Stairway to Somewhere

Setting Out

"You have to go, right? Has he given you a reason not to trust him before?" Bethany asked him.

Lloyd suddenly pictured Peter unconscious, and them lying to a group of patients about a gas leak. Lloyd clicked his tongue and sucked in a breath.

"That's a little... Complicated." He said dryly.

"It could be a trap, you know." Phoebe suspected. "Now that he thinks you've completed your mission, he could be trying to take you out too."

"Frederick isn't like that." Bethany responded. "Right, Lloyd?"
He sat down next to her and slid the laptop over.

"I wouldn't know. You tell me. Somehow, there's a digital model of you in local. Or in the black box, I'm not really sure. And it's just a model, it doesn't have your personality... you're..."

Lloyd refrained from saying the word soul as he booted up Miguel. For this simulation he created a swanky five star hotel in Paris, qeued up room service for ten minutes from now, which would auto generate whatever Miguel's favorite food was.

"It just wasn't you." He said finally as he hit Run Exercise.

"Oh. That. It was either me or Marcy. Frederick needed a friendly face model for local, kind of like a live in concierge for the people who get too stressed out. We were both hesitant, but when he offered a bonus and glimpses at some of the new tech, I couldn't turn it down. I figured during the new year I'd gather our group and raid the facility, taking all the new tech he showed me. That's how I learned about the vizors."

The concierge had your looks, but it didn't speak.

"I haven't recorded the voice lines yet. For some mysterious reason, bad things keep happening that shut us down early." She hinted with faux concern.

"Yeah well, it is the end isn't it?" Lloyd smiled at her while calling Miguel from his phone.

"I don't need the black box for this. I'll contact them separately. You can watch them on my laptop, if you want."

"What if he gets naked?" Phoebe giggled. Bethany playfully shoved her, though she was smiling too.

"Automatic privacy feature. The screen would just blur." Lloyd responded, putting the phone up to his ear. He pressed F5 and the simulation went full screen. Miguel emerged from the bathroom, first looking puzzled, then excited. The hotel phone rang and he walked over to it as Lloyd pushed the mute button.

"Shhh." He told them. "Don't be weird. Hey Miguel, what's up? It's time my guy. I need you to join asap."

"I feel like time hasn't passed at all. Like I closed my eyes for a second and woke up in a bathroom. Why would you give me this nice ass hotel and immediately tell me to leave?!" Miguel complained.

"You have an hour. Room service will be there any minute, and I'll leave the sim running so you can go back here any time you like." Lloyd persuaded.

"Now that, I like. You're a good guy man. And this view!" Miguel exclaimed, walking over to the windows. "It's absolutely gorgeous. I can't imagine how shitty it looks out there now. I bet half these buildings are rusted as shit."

Lloyd's smile faded. "They probably are."

"So what did you cook up for me? Or do I have to call or something?"

"This time, you don't have to call, but if I'm not around, the sim will act like an actual hotel and generate someone to answer your request. As for what you're about to eat, just imagine your favorites and they'll appear. I have to tell the others, so I'm gonna go, alright?"