Nymphomation(102)
‘In where, old chap?’
‘The maze. I can’t seem to…’ Max closed his eyes. ‘Have you drugged me? The food?’
‘Maze? Calm down, Professor. Perhaps you were dreaming. Perhaps the maze is inside here, eh?’ Crawl was tapping his own head, producing a hollow ringing tone. ‘This way, please.’ He was gesturing towards the open door of the cell. ‘Sorry I can’t come with you. I am far too lowly.’
Real time. ‘Where is he?’ demanded Jimmy.
‘I don’t know.’ Joe was hitting keys to try to get the maze under control. ‘The whole thing’s going mad. I can’t…’
The screen was covered with blurbs, who fluttered in a cloud of black information, desperate for food. Beneath them the maze was twisting around into ever new pathways, but still the blurbs could not enter it. Joe wanted to hit the switch, let loose the Theseus blurbs, let them feed, but Jimmy was saying, ‘No. We wait. Play, Daisy…’
‘But where’s Jazir?’ she asked. ‘Is he all right?’
‘Jazir…he’s…’
‘He’s near the centre,’ shouted Celia. ‘Look at my feather go!’
…Find the centre Jazir feed the centre feed the queen play the queen feed the play to win to feed to find the centre where the play is winning to feed off the queen the king the queen king who wins for ever…
Real time: 8.58.05. As Cookie Luck started to slow her dance, to let her dots slowly form, and Celia felt her bone tingle again in expectation.
Maze time: 8.28. As Max stepped through the door…
‘Max is back,’ said Joe, under control again.
‘Never mind Max,’ shouted Jimmy. ‘Where’s Jazir?’
‘Nearly there. Nearly…’
‘Don’t do anything! Not till it’s nine in the maze.’
‘Hate to mention this… but the maze just vanished.’
Domino.
A large circular room greeted Max, perhaps the whole top floor of the House of Chances, but empty now of all walls and corridors. Only emptiness. A dazzling white emptiness that spread from the outer edges towards the darker centre, where a lone figure stood waiting, perhaps 5 miles away.
Max set off walking.
It took only minutes to cover the vast distance, to let the shaded figure dissolve out of the time which was dressed in the latest lime-green demob, with matching trilby and night-dark sunglasses. The darkness at the centre was shining from a circular pit set in the floor. The figure was standing near the hole, holding his hand out towards Max. ‘No further, please.’
‘Mister Million?’ asked Max.
‘The very same.’ The figure doffed his hat and bowed slightly.
‘Frank Scenario?’
‘The very same.’ The figure took off his glasses.
‘Adam Jagger?’
‘The very same.’ The figure laughed.
‘Where’s Malthorpe?’
‘You were always saying that. At school. “Where’s Malthorpe? What’s he doing now? How can I do better?” It was so funny to watch you two, fighting, following. So funny.’
‘Where is he?’
‘Are you still obsessed?’
‘He killed Georgie…’
Real time: 8.58.54. The computer screen had gone completely white, taking the maze and the dominoes and the blurbs and Miss Sayer’s inset into some hidden realm. Only the clock remained. Joe was banging at the keys, trying to reconnect, getting nowhere.
Domino.
‘What now, Jimmy?’ he asked.
‘We play.’
‘But the time? Jazir…’
‘We play. Daisy… your go, I think.’
Domino. Just thinking it even.
Nobody had heard her. She could hardly speak.
‘Daisy! Play. Play to win!’
Domino. Louder now, but still caged.
Maze time: invisible. ‘Oh yes, I remember Georgie Horn. A gentle boy that you two destroyed. You were very cruel to the unusual in life, I noticed that. I was luckier, being invisible, unnoticed…’
A buzzing noise could be heard, rising in smoke from the pit.
‘Who are you?’ asked Hackle.
‘The boy you ignored. The boy in the middle, not strong or weak or brilliant or stupid. Do you think I didn’t want to be like you, or Paul? I wanted to be special.’
‘But you are. You’re famous. A singer. What more do you want?’
‘A minor talent I have exhumed in the last few years. A cover, if you will, for my real occupation. And a burden it has been, pretending.’ He threw the hat and glasses aside. ‘I wanted only to be chosen, Max. That’s all. To be a child of the moment, like you were. Like Paul. But Miss Sayer paid no attention to me. While you and Paul fought over her love, I grew to hate the woman. What was I? Another pair of lowly numbers. But so close… so close to being special.’