[Galaxy Of Fear] - 04(14)

“Zak!” Lando called out.

“I’m coming!” he replied in his own clear voice. “Don’t touch the mirrors!”

Zak carefully wound his way back through the maze until he reached the exit where the others had stopped. “We’re over here!” Tash called out. “What’s going on?”

“M-My reflection!” he explained breathlessly. “The mirrors stole it. They changed me into a-a monster.”

Lando raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Zak, are you sure?” his sister asked.

“It seems unlikely,” Deevee pointed out. “Molecular alteration is an extremely complex process. It would take a computer the size of-“

“It happened,” Zak replied. “I’m telling you, something is wrong here.”

“Zak, how could it have changed you?” Tash said. “And how could you have changed back so quickly? Maybe you just looked at one of these crazy reflections.” She reached out to one of the nearest funhouse mirrors.

“Don’t touch it!” Zak yelled.

Lando frowned. “Zak, if you’re that concerned, maybe we should go back to see Danna Fajji. I’m sure he can explain all this, just as he explained The Nightmare Machine.”

“Oh, that makes me feel a lot better,” Zak said sarcastically. But he had no better ideas, and he followed as Lando led them back toward the administrative building.

“Welcome!” Danna Fajji called out as they entered his office. He stood up from behind a curved metallic desk, where he’d been working at a computer. “I trust you found Hologram Fun World to your liking. How was The Nightmare Machine?”

“Confusing, to say the least,” Lando began diplomatically. “In fact, you could say that-“

“What’s going on?” Zak interrupted Lando. “First you scare me with those horror holos in The Nightmare Machine, and then something happened to me in the Hall of Reflection. What is this place?”

“The Hall of Reflection,” Fajji muttered, putting his hands together and touching his fingertips to his puffy lips. “My apologies. My hologram technicians have been experimenting with new programs. You may have discovered a glitch in the mirror room.”

“A glitch!” Zak almost screamed.

“There, you see?” Deevee said, trying to calm Zak down. “The explanation is simple.”

“I truly regret any inconvenience,” Fajji insisted sincerely. “We take all complaints quite seriously, and I’ll do anything I can to make your stay pleasant.”

“Complaints?” Lando asked warily. “Have you gotten any other complaints? I hope they’re not the kind that would concern a potential investor like me.”

“Of course not! Of course not!” Fajji laughed. “In fact, I’m glad you’re here, Master Calrissian. I wanted to show you some of these profit numbers…”

As Lando and Fajji drifted into conversation, Zak shook his head and turned away to look at the view from the window. Far off he could see the lagoon where the Whaladon swam. Closer up, Zak saw the Star Chamber, which contained a three-dimensional map of the entire galaxy. Almost beneath his feet, at the steps of the administration building, Zak could see a crowd of tourists walking across the plaza.

He wondered if he really had just been the victim of a computer glitch. No one else seemed to be concerned about Fun World. Certainly not the crowd below him. He squinted, trying to focus on the faces of the beings milling about the plaza.

As he did, the entire crowd vanished.





CHAPTER 9


Zak was so startled that he didn’t cry out. He blinked, thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him.

They weren’t. The plaza beneath the administration building was empty. The crowds had vanished. “They’re gone,” he said in pure astonishment.

“They’re all just gone.”

“Who’s gone?” Tash asked.

“Everyone!” he said, pointing out the window. Tash and Lando rushed to the window. As far as the eye could see, the streets were empty.

Hologram Fun World was deserted.

“See!” Zak insisted. “I told you something was going on here.” He turned to Danna Fajji and demanded, “What happened to everyone?”

Fajji stammered, “Please-please, I assure you, no one has been harmed…”

Lando glowered. “Zak may be right about this place after all. I think you’ve got some explaining to do, Fajji.”

The chubby man tugged at his red heard. “Master Calrissian, I’m afraid I do owe you an explanation.” He sighed. “You see, business at Hologram Fun World has not been as good lately as it could be. We haven’t had many visitors. And when the park is so empty, the people that do come feel less excited about being here. So in order to make the park appear full, we-“