I drove home in a state of panic. Maybe it’s just a dream. Just a dream. I thought, checking my phone. I was waiting for a clue. It’s not even eight in the morning. I parked outside of my house and took a deep breath. Just a dream. I’ll set the alarm for 10am, go back to bed, and it will be all over. Everything will be back to normal. I’ll wake up and go to the Lab. Back to normal. I repeated.

Turning the engine off, I got out of the car and heard someone honk. I shook my head, and was half-way up the stairs, when someone yelled,

“Rod! Hey, buddy.” It sounded just like Ben. I turned around and there he was. Ben, the same red hair, same bulging muscles. The freckles. Except instead of a Carnegie Mellon t-shirt, he was dressed in a black polo shirt with the Vista Communications logo on it. The signature red arrow at the bottom of the company name. I swallowed hard.

Ben was sitting in a Vista Communications truck. White with red.

“Hi.” I responded. “What’s up?” Maybe he is picking me up to go to the gym? Flashed through my mind. Maybe he is moonlighting working for Vista Communications?

“What’s up? I came to pick you up. Shift is starting in 30 minutes. We gotta get a move on.” He tapped his watch.

“What?”

“Are you alright, man? Hurry up.” He shook his head.

“Wait, what? Do you work for Vista Communications?”

“Ummm, are you drunk or something? Yes.” He got out of the van and, leaning against the door of the truck, stared at me.

“Okay.” I said. “Give me a second.” Without waiting for an answer, I ran into the house.

I rushed into the bathroom and leaned on the vanity. Then, splashed water on my face. Just a dream. I thought. I looked in the mirror and screamed. I was dressed in the Vista Communications polo. The same one I saw Ben wearing outside. I wanted to scream. I pinched myself. No effect. I bit my lip and yelped in pain.

A second later, I heard the doorbell, and then Ben walked into the house.

“Hey, come on, Rod, I’m leaving. I don’t wanna be late because of you.”

“Coming.” I answered and walked out of the bathroom.

“Bro, you’re not looking good today.” Ben shook his head. “I gotta get you signed up for the gym, man. Look at ya, you’re all weak. You gotta start taking care of your body.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” I mumbled, following him to the van. I got into the passenger seat.

“So, how’s it going with your brother?” Ben asked, starting the car.

“My brother?” I raised my eyebrows. My heart beat fast and my head was spinning. I could barely keep it together, so I grabbed the edge of the seat, watching my knuckles turn white from tension.

“Yeah, the bachelor party. You still want me to help you out? I got ideas.” Ben chuckled.

“Oh, yeah?” I asked, clenching my jaw. What is happening? What am I doing here?

“Yeah, so there’s this club. It’s just amazing. You wanna go check it out after work?”

“What kind of club?”

“A strip club!” Ben shook his head. He made a few turns, and we stopped in front of a two-story building. “Here we are! The Lab.”

“The Lab?” I stared at the place and recognized the building where Papa took me to get the DNA test done.

“What’s this?”

“A corporate client.” Ben said. “We’re upgrading their fiberoptic network, remember?”

I didn’t respond, but got out of the truck. We walked into the building through a double glass door. Phil. I remembered the day he took me to this place. My heart rate accelerated. The day my life started unraveling. Mama. With the strange events at the Lab, I almost forgot about my plan, but now I clenched my fists, thinking of how I would cut Phil’s throat. What did it matter if I worked at Vista? I still had the same goal. The same plan. And I would bring it to fruition.

At the reception, a blond woman was on the phone. I recognized the button nose, the haircut. The look of perpetual condescension on her face. It was Kate. I gulped, stepping back.

Will she know who I am?

Kate was still speaking into the receiver when Ben walked up to the counter and announced,

“Hello, we’re here from Vista Communications.”

Kate glanced at Ben, then made a gesture with her hand to show for him to wait. Ben leaned on the counter and bellowed.

“Hello, excuse me, we’re here from Vista Communications.”

“Let me call you right back.” Kate smiled into the receiver. She ended the conversation and looked at Ben, narrowing her eyes. “I heard you the first time. You need to wait, sir.”

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“Where’s the server room?” Ben asked.

“I have to check you in first. Can I see some ID?”

“Here you go.” Ben slammed a card on the table. Benjamin Deets. I read. “Sign in here, please.” Kate ordered and pushed a clipboard with a sign-in sheet to him.

Ben signed his name and turned to me. I expected him to ask me to produce an ID and reached into my pants pocket, fumbling for my wallet. I was now curious whether I also had a Vista Communications ID, just like Ben did.

But he said,

“Come, let’s go.”

“And his ID? He needs to sign in!” Kate protested, steely notes in her voice.

“I already signed for him.” Ben rolled his eyes. “Look, m’am, do you want this work done or not?” He walked off. A few moments later, he turned and called me. “Come on, Rod.”

I followed. As I walked away from the front desk, I heard Kate mumble, ‘unbelievable, so rude!’

Ben led me down the hall, past the offices, one of which decided my fate. At the very end of the corridor was a door. I could hear electronic buzzing. Ben opened it and I saw several machines, all clicking, flashing, cables interconnecting with each other.

As we entered, I acted along, trying hard to pretend as if I knew what I was doing. Except, to my great relief, I realized Ben had no expectations of me for two reasons. The first one, as he pointed out, was because I was new to the job. And the second was completely unexpected.

“I have to say, this whole onboarding Vista does. It’s useless.” Ben shook his head in disdain as he was fumbling with the cords. “Take you, for example, if you were assigned to someone else. Not someone like me, with experience.” He paused for effect. “You’d learn absolutely nothing.”

I nodded.

“Am I right or am I right?” He continued. “So you just observe, Rod. You just watch what I do. And listen, you don’t wanna be one of those guys, doing too much. You hear me?”

I nodded again. About an hour into the job, he plopped down on the floor and invited me to sit next to him.

“‘Cause no one likes a showoff.” Ben explained. “Me and the guys, there is an industry standard. So we don’t want to rush things. We know how long a job is supposed to take. So no need to finish a head of time.” He raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah.” I agreed. Ben grinned.

“Listen, the reason I like you, Rod, is ‘cause you don’t yap. You’re a solid dude. Young, that’s for sure, but you’ll grow out of it.” He chuckled. “Am I right or am I right?”

***

Time passed quickly this way. Our shift ended at 2pm, and Ben made us sit in the server room until it was 2:15.

“Overtime.” He announced, pushing a tangle of wires in the corner.

“Are we going to finish?”

“This is a week-long job, Rod.” He noted meaningfully, as we left the server room, walking back to the front desk.

Seeing us approach, Kate rose from her seat and walked around, blocking our passage to the front door. The clicking of her heels sounded exactly like it had in the Lab. I nearly expected her to give me instructions to go down and start testing. She threw a disgruntled look at Ben.

“You need to sign out.”

“No need. See you tomorrow.”

“What? Why tomorrow?”

“Yes, m’am. It’s a complicated job.” Ben sighed and wiped an imaginary drop of sweat off his forehead. “This is why I always bring a partner. But even so, lots of work.”

“So when will you finish?” Kate’s mouth gaped open.

“Hard to say exactly, m’am,” Ben said, suddenly polite. He leaned closer, as if taking Kate into his confidence. “But I guarantee we’ll finish by this weekend. I would not want to leave you hanging.”

“Thank you.” Kate’s eyes lit up. I almost felt sorry for her.

“Have a great afternoon, m’am.” Ben flashed a smile, and we exited the building.

We walked across the parking lot and got into the van. Expecting Ben to take me home, I thought about how I’d fare by myself. I had no idea what was happening, and the only reason I hadn’t broken out in full-out panic was because of Ben.

“So, let’s go check the place out.” Ben said, turning onto Bigelow Boulevard toward downtown.

“What place?” I cleared my throat.

“The club!” Ben moved his shoulders back and forth, as if doing a dance. “The club!”

“The strip club?” I asked, my lips barely moving.

“Yeah. Isn’t the bachelor party next week?”

“I…I forgot.” I said.

“February 13th, I remember. Friday the 13th, baby.”

“It’s February already.” I mumbled, a knot forming in my stomach. I felt like throwing up. I had somehow jumped a whole month ahead and had no idea what had happened. I had no recollection of anything, had no idea what had happened to the Lab, why it was closed and why I now had a Vista Communications uniform and was partnered with a guy who called me Rod.

At what point did it become February?

“Time flies!” Ben said. “I know what you mean. But if I could go back in time, I would.”

“What?” I turned to look at him. Time is a construct. Flashed in my mind. I remembered CM, our conversations. The training. I suddenly ached to be back at the lab, doing testing, being a part of something new and revolutionary. I missed my digital twin. Ryder. I wonder how he’s doing. I thought with fondness.

“I mean, I’d go back and have the Steelers win the Super Bowl all over again.” Ben tapped the wheel.

“Yeah.” I nodded. I knew better than to show my ignorance. Apparently, I’d missed a historic event for the city of Pittsburgh.

“Second win in four years, baby!” Ben grinned. “Here we go!” He tapped the Steelers song on the steering wheel. “Here we go! Pittsburgh’s going to the Super Bowl!”

***

Ten minutes later we parked on 9th avenue downtown, not far from the Greyhound station.

“Alright, Rod, let me help you out.” Ben led me to a windowless building with a metal door. A sign above the door read ‘Foxy’s Gentlemen’s club.’

Foxy’s. I frowned. Foxes everywhere. Ben rang the doorbell, and we waited. He stuck out his jaw, as if about to fight an opponent, and put his hands in his pockets. A minute later, the door opened with a screech. A huge bouncer opened the door and squinted at us. I could hear booming music coming from the inside. His eyes fixed on Ben, the bouncer smiled in recognition.

“Hey.”

“Hi, Teddy.” Ben said. “This is a friend of ours. Wants to throw a bachelor party for his older brother.”

“Come in, come in. I’ll call the manager.” Teddy let us inside. We stepped into the semi-darkness. The music got louder.

I saw several women gyrating on stage and averted my eyes.

“Have a seat right here.” Teddy led us to the main hall and pointed to a plush couch.

“So, if there’s anyone who catches your eye, you let me know, Rod.” Ben stated, nodding at the stage in approval. “You wait for them to come to you. And then, you watch. Just watch.”

We sat in silence, Ben tapping his fingers on the table. And then, just as he predicted, one of the dancers sauntered to our table. I looked away, avoiding eye contact, until I heard her say.

“Hey there, boys.” I looked up and saw her bright red hair cut in trapeze fashion. Milky white skin. Dawn. I gulped. Dawn. My heart beat so fast, it was about to jump out of my chest. I squeezed the edge of the table.

“Hi! What’s your name?” She asked.

“I’m Ben and this here is Rod.”

“Rod? I like that.” She giggled.

“And what’s your name?” Ben asked.

“I’m Foxy.” Another giggle. She flipped her hair back, revealing a tattoo of a fox snaking around her neck to her shoulder. I’d seen it so many times before. It had to be the same Dawn. What was she doing here?

“And what’s your real name, sweetheart?” Ben asked.

“Dawn.” She said, moving closer. She was now hovering over us, and I could feel the heat of her body.

“Dawn? And you work in a nightclub?” Ben laughed.

“It pays the bills!” Dawn said. “And what’s up with your friend?” She pointed at me. “He looks like he’s seen a ghost.”

The two of them laughed. I rose from the table and ran.