I can’t tell if I’m alive or dead. All sense of reality has left my entire being. It’s as though I’m seeing everything that’s happening all around me but doing so from outside my body. Black police vehicles surround us, their bright, multi-colored flashers burning my eyes. Cops dressed in riot gear and helmets with dark visors run in every direction.

An EMT van pulls up not far from where I’m lying on my back on a torn up patch of roadway. Looking up at the sky, I see black helicopters circling from above like big black vampire bats. Peering over my shoulder, I see Tony laid out on his side, his eyes closed. A small trickle of blood is running across his forehead. I wonder if he ever made it off the road after the Jeep was torn to shreds by that tank round.

“Tony,” I say, my voice sounding not like it’s coming from me, but from someone else entirely. “Are you okay? Are you alive, Tony?”

But he doesn’t answer me.

“Please, Tony,” I say, “don’t die on me. I’ve only just met you again.”

Two men are suddenly standing over me. One of them is wearing the blue and white uniform of an EMT. The other is dressed in a black police uniform. He’s got a black goatee and dark sunglasses. Matt Tyrel. He’s gripping his automatic assault rifle with both hands.

“Make sure they don’t die,” he says.

All I can recall is falling fast to my death, but then something snatching me from out of mid-air. A drone attachment maybe, or some sort of harness device that emerged from out of a helicopter’s belly. All I know is I was snatched out of mid-air by something mechanical, but it was a violent enough collision to cause me to lose consciousness. It must have then deposited me onto the road beside Tony.

Everest EMT drops to one knee. He injects me with something.

The world goes black.

When I awaken, I’m still on my back. Only, I’m not lying in the road. Instead, I’m lying on my back on a bed. The overhead lighting is bright and burns my retinas. A flat-screened high-definition hologram screen television is mounted to the white wall directly in front of me. The television commercial for the Everest Primary Membership Program is playing. Kate’s commercial. I gaze at the happy couple walking through the park on a crisp, sunny, fall day, and I want to vomit. Little do they know they are being surveilled by the very people who are trying to convince them of a worry-free lifestyle.

“Don’t do it,” I say aloud, as if they can hear me.

My voice sounds raspy and old. I need water. My entire body aches. My head hurts. How long I’ve been out, I have no idea.

“Don’t do what, Tanya?” comes the voice of Big Sister Jacquie.

“Join your stupid fucking Primary Program, you AI shit!”

I try to sit up. But I discover that I’m strapped to the bed. Or, it’s not even a bed. It’s more like a table. A stainless-steel table like you find inside a morgue. Something that would only be comfortable for a corpse. What the hell is this place? A hospital? A concentration camp? Am I inside the New York State Everest Headquarters?

Silence follows. Not real silence since the stupid Primary Program commercial is playing over and over again.

“That’s not very nice, Tanya,” Jacquie says after a time. “We did pay your debts, after all. And you were only days away from earning your first Everest Credit deposit. Such a shame. We hoped you were enjoying a satisfactory worry-free experience with the Everest Primary Membership Program.”

“Yeah, a real shame. You tried to kill me and my boyfriend. I hope you short circuit tonight, you sterile bitch.”

“That’s not nice, Tanya,” Jacquie repeats calmly. “We’re only trying to help you. At the Everest Corporation, we’re all about the consumer. In fact, you could say, we are obsessively consumer driven. I’m sure with a little persuasion, you will easily see the value of the Primary Program, and beg forgiveness for your sins against Everest dot com. Then, in time, you can begin a worry-free life all over again. Does this sound satisfactory?”

I’m just about to bitch Jacquie out again when the solid metal door opens, and a woman walks in. My pulse picks up speed, because it’s not just any woman. It’s a woman I’ve known for years and years. A woman I’ve gotten drunk with, and with whom I’ve revealed my most intimate secrets. She is one of my best friends, if not the best friend.

Kate Simpson.

She’s not tall, and she’s a little large in the hips, but her face and boobs are to die for. Or so the guys think, anyway. She’s dressed smartly for the occasion. A lightweight, almost sheer tank over a pair of faded Levis and leather sandals on her feet, her toenails perfectly pedicured. Like me, she loves her silver jewelry and her hair is smartly parted over her left eye, the same way my mother loves me to wear mine. She’s not carrying a bag, so I’m guessing she has surrendered it to security upon arrival. Not that I know where here is, or what kind of security they have. But I’m guessing it’s pretty damned formidable. The bastards have me strapped to a table, after all.

Her face takes on this expression of grave concern. You know, corners of the mouth in major frown position, eyes wide, hands extended like she can’t wait to place her somehow healing fingers on me.

“My God, Tan,” she says, “I came as fast as I could. The new high-speed Amtrak between Manhattan and Albany isn’t really all that fast, and I had to wait until late morning to get a ticket out. What the hell happened?”

My eyes half on the Everest Primary Membership Program commercial and its co-creator, Kate Simpson.

“What the hell day is it, Kate?”

She just gives me this look like, why so angry?

“It’s Monday afternoon,” she says almost shyly. “You don’t know what day it is, Tan?”

Eyes to the ceiling.

“I’ve been out for twenty-four hours, at least,” I say. “Depending on which Monday you’re talking about.”

She volunteers the exact date, and I know for sure. I’ve been inside this place for a full day and night.

“What is this place, Kate?” I say. “Where the hell am I?”

She looks around the hospital-like room, as though not sure how much information to give away. After all, Big Sister Jacquie is listening intently. She tries to work up a smile.

“You’re in a safe place,” she says. “You’re with friends.” Then, nodding to the commercial on the television. “Look, it’s our advertisement. Isn’t it lovely, Tan? Best piece of work I’ve accomplished to date. I especially loved getting in the stuff about everything from dentistry, to house cleaning, to whichever church you choose all being provided by Everest’s super consumer-centric services and products.”

“Like I already told you, Kate, it’s propaganda.” Me, trying to move my arms. “They’ve got me strapped to this table. I’ve got to pee, and I’m thirsty and hungry. They’re keeping me here against my will.”

She’s still trying to maintain that corporate, I’m-only-here-to-help-you, smile.

“You did a bad thing, Tanya,” she says, softly. “And when you do bad things, sometimes you need a timeout.”

“I did a bad thing?” I beg. “These Everest lunatics tried to kill me. They tried to kill Tony. I think they’re holding my parents. Do you know where Tony is, Kate? Do you know if they have my parents?”

Pulling desperately against the straps that bind me. I’m suddenly feeling panicked again, like whatever drug they injected me with is now rapidly wearing off. Tears fill my eyes.

“Kate, what the fuck is happening?!” I scream.

“Calm down, Tanya,” Kate says. “You need to be here, don’t you understand? You went against the program. If not for me, you would have already faced total Primary Termination by now. I have gone entirely to bat for you on this, at risk to myself. So, please, please, please be a good girl, Tan, and do what they say.” Now her face has lost all semblance of empathy. Now, it’s angry. “You really have no clue what you and Tony have done, do you, Tanya? You weren’t even in the program and you were saying dangerous things over the phone to me. Don’t you understand by now that Jacquie is always listening? Always helping us live more stress free lives? Soon the new satellite will be launched and there will be nowhere anyone can go without her monitoring you; taking care of your every need even before you realize you have a need.”

My mind is spinning with odd bits of frightening events that have filled it the past couple of days. But I’m trying my hardest to see through the clutter. I see myself standing on the sidewalk outside my parent’s bungalow, talking on the phone with Kate. I hear myself voicing reservations over joining the Everest Primary Program. Talking about the possibility that people get taken away forever if they don’t play by the strict rules. Kate telling me that it was all rumor and hearsay. Sure, I worried about Jacquie overhearing me, but Jacquie can’t hear me outside the house. At least, she can’t until that satellite is launched.

That’s when it dawns on me with all the force of a sledgehammer to the head.

“You turned me in, didn’t you, Kate?” I say. “You’re the one who warned the Everest Police and that’s why Tyrel followed me on my jog yesterday morning.” I can’t help but laugh bitterly. “Jesus you work fast. You must have hung up with me, and immediately called in the dogs.”

I recall seeing Tyrel stretching out in the park prior to beginning his run. She must have called in her report and he happened to be the Johnny-on-the-spot cop. Her eyes looking into my own, her face now devoid of any emotion.

“You were talking dangerously, Tan,” she says. “It had to be done.”

“Oh, you bitch,” I say. “You traitor. How could you do this to me? My family? To Tony?”

“You went against the rules, Tan,” she says. “And did so with a suspected Resistance member. These are dangerous times and you’re a disrupter. Everest is about to go to war with the Drake search engine, their number one competitor. Both sides are arming up. Real war is coming. Real. Fucking. War. Not just some bloodless cyber warfare. And resistors like you going against the cause of a worry-free, consumer-centric lifetime experience represents existential dangers to believers like me.”

“Listen to yourself, Kate,” I say. “You never even talk that glowingly about God. You never believed in anything or anybody. Only yourself.”

She attempts to work up a smile. And of course, I want to slap it off her face.

“Well, all that changed when I saw the enormous possibilities the Everest Primary Program afforded me and my loved ones.” She shakes her head like I’m just not getting the obvious. “They are offering you the opportunity to never have to worry about money or your life ever again. Not even Jesus could offer that to humanity when they crucified him on the cross. The Drake search engine wants to destroy all that so they can take over the world marketplace and replace freedom with anxiety and slavery.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” I say. “If some writer sent me a book like this, I’d reject it for being entirely unbelievable.”

“Believe it, Tan,” she says, once more placing her hand on mine. “Listen, Everest is willing to give you another chance. That’s why you’re here and not already facing permanent termination. You can blame me all you want, but if I hadn’t stepped in when I did, things could be a lot worse. I am trying to help you here. Do you understand me, Tanya? I’m your friend and without me, you’d already be terminated.”

. . . Disrupter . . . the Resistance . . . dangerous times . . . war . . . what war?

“Where are my parents, Kate?” I ask. “Where is Tony?”

She holds up both hands like she wants me to hold my horses. But I don’t want to hold my horses. I need to know if the people I love are in danger.

“They are being well cared for,” she says.

“Like me?” I say, yanking on the straps. “I’m a prisoner, Kate.”

The door opens then. A man wearing a white lab coat enters. Behind him is a man with a face I’ve come to dread. Captain Matt Tyrel.

“So, how is Tanya feeling?” Tyrel asks with a happy smiley face.

“Go screw yourself Matt with two Ts,” I say.

“That’s no way to answer him,” Kate says. Then, leaning down so she can speak into my ear. “Listen, Tan baby, I’m begging you. Do what they say. Fake it if you have to, but this is your last chance. You want to see Tony and your parents alive again, you will do as they say. You will say you’re sorry, you will beg their forgiveness, and after a reasonable time of rehabilitation and re-education, your Primary Membership will be reinstated. Just answer their questions and all this goes away.”

Standing up straight, Kate smiles at Lab Coat Man and Tyrel.

“Hello, gentlemen,” she says. “Thank God you’re here. My friend, Tanya, sees the wrongs in her ways, and from what she tells me, she’s ready to make amends for what she’s done and get with the program.”

Lab Coat man smiles and nods. Tyrel bites down on his bottom lip, his dead gray eyes lasering into me like they’re about to cut me up for lunch meat.

“We’ll see about that,” he says.

Kate takes one more look at me, gives me this stare with wide eyes like she’s pleading with me to play along. Right now I want to spit in her face.

“Goodbye, Tanya,” she says.

“Go to hell,” I say.

She turns away from me, while shaking her head, as if she’s whispering to herself, this is most definitely not a good start.