The Thinker

Chapter Three

"You did a wonderful job tonight." Cyrus told his hologram later that night when the party was over. The hologram had positioned herself on top of the console that kept her functioning in real time.

"Although... I am curious as to why you took the risk of being touched to interact with that one civilian. You know that while you are in this state, if one organic being touches you..."

The hologram did not answer. She looked at him with her head to the side as if she was deciding something.

"I don't want to lose you Minvera." Cyrus continued to say, regaining his train of thought.

"I don't belong here Cyrus. You know that." the hologram said. "Why are you keeping me trapped here?"

"You're not trapped. Not with me at least." Cyrus told her sincerely. The hologram looked at him, realizing that he had no idea what he had set in motion.

. . .

Zane lay awake in his bed. The hologram girl... it was her. She was the one that was warning him. But of what? She seemed to function normally. The more Zane thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense that the lights had surged before the presentation took fold. It was a warning of sorts. But a warning to what?

"You must stop him!" she cried although Zane was only lingering into sleep. "He has no idea, you must stop him!"

"How? How can I stop him?" Zane said, talking in slumber and in the real world. He was not fully asleep to begin with. Was this an act of desperation?

"You must stop him..." she said softly before her body collapsed.

"No!" Zane cried, fully making him awake. He looked around his room in cold sweat. Although he was alone, her words haunted him.

He knew something was wrong. He knew he had to do something. But how could he do anything when he did not know where the source was?

. . .

No one really told her that curiosity could be her worst enemy. No one really told her that that old machine from thirty years back could still function. No one really told her what that old machine ever did either, really. If she had known though, she would have stood back a little further when it started to hum to life after years of being defunct. She wouldn't have touched that stupid glowing red button. She wouldn't have been sucked in a very painful and horrible way when her curiosity quickly became her enemy within a blink of a second.

But now...

Now she was in pain. Now she was trapped. Now she existed in a time before the world would realize that she was going to exist. Now she was in the care of a man who did not know if what he did was for advancement or money.

Now she was in a position where she knew that if she stayed, the world would die. She wouldn't exist any more. She was a gateway to her own destruction, to the world's destruction at that. Her rage was unawakened, but it was growing. Several villages were without power now because of her. This blackout was creeping its way into the city, but at a monotonous pace. It was her only defense. It was her own way of ending things.

It wasn't going to work. She needed him. He was the only one who could end this. It could only be him, and yet, he didn't know where to begin. Controlling herself in his dreams was as hard as controlling her own and it proved to be exhausting. Every effort was worth it. He could do it...

. . .

Sleep. Ha!

That word had always amused Nya. Not quite an insomniac herself but not one to have a firm bedtime set, Nya could find a certain comfort in tinkering with machines at twelve in the morning. Sometimes it seemed to be the best solution where everything was quiet and she had nothing but her thoughts talk to her.

Tonight her thoughts drifted on the presentation. Cyrus never told her what he was going to show off. Her job description labeled her as a secretary- as in someone that handles calls and made appointments. But she didn't imagine that Cyrus was going to show the hologram. She didn't imagine anyone would show a hologram that realistic. In truth it had scared her. But something stood out to her that made her screw a bolt a little tighter more than necessary.

The hologram could not be touched.

Cyrus had been scared when the hologram suggested that she interact with the humans in the audience. What she had said to Zane though... (Kill me.) It had made Nya think that there was more to a simple conversation that Cyrus was afraid to allow between the hologram and an organic being. But why Zane? It hadn't even been a millisecond Cyrus had allowed the hologram to interact with a human, and it had chose Zane. Well, he wasn't exactly organic, but it's not like Cyrus would have known that.

Everything the hologram had said had been cryptic. It was like a message that was meant to be heard only to Zane, but it was going to being broadcast everywhere anyway.

"Enter the heart of my existence," the hologram had said in a dead serious tone, "Kill me there, and I can exist again where I am meant to."

Nya remembered feeling ashamed that she had no idea what the hologram was talking about. By the looks on Cyrus and Zane's faces, it looked as if they had no idea what she was saying either. One thing was certain though- something was very wrong. And as Nya added the last bolt for tonight, she knew she was going to help Zane figure it out.