pale.

“Umm, Kate, Ben, can you guys come downstairs, please? Something weird is going with the game.” I yelled. Kate turned and frowned.

“Oh?” Ben raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, there’s like stuff appearing on the screen.”

“Alright, let’s see.” Ben walked downstairs first, followed by Kate. I closed the procession.

“Why is the screen off?” Ben gave me a questioning look when we stood in front of my workstation.

“It wasn’t off just a minute ago!” I yelped.

“Kate, come here.” Ben turned the computer on. I held my breath, half-expecting the Count to appear, but it was the usual start-up screen.

“So what’s the weird stuff you’d been seeing, Rodion?”

“Just text on the screen. I dunno.” I mumbled. I didn’t want to reveal the full content of my vision.

“Hey, Rodion, are you alright?” Kate put her hand on my shoulder and I jumped.

“I’m fine.” I squeezed out through gritted teeth. Why did I even call them down here? Ryder smiled from the screen, ready to go, as usual.

“I guess you guys reached the Summit of Mount Everest. Isn’t that cool?” Kate smiled. “It’s just a little more, and you’ll get to be working with even lower oxygen levels.”

“Yeah.” I nodded, feeling faint.

“Do you want us to stay with you down here?” Kate asked. Ben furrowed his brow, giving me his critical stare.

“No, it’s cool.” I said, trying to sound casual.

Ben and Kate exchanged glances and left. I sat back down. I guess it’s just a regular day. I thought and pressed enter. I connected the finger monitor and put on the headphones. With a sigh, I clicked on Ryder.

We were back on the octagonal plane and now we started the biking part of the training, with oxygen levels gradually decreasing. Biking exerted a different effort from Ryder. My body also responded. I’d gotten used to running with Ryder, but this was different. My quads hurt, and I felt spasms in my calves. I’d nearly finished when, without warning, Ryder’s figure pixelated into black. The screen flashed and turned black, then green lines popped up, forming themselves into letters. And then, the image of the count was back.

He was standing in the corner, looking debonair.

Rodion, are you ready?

He lifted his hat and looked at me from under its brim, like Michael Jackson. When I didn’t respond, the Count narrowed his eyes.

Don’t be afraid.

“What are you?” I typed furiously.

CM. I told you.

“What does that even mean? CM? Why are you the Count?”

I don’t have to be the Count. I can be whatever you want me to be. I was created out of your mind, Rodion.

“How?”

I’ve studied your mind for the last three months. 100 days. That’s what I was given. And now I’ve been given access to you. I’m your projection. Your personal AI.

“What the hell is that?”

Consider me your personal assistant. I am from the future. Even better, treat me like a regular human. I can do whatever you do, and I can help you, Rodion.

“I don’t need help.”

But you do. Think of something you’d like to do. Something that you would love to do, but you cannot. And I can help you do it.

“There is nothing like that. I don’t want anything.”

I know things, Rodion. I’ve mastered you. You’re my first human ward. And I know all of your desires and wants. Even things you won’t admit to yourself.

“Get lost.”

It doesn’t work like that, Rodion. You’re my first. And now I can operate as you. We can work together. I can help you, Rodion. With my help, you can do things you never thought were possible.

“Oh yeah? Well, guess what? I wanna go home and never see your ugly face again.” I jumped up and turned the screen off.

On my way out, I saw Dawn. She was napping on the couch, and I decided not to wake her as I left. As I walked past her, I saw the glint of a magazine she’d been reading. I looked closer and suddenly noticed something metal sticking out from under the covers. I moved a little closer, careful not to wake her. Leaning in, I saw the unmistakable outline of a MacBook. I knew what they looked like because Sergei got one. A laptop? Why would Dawn have a laptop? I decided to ask her later.

Once at home, I was compelled to read the Count of Monte Cristo. Maybe it was to compare the image I’d just seen to the one in the books. I went straight to my favorite parts in Volume 2. Revenge. Of course! This is what CM meant. That was my hidden desire. This was what he had hinted. He would help me avenge Mama’s death.

Phil was still out there, living somewhere in Edgewood or Swissvale, happily paired off with Marina. And they were raising their son. I did a quick calculation and estimated the boy must have been about ten.

Older than I was when I lost Mama. I thought. I guess it won’t be so bad if he lost a dad.