Mind Over Matter

Chapter 22

I yawned.

We'd been trying to find a weakness to the Box for hours. I was sitting down, frankly not paying any attention. So far, every weakness they've found ends in the end of the world. As much as it pains me to say it, Shadow chose a good name for it. The Ender's Box. I have to admit, that sounds cool.

I let my mind wander. I think about Don. I wonder where he is. I hadn't seen him since I blacked out in the Area 51 base. I'd ask, but everybody else is busy trying to figure something out. I close my eyes.

"Carroll!" said Alex, "Wake up!" I guess I fell asleep. "What?" I asked. "We'd better go back to the agency," he replied. I stood up. "Did you find anything?" I asked. "No," he replied, "But we've been talking about it, and we think that Casper gave this to us for another reason." "Which is?" I said. "We don't know yet," he said, "But it's late and we need to head back."

-----

Back at the agency, we went straight to bed. I guess I do need to sleep if I'm this tired. I thought about asking Alex about Don, but I decided to wait until morning.

Alex

I was laying in bed. For awhile I couldn't sleep. I thought about Don. I can't believe he turned on us! There has to be something else. He wouldn't do that. That's not him.

Eventually, I fall asleep.

-----

I'm running. I run through the door, which for some reason opens. I go down the ladders and make it to the room with the button. Shadow is standing there. "I warned you!" he says. Then, he pushes the button. My heart sinks. I can't believe that he just did that. Don's next to him, smiling. There's a huge explosion. Everything goes black.

Then, I see light, and a blurred silhouette. It's like Déjà Vu... I swear I've seen this before. I can't move. I can't feel myself. Eerie feeling... and yet all so familiar. "Darrien," the silhouette said, "What's this?" The voice doesn't sound familiar at all. Wait, there's something else different. It's a weird sensation. I sense..... A presence. Hmm... weird.

"What was that?" I hear... or sense. What was what? "Is someone there?" I hear again. It sounds like Carroll. Carroll, is that you? "Alex?" It's like she read my thoughts. Do you see the silhouette too? "Yes!" I see another one. "What is it Lianes?" the second one asked. Did you hear that? "Yes... Alex, what's going on?" I don't know. "I feel weird." I do too. "That," the first silhouette said. "It looks like that glitch," the second one said. "Yeah," the first one said, "But it's happening to both of them at the same time." Carroll, were you just dreaming? "Yeah, were you?" Yes, in my dream something exploded, and then I showed up here. "Yeah, the same thing happened to me." Does it seem like you've been here before? "Yes! It seems so familiar, except that you're here."

It's the same with me. "Wait... I think I've found something!" "Whoa!" the second silhouette exclaimed. "What's up with the screen?" the first one asked. What did you do? "I don't know!" How could you have done that... "Let me try something..." Maybe you could try thinking really hard about something. "OK... What's going on... What's going on... What's going on..." "What's going on?" said the first silhouette, "What's that supposed to mean?" They saw what she was thinking. "Wait..." What? "I think we're in a... computer." What!?!?! "It makes sense... our consciousness must be connected to the webcam and microphone of it." Let me try. Who are you... Who are you... Who are you... "I'm Lianes," the first silhouette replied. "Who are you talking to?" the second one asked. "The computer," the first one replied. "I'm Carroll... I'm Carroll..." "Oh my god," the first one said. "Their consciousness must be in the computer," the second one said.

We think so... We think so... "How?" Lianes asked. "We were hoping you knew..." "Well we don't," said the second one, "By the way I'm Darrien." I'm starting to get the hang of talking with them. Try typing something... "OK," said Lianes. I feel like different things are touching me. "What did you type..." "Hello," replied Lianes. Well it just felt weird... "Sorry," she replied. "Hey guys," said a third person, who sounded just like Shadow, "Seth said he figured out how to fix the glitch, just plug this in." "Thanks Collin," replied Lianes. "What's going on..."

Then, I woke up.

Carroll

That dream was freaky. Or was it? I was about to go see Alex, when he knocked on my door. I let him in. "Did you just have a weird dream?" he asked. "Yes!" I replied, a little freaked out, "Were we like caught inside a computer or something?" He paused, looking at me. He had the look on his face. The one where he's on to something. "Something tells me that wasn't a dream."