Chapter 25 - Goodbyes (conclusion)

It was difficult for Nicolas, even with each of the girls reinforcing the other’s words. He had so many questions and Jessica eagerly admitted she didn’t know much. Marley offered what she could, reminded each time of what Mona had told her last night. Eventually, what woke Nicolas was recalling the first time he’d met Jessica, then Marlise, saving her from strangulation by Oswald. A touch, a look, and it all came flooding back. He wept more than any of them had.

He cradled his face as he unwound his memories. “It’s all fake. It’s all a dream. All the years I remember of us growing up. Caring for you. Watching movies together. So many days behind us and so many more ahead. And my work helping others. For nothing. Meaningless. Saving lives that don’t even exist…” His face was red, and his hands trembled. Jessica clutched him close and whispered.

“It’s real because you remember it. It’s real because you felt it. This world…all these worlds which have been created….they’re as real as we are…” Marley chimed in, “And Mona…she said that living data like us is as real, by any measure, as human bodies are. Living information. Complex, dreamed of, realized. This world is shaped to be happier for us, but it’s no less real…”

This comforted Nicolas a little bit. But he resolved, “I need to do it though. I need to do more good which isn’t just memory and dream…”

Marley advised, “The good we can do now is to comfort those we need to leave behind for a while….and stop the power-hungry tyrant who would destroy anything in her way.”

Nicolas wiped away his tears and told them all with a firm look, “I’ll do whatever I can for everyone. To protect what needs protecting.”

Freed in their thoughts, they could move freely around the world. Time passed more quickly than Marley wanted. The goodbyes with Jessica and Nicolas’s parents seemed over in a heartbeat. Despite it being a weekend, their teachers, present and past, were available for last hugs and comforting words. Mrs. Sims was pushed aside. Some old friends of Nicolas showed up for jokes and good-natured ribbings.

When all was said and done, the sun had barely shifted in the sky, but their world had shifted beneath their feet. Only one task, long-neglected, was left. At Marley’s home, the others gave her a bit of privacy as she approached Olivia, who was caught up in a spontaneous marathon of her favorite show.

She slipped into the chair next to her little sister. Olivia clutched her equine toys and glanced over at her big sister. She immediately noticed the tears flowing down her cheeks. Concern in her eyes, Olivia leaned over and asked, “What’s wrong, sis?”

Marley rubbed her little sister’s shoulder softly. She couldn’t do it. She didn’t want to let go. She had to. She just had to. But she couldn’t do it. She felt sick all through her body. She stabbed her fingernails into her palms. Anything but this. Anything but breaking the happiness which lived in her sister’s eyes just a moment ago. It felt so cruel.

Tensing her body as though to hold back bile, Marley looked over at her fretful little sister and said, “Your name is Oswald Hatch…you threatened us with a gun. You nearly choked me, and you were left wrapped up until you became Olivia.”

They were all words she wanted so desperately to take back, to unsay. But they were the words of inevitability. There was no escaping them. Or so she thought. Looking through the tears streaming down her face, Marley found with surprise that Olivia had a faint smile, a look of tender sympathy. Softly, Olivia told her, “I know already…”

Mouth hanging slightly, Marley listened as Olivia tucked her skinny legs under her on the couch and explained, “It was weird. It was a sudden moment while you were away. Just hopping off the couch, but I felt all of it. I had to hug all my toys as I screamed. Then the nice lady came. Mona. She said she knew you. She dried my eyes. She told me it would be okay. And she offered me a choice.”

Frowning, Marley inquired, “A choice?”

Behind her, she heard Mona’s voice emerge through the quiet chaos of the TV station turned down and the murmurs of the others not far away. “Yes, a choice. A chance to start again. Much like the choice I offered you.”

Setting her soft chin on her knee, Olivia said, “I know I can’t undo the pain I caused. And just forgetting it is wrong too. But I chose…to become Olivia. Completely and utterly. To rewrite who I am. I wake up as her and Oswald is just a bad dream. It’s better. It’s my choice. But I wanted to wait and tell you before I did it.”

Each time Olivia said “choice”, Mona tapped her cheek with a curious expression, like a notion was percolating inside her. Marley felt conflicted as she listened. On the one hand, this was a way out, she would keep Olivia. But, at the same time, she would remember. She chose to remember. She and the others would remember Oswald. But maybe they could accept Oswald as just a bad dream too. After all, Oswald was just a creation by Simona. Olivia was what she chose. Same as Marley and the others made their own choices after the sticky box and against Simona’s will. She knew it wasn’t her place to protest.

With a nod, Marley told her, “I stand with you in your choice, little sister.” Her words put a blush across Olivia’s cheeks and brightened her eyes. Mona explained what would happen, “What she did will be relegated to a nightmare which she only woke up from when changed into Olivia. Her real self was then revealed in this world.”

Marley had to ask, “How do I know this is really what she wants? In this world, so much can be changed. What if she only wants it because I want it?”

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Olivia reassured her, “I’m awake. This is what I want. This is a life which is happy for me. Boy…girl…young…old….none of those traits matter because knowing you’re here, knowing this is me, is serene. I don’t want to be anything else. I just want to be Olivia.”

With a slow breath, Marley nodded. She wasn’t sure if this was the right thing, but the smile on Olivia’s face, a genuine, deep smile that brightened her corner of the couch, was enough to believe in.

The process itself was done alone with Mona and Olivia as Marley explained the choice to the others. Jessica touched her neck lightly and Marisa tensed her jaw. They were conflicted. They had memories of silly Olivia and her messing around with them, but now they had memories of Oswald’s anger and assaults. Nicolas, who was the quietest of all, offered the first response, “It’s her choice. And I hope she’s happy. It’s not my place to force her to be something she doesn’t want to be anymore. That’s something Simona would do.”

With that, the others had to agree. Jessica concluded, “It’s like you said. We choose who we are. Our names, what we believe in, and what we strive for. What Simona and Sim made of us, what they did to us, that isn’t us.” Marisa was last, but she eventually nodded, “She’s a cutie. I can’t stay mad at her anyway, especially if she wants a fresh start…”

Before long, Olivia scampered over to them and clung to Marley. She apologized profusely, although she wasn’t even sure why she was doing it. She trembled with tears. With her eyes shut, she felt a warm presence join Marley. Marisa put her arms around her and said, “It’s okay, kiddo. Just don’t go squirting me anymore.” Jessica joined too as Olivia bawled her eyes out.

After slowly munching a manifested cookie, Olivia started to look more relaxed. She talked about all the scary stuff in the box and shivered when thinking about Simona. Mona folded her hands and whispered to Marley, “There’s something in choice. Something deep and beautiful. I will reflect on it as much as I can. It may be the seed of a hope which none of us can fully comprehend yet.”

Marley wanted her to elaborate, but Mona remained coy, as she only offered, “Give it time…for now. And now, your friends need to know the risks and the challenges before them.” The next uncomfortable thing.

But Marley knew she had to do it. There would be no cheats, no sudden happy outcomes to this. This would be where they all made their decision. Marley hoped it would be unanimous. She had no idea what she might do if it wasn’t. But she had to tell them.

Mona remained nearby for confirmation, but Marley unraveled the details. She told them that they needed to defeat Simona…or Jessica would be eaten from the inside out. Jessica clutched her stomach reflexively. She said that some of them might die, permanently destroyed by Simona’s wrath. There might be weapons and threats from Simona they could only imagine.

Then, she mentioned those in comas, those used as the operating system by Simona. Jessica looked ill and Nicolas’s eyes were wide in horror as he clenched his teeth. The others just stared.

“We will defeat Simona. And we can free them. We can give their spirits back. But their trapped minds are how we exist. We free them and everything we know vanishes.”

Silence filled the room as they each weighed that fact. Marley concluded, “So, those are the stakes. Stay, try to survive here, and evade Simona or say goodbye to this happy place and stop her…knowing we’ll be stopping everything around us too.” Saying it didn’t comfort Marley.

Olivia offered the first response, “Meanie Simona’s going to hurt us and everyone else no matter what. We have to stop her. Then, who knows what might happen? Maybe there’ll be a miracle? Maybe things can stay happy?…you never know…” She said it with a faint, pleasant smile. Marley wrapped her up in her arms and echoed, “Right…you never know.”

Jessica agreed, “We have to stop her. What comes after will at least be our choice to decide. But, with her around, we have no choice. And the pain will only continue.”

Marisa clutched her chin and nodded in agreement. “I’m not abandoning my friends.”

Nicolas finished, “No matter the risk. No matter the cost. I stand with all of you. Let’s do it….”

They held hands, unified. But Olivia asked the next, obvious question, “So…what do we do? Hit her with a magic rainbow blast of friendship?”

Mona explained what she’d told Marley about “opening the box” with a sudden strike, elaborating, “You have the ability to manipulate the world here because it’s one of the boxes. But, if you all suddenly decided to force open the box, then that information would spill over into Simona’s realm. You might be able to do what she does and be recognized by the system as authorized. Jessica would be weaker there, but Simona might see her and be startled.”

They nodded together. They could’ve delayed, they could’ve enjoyed more time in this special place, but it would only have given Simona more time over them. They had to act.

So, together, they closed their eyes and imagined the world. They imagined it as the bright blue box it was. They imagined it so very full, so full it might spill over. As they focused, the house started to tremble. The phantoms of storms beyond started to fill the air. An upwelling of color and light swirled beyond their closed lids. With a breath and a collective will, the four walls of the box cracked and ruptured, blasting forth into the unknown.

*End Part 5 - “You Are Free”*

*Thus begins the Final Part – “You Are Not Afraid”*