I shake my head. Dangerous or not, it’s my only ticket home. What, do I want to hang out here for the rest of my life? I need to get back to my world as soon as possible and put all this behind me.
We enter the hover car and zoom back to Duske’s mansion. He leads me up the stairs, down a hall, and into a long passageway similar to the one at Moongazer Palace. He stops in front of a red door with a crescent moon carved into the metal.
“Here we are,” he says. “Are you ready to look into the moon, Skye?” he quips, quoting the promos. What once seemed an innocent slogan now fills me with dread.
I draw in a breath, remember this is the only way home. “I am.”
He hands me a small piece of paper with a website URL scribbled on it. “When you have your photos, upload them to this site. That way I’ll know you’re ready to journey back to Terra, and I will activate the retrieval program.”
“Are you sure you really need me to do this?” I ask. “I mean, there’s no one else?”
Duske puts his hands on my shoulders and leans forward, kissing me once on each cheek. “You are my chosen one, Skye,” he says reverently. “You will be a great symbol of Earth to all the people of Terra. You’ll be a symbol of a better life.”
I stifle a sigh, trying to push down the worry gnawing at my stomach. But I’m going back home, I remind myself. That’s what’s important. I’ll worry about the photo thing later.
Duske presses his thumb against a sensor. It beeps once, and then the door swings open.
It’s time to look into the moon.
*
My phone was ringing. I opened my eyes, blinking the sleep away. I’d never been so happy to be woken up by the phone in all my life. I sat up in bed and looked around, gratefully taking in the cozy familiarity of my bedroom.
It was all a dream. All one crazy, messed-up, freakish, ridiculously long dream.
Though … how did I get here? Last thing I remember was being in the VIP section of Luna. Had I had some sort of blackout? Who had brought me home?
Still, no unanswered questions could completely eclipse my joy of escaping the crazy, messed-up nightmare world I’d been trapped in. I felt like singing. Shouting. Jumping up and down. My bed. My books. My computer. My teddy bear, Melvin. All here. I was back. I was free.
The answering machine clicked on.
“Skye? It’s Craig. Guess you’re asleep. I just wanted to check in on you since you left Luna without even coming over to say hi. Where are you?” He paused and I searched for the phone, unable to find the cordless receiver in the dark bedroom. “Please, call me the second you get this. I’m worried about you.”
The machine clicked again, indicating the end of the message. I crawled out of bed and fumbled for the light switch. I’d better call him back before he sent out the National Guard. So, I left Luna suddenly? That was odd. And why didn’t the phone wake me up before? Was I in that much of a deep sleep? Did I somehow get dosed with something? And where was my roommate? Had she gone out of town for the weekend and forgot to tell me?
I found the switch and flicked it, flooding the room with warm light. Momentarily blinded, I rubbed my eyes. I was going to look great tomorrow at work. All bloodshot and black circles for sure. I glanced in the mirror for confirmation, dreading to see the state of my face.
My heart stopped.
Mirror girl stared back at me, her expression reflecting my horror.
Because instead of the boxer shorts and T-shirt ensemble I usually wore to bed, I was wearing a red silk gown.
A gown that, in real life, shouldn’t exist.
NINE
Half a box of NoDoz, a full carafe of coffee, and three Diet Pepsis later, I found myself buzzed and bleary as I dressed for work. It was 8:00 A.M., Saturday morning, and I’d gotten no sleep. I’d thought I’d been exhausted yesterday, but there was no way in hell I was going to risk shutting my eyes and returning to the crazy world of my dreams. The one where I was able to somehow bring dresses back with me.
I jumped into a cold shower hoping it’d wake me up and tried to ignore my shaking hands as I went through the routine of washing my hair. Hopefully work would be a better distraction. We had less than two weeks to find all the bugs in the game. My bosses were counting on me to be careful and alert. That promised to be real fun on no sleep. Besides, how was I supposed to concentrate on reality? All I could think of was my nightmare come to life.
I got out of the shower and towel-dried myself, then headed into the bedroom to change. My eyes fell to the dress, which I’d hung in my closet. There had to be some logical explanation. Maybe I’d bought it on my way home. Or I’d drunkenly switched clothes with someone at the club. Because what other explanation could there be besides the obvious—and unbelievable—one: that I had somehow traveled to an alternate reality and brought the dress back myself?
I was cracking up. Had to be. Maybe instead of heading to work I should check myself into some psych ward. Don a straitjacket, swallow some hardcore antipsychotics. Drool in a padded corner for the next six years. Didn’t sound like a terrible plan at the moment.
But instead, I sucked it up and went to work. I was a professional after all.
On my way up from the subway, a block from Chix0r’s HQ, I pulled out my cell, realizing I’d gotten three messages while underground. As I walked down the street, I selected the first.
Hey, Skye, it’s Suzy! Did you have any luck at Luna last night? I’m still on the island, so, like, call my cell, okay?
Ugh. Erase. Next.
Hey Skye, it’s Craig. Where the hell are you? Seriously, I’m starting to freak out here. Call me.
Sigh. I really needed to call him. Though what I was going to say, I had no idea.
Next.
Two days, Skye. Two days.
I nearly dropped the phone. Oh my god. Was that …? My heart pounded as my fingers fumbled, trying to replay the message. Instead I managed to hit the delete button.
“Good-bye,” the cheerful computerized female voice chirped before disconnecting.
“No! No good-bye!” I cried, banging a fist against the phone. Damn it! What was that message? Was it from him? It sounded just like him. But he was just a figment of my overactive imagination. A dream character. Wasn’t he? If so, how did he find me? How did he get my number?
Had my nightmare really come to life?
I looked up and down the street nervously, as if I’d catch him, in the distance, watching me. But he was nowhere to be seen, everyone going about their business without a care in the world. It was only me, with my heart in my throat and my fingers shaking. I took a deep breath. What was I going to do?
Take the photos.
I froze. The command seemed to be coming from inside my head.
Take the photos.
Again, more insistent.
“Fine. I’ll take the stupid photos,” I muttered. “I’ll do everything I’m supposed to. And in two days, when I don’t get magically flown back to Terra, I’ll know for sure, once and for all, that this was just one big, bad, crazy old dream.”
“What’s a dream?”
I looked up, realizing I was standing outside Chix0r’s headquarters with little knowledge of how I’d actually gotten here. My boss, Madeline, was standing in front of me, cup of Starbucks in hand. I remembered the Starbucks I’d seen on Terra and shuddered.
“Getting all these bugs worked out before release day,” I halfheartedly joked, pushing thoughts of nightmares to the back of my brain. It was time for work mode.
Luckily, Madeline gave me a knowing laugh and together we walked upstairs into the main offices. She gestured for me to come into her own office, the corner one with the great view and windows. Madeline had founded Chix0r five years ago, after becoming disenchanted by all the sex-laced trash talk commonly heard on guy-centric online role-playing games. She’d imagined a virtual world where girls could feel safe strapping on a sword and contributing to the community with no fear of being smacked do
wn by an arrogant metal-mouthed fourteen-year-old boy who, in real life, would never be able to get a real girl to acknowledge his existence.
“Are you okay, Skye?” she asked, peering at me through her black-rimmed glasses. “I don’t mean to sound critical, but the last report you sent in had more bugs than an NYC motel room.”
I hung my head. Madeline was the coolest boss in the universe and I hated letting her down more than anything. After all, as she’d said so many times, we weren’t just coworkers here at Chix0r. We were family.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s just … I’ve been having this horrible insomnia lately. And when I do fall asleep I have these crazy dreams. I wake up feeling like I’ve been run over by a truck.”
Madeline nodded sympathetically. “You sound like me. Prerelease jitters,” she concluded. “Don’t worry, kiddo, your work is great. And we’re in the home stretch. Just got to buckle down now and get through the next two weeks. Then we’ll be able to relax a bit.”
I threw her a halfhearted smile. Prerelease jitters? If only it were that simple.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I said, not wanting to go into it any further. “I’ll get through somehow.”
“I know you will.” Madeline smiled. “Now, I wanted to talk to you about our redesign of the knight class’s talent tree that I’d like you to test. Can you pull up a character for a second?”
Intrigued, I logged in to RealLife on her computer and repositioned the monitor so we could both see the screen. Allora was right where I’d left her the last time I played: in the bar. My character turned and looked out from the game, as if she could see us watching her, then broke out into a big smile and waved a greeting.
“She likes you,” Madeline commented. “You must treat her well.”
I smiled. It was so cool how lifelike the characters were. “I like her, too. She’s very kick-ass.”
“Okay, now take her outside and have her attack something.”
I looked over in surprise. “You’ve opened up new terrain?”
Madeline nodded. Evidently the designers had been hard at work during my mental collapse.
I obeyed my boss’s directive, using the keyboard and mouse to run Allora outside the limits of the city of Mare Tranquilitatis and into the frozen tundra of Serenitatis. The designers had been working hard, adding weather effects, and it looked as if it were really snowing out. Very cool. I led Allora down the hill, off the safe road, and into the wild. A moment later, a bandit troll jumped on her, initiating the game’s fight mode. On my command, Allora whipped out her sword and started swinging.
“This is all good,” Madeline commented, leaning forward to get a better view of the screen. “But now, show me her finishing move.”
I clicked the hot key to have her execute her special move. Each class had one built in: a deadly last strike designed to finish off one’s opponent. Allora’s move was to fall to the ground and slash off the monster’s feet, leaving them incapacitated. It was all very dramatic.
“Hmm.”
I glanced at Madeline. She didn’t look quite as impressed. She sat back in her chair and rubbed her chin with one hand. I noticed she had a moon tattoo between her thumb and forefinger and winced. Was everyone in on this new trend? And why did it have to be a moon? “Yeah, we’re going to have to fix that.”
I scrunched my eyebrows. “But why? It’s so cool-looking!”
“Sure, it’s cool-looking. But it doesn’t make any sense when it comes to abiding by the traditional rules of chivalry. True knights, according to medieval lore, fight within a strict set of protocols. They have an inborn sense of honor. They would not suddenly turn rogue and slash out with such a cheap move.”
“Well, they should consider it,” I argued. “If it helps them defeat their opponent.”
“But then it would be a battle fought with no honor,” Madeline explained. “And while I’d have no problem with the designers giving that move to a rogue character, seeing as they’re supposed to be sneaky and underhanded, I won’t have knights fighting dishonorably. We need to stick with the world-building. That’s what will set us apart from the other games.”
I nodded. She was right, of course.
“I’ll talk to the designer,” Madeline said, rising to her feet. “And we’ll have you test out the new moves once they’re in place. But for now, why don’t you take the day off? Go take a nap or something.”
“But there’s so much to do …”
She smiled. “And knowing you, you’ll get it done. But not right now. Sometimes even RealLife has to take a backseat to real life,” she quipped. “You can get back to things tomorrow.”
I thought about arguing further, but knew that when my boss made up her mind, she made up her mind. Besides, I had photos to take.
*
The hot dog man. The Statue of Liberty. The camels at the Bronx Zoo. The maple trees in Central Park. The rollercoaster on Coney Island. I shot them all. Closeup, panoramic, artsy, straight. Duske wanted photos? He’d get his photos. And then maybe he could leave me the hell alone so I could get back to my life.
I arrived back at my apartment around five and headed straight to my computer to start uploading. Maybe I’d get bonus points for turning in the photos a day early. At the very least I could get this assignment off my plate and move on.
My cell phone rang just as I began the upload—the sudden burst of the Star Wars ring tone caused me to nearly jump out of my skin, my heart skipping like a broken record. With trembling fingers I reached into my bag and pulled out the phone. Relief washed over me as I recognized the name on the caller ID. Just Craig. Thank God.
“Hey, Craig,” I said, selecting the photos out of my My Pictures folder. If only he knew what I was trying to do. He’d be sending the men in white coats over as we spoke.
“There you are!” Craig cried. “I’ve been calling all day. I thought you were, like, dead or something. Raped and murdered after you disappeared from Luna.”
I swallowed a bitter laugh. Disappeared? He was more right than he knew.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn’t feeling well and decided to go home about five minutes after I got there. I, um, came home and crashed hardcore.”
There was a beat of silence on the other end of the line, and then: “But I came by your place after my shift. I rang the buzzer over and over.”
“My roommate went home for the weekend,” I told him, though I had no idea if that was actually true. “And like I said, I really crashed. You know, not having had a good night’s sleep in ages. I don’t think stampeding elephants could have woken me last night.”
“You sure you just didn’t have another guy over or something?” Craig asked. His voice was only half teasing.
I forced myself to laugh, trying to push a sudden image of Dawn out of my mind. After all, being brutally kissed by dream guys in postapocalyptic alleyways didn’t count as cheating, did it?
“No, no. Nothing as exciting as all that,” I lied. “Just lots of drooling on my pillow.”
Craig’s laugh sounded more genuine this time. “Okay, okay,” he relented. “So, what are you up to now?”
Oh, not much. Just playing alternate reality travel agent to the postapocalyptic crowd.
“Oh, not much, just doing some work on the old computer.”
“Want me to come over?”
“Um …” I glanced at the clock. Did I want him to come over? Not really. I’d have much preferred to curl up in a ball and fall asleep for the next forty-eight hours. But I knew that wasn’t really an option. Duske told me that after the photos uploaded he’d be calling me back to Terra. And when/if that happened, I wanted a witness. Someone to let me know exactly what happened after I blacked out and woke up in Terra. Did my body literally disappear with my mind, sucked into some kind of alternate reality wormhole? Or did I fall into a comalike sleep and only travel in my dreams?
“Skye? Are you still there?”
“Yeah,” I replied, ma
king my decision. “And sure. Come on over whenever you can.”
“Great.” I could hear his relief. “I’m not far from your place, actually. I’ll be there in, like, ten minutes. Want me to pick up something from Blue Ribbon for dinner?” he asked, naming my favorite Japanese sushi spot.
“Oh, yum. Yes. I’m totally in the mood for their veggie spring rolls,” I told him. “And add in an order of edamame as well, okay? See you soon.” I hung up the phone and set it down next to my computer in case he called back for clarification of my food order. Poor guy. All things considered, he’d been pretty patient through my continued mental collapse. Cheerful, loyal, supportive—save for a few zombie jokes. Even when I’d been nothing but a pain in the ass.
I forced my brain back on task and pressed upload, launching the final photo into cyberspace, wondering, not for the first time, where these pictures were actually being zapped. Perhaps the URL was linked to a sort of interdimensional Photo-Mart where Duske could pick them up in an hour? It seemed insane, but hell, if they could send people to other worlds, I guess photos would be nothing.
The on-screen message confirmed my pictures had been sent. I leaned back in my computer chair, wondering what would happen next. Would Duske e-mail me back? Would he give me a call? Or would I never hear from him again and live out my whole life wondering at the validity of my memory of this adventure? If I had to pick, I’d go for door number three every time.
But life was no game of Deal or No Deal, and I didn’t get to choose my destiny. A moment later the whole dorm started to shake, just as Luna had the night before. Flashes of lightning sliced through the air and my stomach rolled as I swam in and out of a blurry, dizzy consciousness.
Finally, just as before, the darkness came and oblivion gripped me with invisible hands.
Oh God, here we go again.
TEN
I open my eyes. At least this time I know what to expect, though that doesn’t really make the experience any more comforting. Once again, a tiny room. Video screens on all four walls, a nauseating kaleidoscope of color.