Chapter 30
Home Again
Leo continued to wander the neighborhood, not wanting to go anywhere, while having no desire to go home.
Zrrkr #1: Hey Leo. You okay? Mr. Osmond told us you'd gotten released and said not to bother you, but I have to know. What happened?
Leo jumped, startled by Angie's unexpected contact.
Future Man 10/16: It sucked, Angie. They ended up drugging me, but fortunately, they didn't have the sense to ask the right questions. Kept asking about the Professor. Never asked about you and Liam, so I think you guys are safe. I told them about my vision, and they were about to lock me in the nuthouse when the aliens intervened and got me released.
Zrrkr #1: They took me in too, last August. I thought I was so tough. I tried doing what you did, but I lasted 15 minutes, broke down crying, confessed everything. Still have nightmares. Mr. Osmond said you told the agency to go fuck themselves. How did you do it?
Future Man 10/16: I've dealt with worse.
Zrrkr #1: What would you have done if they'd cut off your fingers?
Future Man 10/16: I'd have no fingers. They'd have grown back, post-Change, or the Change wouldn't have happened, meaning I did something right.
Zrrkr #1: I'm a six in craziness, you're at least a twenty. By the way, I thought you should know. I worked with your sister to get the Serpent Jelly from her friend. Your sister skimmed off the top of the deal. Told us she was paying her friend $900 and keeping $100. I found out she paid her friend $400 and kept $600.
Future Man 10/16: Sounds like Lydia. But let me make it clear, if she needs to be punished, I will do the punishing. If you try anything, there will be consequences.
Zrrkr #1: Easy, Leo. It's not my money and I couldn't care less. I did tell her I know people who've been killed for pulling stunts like that. She offered to return the money, but I told her to keep it. It's not like Mr. Osmond can't afford it.
Future Man 10/16: If we can't stop the Change, that money will be worthless in less than two weeks anyway. I'll see you guys tomorrow. We have a game to play.
Some kids around Leo's age who were hanging out in a park, noticed him as he walked by, and started talking among themselves. He supposed getting dragged from the school, in handcuffs, must have made an impression.
Soon it would be time to contact Mr. Osmond and get back to saving the world. But not quite yet.
When the sun started going down, Leo turned around and headed home.
Leo walked in to the sound of the TV and a voice he recognized.
“I think people underestimate the compassion of the upper class. For example, when my factory released toxic gas into the air last year, I quickly provided air filters to nearby communities at reasonable prices.”
It was Ambrose, the billionaire, once again being interviewed by some fawning reporter. The seventy-year-old man looked even younger than he had two weeks ago. Ambrose could easily pass for a sixteen-year-old now.
I killed you in another life, you piece of shit. Leo thought.
The only person home when he arrived was Lydia, face glued to their flat-screen TV. The cat, Sparkles, had curled up on the couch next to her.
She looked up when she heard him come inside. “Oh. You're back,” she said. “You were supposed to be here this morning.”
“I went for a walk,” he responded. “Didn't feel like doing anything.”
She sniffed. “Must have been nice. They told us you were at this summer camp, learning about the agency and helping them with their investigation. Or fall camp, of course, since it's no longer summer.”
“Something like that.” He went to the refrigerator.
“What did you do there?” she asked. “They said you broke your finger playing basketball. But their doctor fixed you up for free.”
“I did some water sports. Hung around. Talked to people. Good times.” Leo pulled some leftover chicken from the refrigerator. “Did I miss anything?”
Ambrose continued talking:
“I will not go so far as to say poor people are stupid. However, I believe intelligence is determined by how much wealth someone is able to accrue throughout their lives. Now, everyone in this room is doing well, but there are billions of people who have trouble putting food on the table...”
Leo sighed.
“You were lucky you weren't here last night,” Lydia said. “Mom and Dad invited people over for dinner. The food was okay, but they started drinking and someone got out a guitar, then they tried to play the guitar and started making horrible noises.”
“Wait. They were playing a guitar and singing? Mom and Dad can sing?”
“No, they can't sing, and they definitely can't play guitar. They kept trying, though. They sounded so horrible. Being around them was torture. You're lucky you missed it.”
“Yeah. Good thing I missed it, then,” Leo said, trying not to laugh.
“I met your friend, Angie,” she said. “She's pretty okay. She told me she lost her arm in a car accident where her arm got pinned underneath a car. She had to use her teeth and a pocket knife to cut herself free so she could get away from the car before it exploded. So I guess she's not an implant wearer after all.”
“Sounds right,” Leo said. He ate quickly, not wanting to watch Ambrose any longer than he had to, and not wanting to fight with Lydia about it.
He went up to his room to take a red pill and exercise. He had 126 Demon Tears now. But since he had a decent character class available to him, he was less concerned with raising his stats.
He pulled a book from his bookshelf. The bottle of red pills he'd stashed behind it had vanished.
He sighed. “Lydia!” He stomped out to the living room. “Where are my red pills?”
Lydia sniffed, face still glued to the TV. “How would I know?”
“When I heard the doomsday predictions, I laughed. You see, the humans at Bio-Blessed, yes, I signed a contract requiring me to call them humans. Anyway, these humans are sitting on trillions of dollars. If they destroy our world, that money is gone, completely worthless. Same thing with their business. Nobody is going to be there to buy their products if they destroy our world...”
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Leo glared down at Lydia. “You knew about the pills, and now they're not there. Why?”
“I didn't touch them.”
“You told Mom, didn't you?”
Lydia looked scared and evasive. “No.”
Leo went to his parent's bedroom and looked around, not finding anything. They were probably in Mom's purse, which was with Mom.
Leo stormed back to the living room. “You little brat!”
“I didn't mean to tell her. We were talking, and it happened. Then Mom went looking around your room, and I ended up telling her where they were so she didn't mess up your room.” Lydia cringed. “You're going to hit me now, aren't you?”
“The thought's crossing my mind,” Leo said, glaring at her. But he couldn't hit her, not after everything that had happened, and he suspected she knew it.
He turned around and left, feeling childish as he slammed his bedroom door behind him.
***
Leo lay down, enjoying his real bed in his real bedroom. He knew he should exercise despite losing his red pills, but he was tired and couldn't bring himself to care.
He fell asleep quickly, only to be awakened by horrible nightmares. In addition to being waterboarded by monsters, a memory from his previous life gave him chills.
“Has anyone been able to contact the Professor?” an unknown implant wearer asked a small group of people Leo didn't recognize.
“I've been trying for days,” someone answered. “Nothing. I think we can conclude he didn't make it.”
“Shit,” was the first man's response. He looked sick. “God help us all.”
***
Saturday, October 4th, 2059
12 days to the apocalypse
After a restless sleep, Leo got up early, skipped breakfast, and headed for Mr. Osmond's place.
Mr. Osmond let Leo in. There were dark circles around the man's eyes. “I told everybody to leave you alone, Leo. I know you had a difficult week. If you need more time, or anything else, just say so.”
The place smelled like unwashed bodies and old coffee.
“So what did I miss?” Leo asked.
Mr. Osmond led him to the kitchen. “A number of things. I submitted to a lie detector test, telling them I've had no contact with any current implant wearers and am working on a secret formula to track the price fluctuations of certain stocks.” Mr. Osmond helped himself to some coffee and looked over at Leo. When Leo nodded, he poured the boy some coffee as well. “I passed the lie detector test, but I suspect they didn't believe me.”
To any outsiders, it looked like Leo and Mr. Osmond were quietly drinking coffee as they continued speaking via implant.
Teach I can't believe you went through what you did to protect me. If I had a choice, I would pay one million dollars to not go through what they did to you.
Leo laughed.
Future Man 10/16: You owe me one million dollars, then.
Teach: Hardly. But I want you to know I'm grateful. What's disturbing is why the aliens got you released. I'm convinced they see this as a game. Humans pulled you off the board and the aliens took steps to get you back into play. But to what purpose?
Future Man 10/16: I wish I knew. Oh yeah, what's the story on the Serpent Jelly my sister helped score for you?
Teach: Not much. We were considering dosing Tagert, the guy who was snitching on Trent. But the Professor's connections revealed that the agency already knows about Trent's connection to you. Trent's been confiding in one of their undercover agents, investigating his church for cult activities.
Future Man 10/16: Uh, oh.
Teach: My thoughts exactly. I gave Trent a heads-up. Hopefully, his church can avoid getting shut down or busted before October 16th.
Future Man 10/16: So who's the Professor?
Teach: Some idealistic Ivy-League idiot. He helps freedom fighters around the world by connecting them to other like-minded people and providing instructions on improvised weapons and bombs. I don't like him, but he's well-connected and one of the first people I turned to, to help with our end of the world situation.
Future Man 10/16: A few days after the Change, I remember some implant wearers talking about someone they referred to as the Professor. They looked upset. I assumed they meant someone from the local college. Of course, I didn't know the Professor existed. I'm pretty sure he didn't survive the Change the last time around.
Teach: I see. I'll be sure to pass that along.
Future Man 10/16: Thanks. Ironic that the agency thinks we got our information from the Professor, rather than the reverse. Hold on to the Serpent Jelly. If the Change happens, I have some ideas for how to use it.
“Well, Leo, with the possible threat of prison looming, we've been playing as much School's Out as possible,” Mr. Osmond said, reverting to regular speech. “I talked to Howie, the guy who wouldn't join us last week. He agreed to replace you as Joseph after I offered him money, and it turns out he's an excellent player. We've made some progress in the game. Though there was a major setback when Angie got killed and we had to start over again.”
“Hey, I was trying to protect you guys,” a tired-looking Angie stomped into the kitchen and grabbed an energy drink from the refrigerator. “How was I supposed to know Byron couldn't tank a Boss attack?”
“Well, now you know,” Mr. Osmond said, looking tired and grumpy. “Unfortunately, we have yet to gain any useful information. To make matters worse, the game's two programmers supposedly committed suicide. By hanging themselves, while locked up in a mental institution, and wearing straitjackets. In addition, all the notes and records the two programmers were keeping mysteriously vanished. So the game is all we've got.”
Teach: I contacted our new connections in the agency to see if they kept any of the notes and records from the programmers. They claim the agency burnt them all and that nobody bothered to read them first. Assholes.
“You told Leo about Howie right?” Angie asked. “That guy's an amazing player, not that you're a bad player, Leo, but Howie is amazing.”
Jason trudged into the kitchen, looking exhausted. He grabbed an energy drink and stuck some frozen waffles into Mr. Osmond's toaster. “Welcome back, Leo. In the game, we've almost made it to where the two of us rescued the General's daughter.”
“Hey, Loverboy,” Angie winked at Jason.
“Shut up,” Jason said, face turning red.
“We got to that kissing cut-scene Jason kept complaining about,” Angie said. “You want to know what it was? A quick peck on the cheek. Teresa runs over and kisses Gavin on the cheek and runs off again. The game didn't even censor it.”
“Well, how was I supposed to know?” Jason protested.
Leo couldn't stop himself from laughing.
Liam, Charlotte, and Howie came in, saying sleepy good mornings and filling the kitchen.
“So with Howie playing, do you guys really need me here?” Leo asked.
The other players looked at each other.
“If you want your place back, you got it, Leo,” Mr. Osmond said. “Howie gets paid the same, regardless.”
Howie nodded. “Up to you guys.”
“Howie's doing a great job,” Jason said, looking nervously at Leo. “We're kicking butt out there.”
The other players nodded.
“Sounds like I'm not needed,” Leo said, feeling hurt. “Anything you want me to do while you guys play?”
Mr. Osmond tried to take another sip of his coffee, found out his cup was empty, and put it down. “I'd like you to look over the game footage, Leo. I'm convinced there's something obvious I'm missing, but I don't know what.”
Leo nodded, trying to suppress his disappointment. “Will do.”