The candidate folded his arms, “I see. But your plans were thwarted.”
“Yes,” Thel confirmed. “The stranger who visited you lied to you, and someone or something trapped us inside this sim. James and the A.I. were responsible for protecting the solar system and without them…” she paused for a moment, “…well, we don’t stand a chance.”
The candidate seemed to mull the information for a few seconds before suggesting, “It makes you wonder whether or not the testers are being tested.”
Thel’s expression suddenly went blank. “What?” she asked as she shook her head, unable to comprehend the candidate’s meaning.
“I wonder,” the candidate elaborated, “have you ever considered whether you, yourself, are being tested?”
“Tested? By whom?”
“Your creator,” the candidate replied, as though the answer were obvious.
Thel smiled at the absurdity, unable to contain her wide grin. To her, the candidate was showing his extreme inexperience—it was as though she were talking to a child and explaining why the sky was blue. “I have no creator,” she replied. “The real world started with the big bang.”
“I’m aware of the theory,” the candidate retorted, sounding insulted. “After all, I’ve been fed an enormous amount of information about the history of human knowledge.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult your intellig—”
“The stranger explained how my mind works. I know I was implanted with false memories, fed all the information that could be crammed into a computer with ten-to-the-sixteenth processing power. I also know I’m inexperienced, but inexperience leads to outside-the-box thinking. Sometimes there’s value in gaining a new perspective. Don’t you agree?”
“Of course,” Thel replied.
“Then, regardless of the big bang theory, I still wonder. If I’m in a sim, and I’m being tested, it seems equally as plausible that you could be in a sim too—the real world could be—”
“No way,” Thel cut him off, careful not to grin again, wary of insulting the candidate and reluctant to appear patronizing. She stepped forward and took the candidate’s hands in hers. “You’ve consumed so much knowledge, my friend, but in some ways, you’re still just a babe in the woods. When you see the real world, you’ll understand.”
The candidate grimaced. “I hope so. Because I’m getting rather tired of being tested.”
6
Rich’s eyes suddenly squinted, near disbelief narrowing them as he saw a globe of red-hot material the size of a large island hurtling toward them. “Oh my God. That’s closing in fast.”
“I doubt even that could do much damage to this ship,” Aldous observed.
“Maybe you’re right,” Rich replied, “but I’d rather not be in a ship that collides with liquid-hot magma the size of Hawaii, hurtling through space.” He turned to Aldous as the ship began its sharp, 180-degree turn and sped away from the impending collision. “I’m weird that way.”
Aldous pouted his bottom lip slightly as he considered Rich’s logic. “Seems sound.”
Rich smiled, overly enthusiastically. “Thanks!”
“Where are we headed?” Aldous asked, persevering as he continued to ignore Rich’s attempts to goad him into an angry response.
“Away from here,” Rich replied.
Aldous sat down and folded his arms. “Obviously. Anything less vague to report?”
“Nope,” Rich replied. “Everybody’s dead. We’re in every-man-for-himself mode, Chief.”
Aldous’s patience finally showed its first crack and his expression became scrutinizing. “You’re Richard Borges, isn’t that right?”
Rich turned to the former chief of the governing council, his expression both perplexed and vexed. He sensed that he’d finally broken through the chief’s patience.
“Yessss,” he replied as though he were speaking to an insane person. “Me Richard. You Jane. N’est-ce pas?”
Aldous tilted his head. “One of James Keats’s favored assistants?”
Rich’s eyes lit with fury as the insult instantly registered with him. “Favored co-workers, yes.”
Aldous’s expression became one of incomprehension. “How ever did he tolerate your unyielding insolence?”
Rich smiled as he unstrapped himself from his seat. “You know, Chief, rather than answer your question, I’m just going to beat the living tar out of you.”
Rich got to his feet and began to approach Aldous.