Dreamscape Adventures, Inc, page 6
“Shh, I’m sure he’s coming,” Charlotte cut him off, still shivering in Luke’s tuxedo jacket. “Maybe we should go back inside—” But she turned around, and discovered what Luke had already seen: the castle was gone. She frowned. “We didn’t wander that far, did we?”
“My laptop and phone were in there!” Luke railed. He swore and paced, his hand almost involuntarily seeking the bridge of his nose.
“And my recording journal,” Charlotte moaned. “What do we do now?”
Luke swore, and paced, massaging his temples every few seconds.
“You have a headache, don’t you?” Charlotte guessed. “It’s your blood pressure, Luke—”
“I know that, but what the hell am I supposed to do about it?”
“You’ve got to calm down. We might not know where we are, but the dreamscape engineers do, and they’re not going to let anything happen to us.”
“Oh, just like they weren’t going to let Billy here anywhere near our adventure? Just like they promised there would be wifi and satellite reception everywhere we went?”
Billy made random noises, stamping his foot. Charlotte shivered, apparently waiting for Luke to make the next move. Luke shook his head.
“Well, we can’t just stand here in the middle of nowhere, waiting for who knows what. Let’s move, at least.”
“Where?” Charlotte asked through chattering teeth.
Luke licked his lips. “I don’t know. But moving is better than not moving.” He pointed toward the crescent moon. “The Dreamscape complex was on the south side of the mountain. If you draw a line from the horns of the crescent moon to the earth, that’s south. Let’s go that way.”
“But… we’re in a dreamscape,” Charlotte protested, though she followed him. “The landscape in here shouldn’t match the landscape out there, should it? Come on, Billy,” she hissed at the boy behind them, grabbing at his sleeve to try to drag him along.
“Have you got a better idea?” Luke snapped.
“There’s no need to bite my head off! I’m in the same situation as you!”
Luke sighed. “I know. I’m sorry.” Still he rubbed his temples. “At least if we’re moving, we won’t freeze to death out here.”
“Hey,” Charlotte caught up, and put a hand on Luke’s shoulder, herding Billy behind her. “Reframe. Think of this as a game, okay? Which it basically is. It’s just a survival game. There’s no actual consequences if you fail. It’s all gonna be fine.”
Luke cast a sidelong glance at her, and she raised one hand with her inhale, lowering it again with her exhale. Breathe, she was saying. This only made him angrier. “The wifi goes out. We’re stuck in the cold wearing evening attire, an autistic kid shows up in the wrong dreamscape adventure, and you’re telling me that it’s just a game?”
Charlotte grabbed his elbow and forced him to stop and look at her. “I’m serious, Luke. I don’t want you stroking out on me.”
“That’s what the nurse said too,” Luke muttered.
They both shivered when they stopped walking, and Billy flapped Charlotte’s mask back and forth enthusiastically. But Luke obeyed Charlotte, breathing in to the count of four, and out to the count of four, his white breath puffing out around him. Both he and Charlotte rubbed their arms for friction as they did this.
It’s a game, he repeated the mantra to himself. It’s a game. That’s all. It’s a game.
To his surprise, his headache actually did subside. He opened his eyes, and Charlotte smiled at him, racked with shivers. She drew Luke’s coat tighter around herself.
“South?” she asked.
He nodded. “South.” They turned back in the direction of the crescent moon, and stopped. A silhouette appeared in the distance, growing larger as it approached them. They hurried forward to meet it.
“I think that’s Eli!” Charlotte cried, the relief in her voice obvious.
Sure enough, Eli’s form took shape as he approached, carrying a pack and much better dressed for the cold than they were.
“Mr. Darringer, my deepest apologies—” Eli began when he came in range. But Luke cut him off.
“This is unacceptable,” he emphasized every syllable, gesturing at Billy. “You told me he would be in his own dreamscape, in a totally separate dome from ours, and safe—not out here exposed in the wilderness! You promised that there was no way he could end up in mine! I will not accept responsibility for this child’s well-being, do you understand me?”
“I do apologize, Mr. Darringer, and Ms. Fanshaw,” he said again, nodding at Charlotte as well. Then he cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. “The fact is… you see, there have been some IT glitches that management was previously unaware of. And our funding issue required a… slight… IT employee layoff—”
“A ‘slight layoff’?” Luke echoed with a derisive guffaw. “How do you ‘slightly’ lay someone off?”
“So apparently the code wasn’t entirely bug free,” Eli went on, as if Luke hadn’t spoken. “But it is minor, I assure you, and it should be fixed soon. Meanwhile, I’m to remain with you until we get the all-clear, to ensure your safety. I also brought you both a change of clothing that is a bit more… suitable for the weather.” He indicated a pack on his back, and knelt to the ground to unzip it.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Luke muttered as Eli handed him a bundle of outdoor hiking clothes. “How about you lead us out of the Dreamscape domes, and we’ll return once you’ve fixed all of your ‘minor’ glitches?”
Eli sighed, but inclined his head. “If that is what you’d prefer.”
“Yes, it’s what I’d prefer!” he snapped, as Eli handed Charlotte some warmer clothing as well.
“Where are we supposed to change?” she shivered, looking down at the clothing and at the wide open landscape.
“We will turn around and won’t look until you tell us you are ready,” said Eli, glancing at Luke for confirmation.
“Right here in the dirt, huh?” Charlotte frowned, looking at her gorgeous gown. But when the two men turned to give her privacy, she obeyed, dropping Luke’s tuxedo jacket into the dirt with it. She put on the thermal underwear, fleece shirt and polyester active pants with a pair of boots and a puffy waterproof coat on top.
“Where’s Billy’s?” Luke asked Eli.
Eli shrugged apologetically. “We did not anticipate his presence, I’m afraid. I only brought a change of clothing for you and for Charlotte.”
“Are you kidding me? He’ll freeze!” Luke shouted. “This boy’s safety should be your first concern!”
“You forget, Mr. Darringer,” Eli retorted, eyes flashing, “that Billy and those like him are the very reason I built Dreamscape in the first place. Anything I can do to help them live normal lives is worth everything I have, so I’ll thank you not to lecture me on my priorities!”
Luke glared back at Eli, snatching the coat meant for him and wrapping it around Billy’s shoulders instead. But he did change from his tuxedo into the thermal layer and waterproof pants Eli had brought for him, gritting his teeth against the chill. Eli crumpled their evening wear back into his pack, and they set out in the direction from which Eli had come in silence. Charlotte kept a hand on Billy’s shoulders, periodically having to stop and fight him to keep moving as something new caught his attention. Periodically Billy would flap the mask back and forth with such force that it looked as if he might break it. His other hand flapped at the same time, and the movement was accompanied by a moan, a grunt, or wail, periodically dumping Luke’s coat on the ground in the process. Luke’s jaw twitched with irritation.
Eli frowned and stopped walking after about twenty minutes. “Hm,” he said.
“What?” Luke pounced.
Eli shook his head. “I don’t think I walked this far before… I might have passed it…”
“Passed what?” Charlotte asked, apprehensive.
“The door to the outside.”
There was a moment of silence, before Luke said with exaggerated calm, “Are you telling me you don’t know how to get out?”
Eli glanced back at Luke and Charlotte, sparing a cursory glance at Billy. “You recall how the door looked behind you, once you’d entered the dreamscape?”
“It vanished,” Charlotte replied, her voice fading away with dawning horror.
Eli nodded at her. “Precisely. So it’s a bit of a trick finding one’s way back to it. I used a rock cairn as a landmark, but I haven’t seen it, and I don’t think I walked this far to find you. We must have passed it.”
“Well, find it,” Luke demanded through gritted teeth.
“You can be angry all you want, Mr. Darringer, but it won’t change the situation. We can backtrack, but we might just have to wait for daylight and try to find it then.”
“So what are we supposed to do—sleep out here?” Charlotte asked, horrified. “Totally exposed?”
Luke huffed. “No. The IT staff will create us a lodge. Won’t they?” he shouted this last part to the sky.
But nothing happened. Luke stood there for a long moment, expectantly staring up at the stars. Finally, he shot at Eli sarcastically, “What, are they asleep?”
Eli bit his lip, but did not reply. Luke exchanged a glance with Charlotte and asked warily, “What, Eli? What are you not telling us?”
“I’m… not absolutely certain we haven’t inadvertently existed the adventure already.”
“Wait, wait…” Charlotte caught her breath, trying not to panic. “You mean… you mean this is real? We’re in the actual wilderness right now?”
“No,” Luke said, his tone firm. “That’s impossible. We’d have seen the domes on the way out, if that was the case.”
“I am not sure we would have,” Eli frowned. “The doors usually look like portals from one world into another, and you can distinguish them from the rest of the terrain by the contrast. But in this case, inside the dome and outside of it would look nearly identical. Especially at night.” He shook his head. “I can’t be certain either way. We could be in the dreamscape still, but I just don’t know.”
“Luke,” Charlotte said in a low, warning tone, one hand still draped over Billy’s shoulders as she placed the other on Luke’s forearm. Luke glared at Eli, chest heaving, lips pressed tightly together.
When Charlotte spoke, Luke averted his eyes from Eli, as if he couldn’t stand to look at him anymore. Instead, he looked at Billy. He gritted his teeth, as if the physical restraint could also hold back the memories and the fear that accompanied them.
He’d been about Billy’s age when it had happened. He hadn’t been autistic, of course, but he’d been nearly as helpless, and left for dead in an environment very much like this one.
What sick irony, he thought.
“There’s an easy way to tell whether we’re in a dreamscape still or not,” Charlotte ventured.
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Luke growled.
“Well, my dreamscape has been fantastical from the beginning,” she said. “And as soon as you and I crossed paths, yours became that way too, though I assume it wasn’t before. So if we see anything impossible, we know we’re still in the holodomes.”
Luke shook his head, rubbing the bridge of his nose again. “Unfortunately, when I left your castle, I shouted to the IT staff that I wanted my own dreamscape back again. That was when everything changed to look like this…”
“…and it’s more or less identical to the real world out here,” Charlotte murmured.
Luke nodded, closing his eyes.
Eli glanced at Charlotte. “I did see the plans for your dreamscape, and every setting was fantasy. I believe you were to become a fairy next, and sleep in the trees deep in a forest.”
Charlotte bit her lip, pulling Billy in as he flapped and draping both arms across his shoulders. “Okay,” she murmured, staring fixedly at a spot ahead of her.
Luke frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Hmm?” she glanced up at him. “Oh—trying to imagine we’re in the forest, so we can find our way to the fairy village.”
Eli shook his head. “That isn’t how it works, I’m afraid. The dreamscape participant isn’t actively in control of their experience. The IT staff creates their experience according to their profile analysis, but that’s all. Whether this is a glitch or whether we are actually in reality now, the circumstances are still not entirely subject to our whims.”
“Then why did you show up when I called you?” Luke challenged. “Twice?”
“I was sent in to tell you about technical difficulties,” said Eli, “and would have been, whether you had called me or not. But the dreamscape does not generally respond to your in-the-moment desires. It’s designed to mimic reality, at least in that way.”
“Luke,” said Charlotte again, her warning tone urgent now. But he ignored her.
“You mean to tell me that I am now responsible for the safety of three people with no wilderness experience, one of whom can’t even talk, in the frigid cold, at night, with no gear, no supplies, no satellite tracking—not even a paper map?”
“I do apologize, Mr. Darringer,” Eli said again, inclining his head formally. He lifted his pack and added, “But you do have some gear. I was instructed to bring you another pack of climbing gear, since you left yours in the castle. But—” he added, relinquishing the pack to Luke as he lunged for it, “I’m afraid your laptop and phone are not inside. This isn’t the same pack. The mountain gear that I brought was chosen with the assumption that we would remain within the Dreamscape holodome. Hopefully the equipment will be adequate to meet any needs we might discover, if we have inadvertently left the holodome instead.”
Luke snatched the pack from him. “You think you’re getting liability insurance after this? I am never going to endorse this place, so you can kiss your underwriting goodbye right now!”
“I have every confidence that this is only a minor glitch and will be resolved very shortly. I hope you will change your mind about the insurance endorsement.”
“Well, I won’t!”
They fell silent for a moment, Luke fuming, and Charlotte staring wide-eyed between the two men. Billy, presumably sensing the tension, began to make anxious repetitive noises. Luke spun around, hands in his hair, until finally he noticed Eli watching him, as if waiting for something.
“What are you staring at me for?”
“Well,” Eli opened his hands, “as you said, of the four of us, you are the only one with wilderness experience. I’m hoping you will take the lead.”
Luke tried to calm his breathing and lower his blood pressure. He could feel the blood pounding in his ears. He might murder Eli when they got out of here, but at the moment, he had to think rationally. Since Luke didn’t know these mountains, and they may or may not be real, he had no idea how challenging or dangerous the terrain might be. Judging by the canyon he’d descended earlier that day, they were plenty challenging and plenty dangerous. That was fine when it was just him, and when he knew that he was in a holodome. But out here, with three dependents?
He couldn’t even pursue that thought. They were on a plateau right now, but no matter what, he assumed salvation was south, and down to the valley. If they were in reality, then civilization had to be somewhere down there too, though who knew how far away. And if they were in the holodome, the lodges he’d seen were also at the base of the mountains, not the top. But still, at the very least, he shouldn’t attempt to descend the mountain in the dark.
“This way,” he muttered. “Let’s just find some shelter for the night.”
Chapter 7
The pack Eli brought for Luke did at least contain a flashlight. But after looking for hours, or at least what felt like hours, Luke couldn’t find any better shelter than an outcropping of rock that blocked the wind.
“I think we might just have to make camp here for the night,” he told the others reluctantly, “and hope that either the Dreamscape team finds us, or we can find a better place to wait tomorrow once daylight comes.”
“Just sleep here out in the open?” asked Charlotte shrilly. “What if there are… snakes? And bugs? And wild animals?”
“It’s probably too cold for snakes or bugs. As for wild animals—there will be those whether we’re in a cave or under the stars, and whether we’re in the dreamscape or reality,” Eli observed, as if it were a matter of complete indifference to him.
“And you think we can sleep, knowing that?”
“You’ll be in the middle,” Luke murmured to her, “you and Billy. If anything unpleasant turns up, it’ll get us first.”
“I don’t want you getting attacked by a mountain lion, either!”
“Well, it’s that or keep hiking all night long, which will render tomorrow significantly less productive,” Luke told her with a heavy sigh. “And if we are in reality, and the Dreamscape team doesn’t find us, that’s probably going to mean me belaying you three down large ravines, on no sleep.” He turned to Charlotte, whose eyes had gone wide, and raised his eyebrows. “Mountain lions sounding better yet?”
“You can’t be serious,” she breathed. “Ravines?”
“Judging by the terrain I covered earlier today, yeah.”
Billy had already taken their lack of forward progress for stopping, and plopped onto the hard rocky ground. Luke’s coat once again fell from his shoulders into the dirt. Eli attempted to scoop small rocks and thorns out of what would become their sleeping space, as Charlotte and Luke whispered frantically.
“Don’t you think…” Charlotte murmured, “I mean, you think the best plan is for you to try to rescue all three of us? I mean, if we just sit tight, they’re bound to find us. If we are outside the domes, we can’t possibly have gone far…”
“If that’s the case, they should find us by morning,” Luke returned. “And if not, either we’re still in the dreamscape and they can’t control it anymore, or we’re good and lost, in which case, I’m not sure what choice we’ll have. People die in the wilderness by just sitting tight and waiting for rescue.” He pursed his lips in a hard line, looking at Billy with a frown. “We definitely can’t sleep out in the open like this for more than one night. Worst case scenario, we’ll have to get you guys to shelter and I’ll go for help.”
