“Excuse me, sir,” Deevee said. “But did you say the program scans the brains of beings and records their worst fears? As far as I know, no one has the technology to read minds. Only certain telepathic beings can do that.”
Fajji puffed up proudly. “We’ve broken that technology barrier.”
“Really?” Lando said, intrigued.
“How does it work?” asked Zak. “Can we see the machinery?”
“No,” Fajji replied quickly. “That’s classified information. We don’t want anyone copying our inventions, you know.”
“So once you’re inside, how does the ride end?” Lando asked.
“There are only two ways,” the baron administrator said. “The first is, you stay through to the end of the holograms. The Nightmare Machine will scan your brain and put you through a series of increasingly frightening scenes. If you can get to the last one-your own ultimate fear-then you win the game and it ends. If you can’t take it, then all you have to do is say ‘End simulation! ‘ and the program will end.” He paused. “So, now that you know what you’re getting into, do you want to go for another ride?”
Zak and Tash looked at each other. “Let’s do it,” Tash said.
“Sure,” Zak replied reluctantly.
Danna Fajji escorted Zak and Tash into the building, with Lando and Deevee following behind them. “Enjoy yourselves,” Fajji said with a smile, and guided the two Arrandas into the fearful room.
Zak had hardly taken his first step before the scene around him changed. The room vanished, and Zak found himself in the middle of a wide field, standing on his hovering skimboard. Tash was standing behind him, clinging to him to keep her balance on the narrow antigravity board. Before Zak could speak, Lando and Deevee jumped onto the board as well.
“It’s too heavy!” Zak said as the skimboard wobbled. “It’s going to sink. “
“It better not!” Lando shouted. “Because we’re being chased by Cyborrean battle dogs!’
Zak turned and saw a pack of massive, thick-bodied dogs with wide jaws and short blood-red hair charging toward them. They howled viciously.
Instinctively Zak hit the skimboard’s accelerator. But the hoverboard was slowed down by too much weight, and it lurched forward sluggishly.
“C’mon, Zak!” Tash yelled, “get this thing going before it-agh!”
Before Tash could finish her sentence, the first dog reached the skimboard. Its powerful jaws clamped down on the back of Tash’s tunic, and one twist of its thick neck pulled her from the safety of the board.
“Tash!” Zak yelled.
His sister hit the ground hard. She rolled to one side and tried to scramble to her feet. But it was too late. The battle dogs attacked, and Tash fell under a pile of bristling fur and sharp fangs.
“They’re killing her!” Deevee wailed.
“Tash!” Lando called out.
Zak knew he had to stop the battle dogs before they tore Tash apart. “End simulation!” he ordered. But the simulation did not end.
CHAPTER 7
Tash could hardly be seen beneath the swarm of savage dogs.
“End simulation!” Zak cried out. Tears of fear and frustration burned in his eyes. “End simulation!”
It was no use. The program would not stop.
Without thinking, Zak leaped from the skimboard. He had been afraid of the invisible insects earlier, and he was afraid of the battle dogs now. But none of that compared to his fear of losing his sister. He charged into the dog pack, trying to pull them off Tash.
One of the dogs turned and growled, baring a mouth full of sharp fangs. It crouched down, ready to spring at Zak’s throat.
“End simulation,” Tash’s calm voice stated.
The entire pack of battle dogs melted away. So did the field in which Zak stood. He was back inside The Nightmare Machine again. Tash was standing across the room from him.
“T-Tash!” Zak sputtered, caught between fear and confusion. “You’re okay! But… but I thought we were in the hologram together. You were being mauled by Cyborrean battle dogs.”
“It wasn’t me,” his sister replied. “It must have been a hologram of me. There weren’t any battle dogs in my hologram.”
“Mine was terrible,” Zak muttered. “I tried to end the simulation, but it wouldn’t respond. I wonder if that’s another bug that needs to be worked out.”
“Well, we’ve spent enough time here, in any event,” Lando concluded. “Let’s tour the rest of the park, shall we?”
They left The Nightmare Machine and walked out into the artificial light of Fun World.