Movieland

Chapter 21

"Hold on. It's gonna get a little weird," I said.

The floor dropped. The walls blacked out and we were suspended like disbelief. The electricity snapped from a crackle to a hum that tickled the ears.

JP held his hands flat against the booth and squinted.

"You're gonna want to see what's next," I said.

Carolina spun in a tight circle to get a front row seat. I still couldn't fathom the liquid metal tubes. There were ten that I could count. The shifting metal and ropes of orange and green current made it hard to tell them apart. They were real and in living technicolor and too fantastical. And yet I'd seen them somewhere before. The string of images running along each one.

Carolina analyzed while marveling. I'd never seen her so intrigued.

"We're in one of these tubes," Carolina said. "They look familiar."

"Yes," I said.

"They must've designed the booth to have a transparent window to look out. Or part of the booth is riding through the tube and the top is elevated above so riders have a lookout. JP, look."

He wasn't looking like it was a horror movie.

I tapped his shoulder. "JP."

He opened one eye and peeked at me. "My stomach doesn't feel right."

"Mine neither. You'll get used to it. It helps to look. Trust me."

I spun him around to face the glass. "Look closely. You might see a movie you know."

He opened his eyes. One knee buckled. Rather than retreat he leaned forward. "Dude."

We surfed down a hill and up a hill and curved back and forth. Movie scenes flashed in boxes on the other tubes. Spokes of silver electricity illuminated an indeterminate background.

"I want to meet whoever designed this," Carolina said. "It's more than real."

"I think you just did, so to speak," I said. "You'll have every opportunity to meet her when we get back. Better have Frankie with us because she's not letting us pull this stunt again."

JP jabbed at the window. "That was the basketball scene from The Cable Guy. And Lebowski. And Trading Places. They're so real and moving so fast. Do you think each tube transports to a certain set of movies?"

"Most likely," I said.

"And what happens when a new movie is made? How do they add it to the simulator? Do they upload a digital file and it populates automatically?"

Carolina said, "Like they designed a program to convert the digital file into a simulated world. Or they have to extrapolate every movie individually."

"Who visits the movies to test authenticity?" JP asked.

These were good questions that I wished we had time to discuss. Leave it to my friends to pivot from amazement to practicality so quickly. "I just won a contest. I'm no more an expert than either of you."

JP admired the technological achievement of the channel surfing. "I'm beginning to think you didn't win the contest."

"That's where I've seen these tubes," Carolina said.

"What? Where?" I asked.

"At the library, with Applewhite. I knew I'd seen them before. Look. See how each square is moving? Yes, we're moving, but the images on the tubes are moving down the tube as well. You can barely tell because the human mind doesn't notice it."