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Aviva woke up confused. She examined her surroundings, trying to reorient herself. She was back in her condo, lying on the couch with a terrible headache. But something felt strange. She felt oddly light. As if she weren’t fully anchored in her physical body—only floating like a ghost. Confused, she examined her hands. She controlled their movement, yet they felt detached. She rubbed them together energetically, feeling the heat in the palms of her hands—but only barely.
The concern for this out-of-body experience was replaced with the gradual return of her memories about the man who had made her sit next to him. Fragments of their discussion remained vague and impossible to piece back together. All that remained clear was his desire to learn more about Morgan. A desire that she shared with him.
She wanted to believe she knew Morgan intimately, but something about him remained obscure. Secrets so important they attracted the attention of the most powerful people of the world. The curiosity of Lev and the strange leader of the Red Masks, no less. But even they knew little about him, maybe nothing at all. Even Sebastian Baker hadn’t found anything strange in Morgan’s past. No sketchy contacts, strange mix-ups with the law, or anything that would have raised a red flag on Seb’s radar. If there had been something, he would have found it, for her and for Lev.
She thought of Lev’s advice. Perhaps she needed to be more prudent. Conscious that others may be manipulating her in their masterplan. Could Morgan be part of this masterplan? A prop used against his will in this complex conspiracy that she couldn’t even start to comprehend.
She jumped when she heard the voice.
Be ready, he said in her head. He’s coming.
The voice was clear. She wanted to deny it any credibility. Attribute it to being only a hallucination. But she knew it wasn’t. He was there, the man on the cushion was in her mind. Part of her own mind. She couldn’t do anything about it.
I’ll be right here with you. The man’s voice was disturbingly close, more immediate than her own body. Together we will find out what he knows, how he is doing what he is doing. You will do this because you’re curious, on this I do insist. But otherwise, don’t worry about my presence. Do as if I wasn’t even here, speak freely, and don’t censor anything for my sake, unless, of course, I tell you to do something. Must I remind you of the consequences if you don’t?
No, she didn’t need any reminding of the consequence of her disobedience. She would try to get answers from Morgan because she needed them for her own sanity, but she would stop short of endangering him, even if her life depended on it.
Enjoy his visit—she could feel the weight of his intentional pause—this may be his last.
She shuddered at his words.
There was a faint knock at the door.
She opened the front door to find the guard who normally worked the Tower’s entrance—a Fake.
“Excuse me for bothering you. Security is checking the building for intruders,” said the guard, glancing over her shoulder. “May I come in and take a look around?”
She doubted what the guard said was true. Even if there was some intruder who successfully entered the building, sensors would quickly identify their whereabouts. The guard’s eyes rested on hers. She recognized the tenderness in them. Morgan was doing it again, like he had done the last time, taking over a Fake’s body to slip in undetected—at least that had been his intention. The man in her head was already aware of his presence.
“Please, do come in.” She moved aside, playing along with his game.
The security guard glanced around the apartment with little interest. “The situation unfolding is dangerous. You should consider getting out of the building. It would be safer for you outside.”
You can’t. The voice in her head ordered.
“I will stay—”
“I really think it would be best,” the guard insisted.
Tell him you can’t!
“I can’t,” she said. She approached the guard. “Perhaps it is best if you leave.” She walked up to him. “Your eyes are strangely familiar. They remind me of a good friend of mine.” She smiled. Morgan understood her message.
“I only wanted a moment for us to speak peacefully,” the guard said. He morphed into Morgan.
“They won’t let me leave,” she said. She was happy to see him, despite the looming danger they faced. She walked up to him and touched his face. She was sad she couldn’t feel it properly.
“I’m worried about what they will do to you,” she said. “Please, go, now.”
“I have no intention of running from them.”
Aviva paused, confused. The voice in her head didn’t object to her telling him to leave. Was all this part of their plan? Had the man in her head foreseen that Morgan would want to stay. How did he know?
“They are looking for you,” Aviva said.
“And I am looking for them,” Morgan replied. “It is my only chance. They should be here at any moment to get me. I will go with them without a fight.”
Aviva looked at him, scared to say anything. Scared to walk into another trap like Lev had warned her. She was afraid to serve the Red Masks exactly what they expected of her. After much hesitation, she said, “They won’t come anytime soon.”
“Why wouldn’t they?” he asked.
Don’t tell him I’m here, or it will be the end of both of you, the voice in her mind ordered.
“They want you to talk to me,” she said, trying to push him away. “It’s best for you to leave. You’re in danger here.”
“I must meet this man,” said Morgan. “The one in charge of the Red Masks.”
“That isn’t a good idea. They know you will stay here.”
“They are right,” said Morgan. “I’m staying with you until they come for me.”
“Why... Why is he so important to you?”
“He knew my mother... She did things to him that made him dangerous,” Morgan said.
“You’re speaking nonsense again, your mother—”
“Not the mother you know. Another—”
“You have another mother?” Aviva said, surprised.
Morgan guided Aviva to the sofa. He sat in front of her, cradling her hands.
“There is something you must know,” he said, “about life outside of The Virt.”
Morgan stopped talking, looking away.
Aviva could tell he was withholding something important. “What’s wrong, Morgan?” she said. “You can tell me anything.”
“The world we live in isn’t any more real than The Virt. Everything is a simulation.”
“That’s not possible,” said Aviva. “Where would the real world be?”
“There was a place that preceded our life. A place where I had another mother. A place—”
“Why don’t we know about this previous reality?” said Aviva.
“Our memories have been wiped clean upon entering—”
“But my childhood memories...” Aviva said, not understanding.
“They are fabricated,” said Morgan. “If you entered Replika at an older age, they aren’t real.”
“Why would they do that? What is the point?”
“Aviva,” Morgan said, “we can’t discuss all the details now. It’s complex. You must believe me...”
He says the truth, confirmed the voice in her head. Reality is but an illusion. Aviva remained numb, as if the essence of her life had been sucked from her. Her past flashed before her into a meaningless mess. She gasped for air.
“Are you all right, Aviva? I know this is difficult to accept—”
“I believe you, Morgan,” she said, trying to keep her composure.
Aviva felt weak. Morgan leaned forward to hold her in his arms.
“We must focus on what’s real,” he said. “We are real, Aviva. Our feelings are real. My feelings for you...”
She pushed him back, “Then who are you?” she said. “Why do you remember your past?”
“I’m Morgan, but I’m also Hugh,” he started to explain. “My mother, in the previous reality, was a neuroscientist. She trained my mind to interact with the Qintellect, the same one that manages the world we take for reality, giving me the ability to escape physical limitations of time and space.”
“You knew this all along.”
“No, I didn’t know anything until my sister was sent to awaken the memories that were seeded deep within me.”
“Why? Why would she have done this to you?”
“To stop Henry,” he said. “The man behind the Red Masks, and who can access the Qintellect’s knowledge. He is a dangerous man. I must find him and deactivate the brain implant that gives him this special ability. I must—”
“Stop, it isn’t safe here.” It was too late. She had let him say too much. Her numbness from the revelation about reality and her curiosity had made her reckless in letting him continue speaking. She had let him reveal his intentions to the man he called Henry and who was intimately present within her.
Perhaps Morgan, with his strange ability—that she couldn’t comprehend—was the only chance of stopping the Red Masks from gaining access to The Virt.
“Listen to me, Morgan,” Aviva said. “The Red Masks are up to something strange. They are trying to take over The Virt. They already have control of the Decision Center in Paris. I fear they will soon control New York. What’s strange is that swarms of people are entering the secure location, searching for a better life in The Virt.”
“He’s trying to create a new iteration...” Morgan said. Aviva could see he was piecing together this strange situation. Something she had failed to do until now.
“A new iteration of what?” Aviva asked.
“He wants to attract people into The Virt and then define the parameters of their new reality. Don’t you see? The parameters of previous realities had been established under a democratic process, protecting reality from being manipulated into something unrecognizable. The past realities can’t be modified. The constraints of their existence have been permanently encoded by a group called the Founding Forty. But the parameters of The Virt are not yet established. Henry wants to change the rules. He wants to create a new reality where he defines how things will work. He wants to make the world you take for reality obsolete.”
“That’s why he is making life in the Tower seem so appealing,” said Aviva. “He wants to attract the population inside while causing chaos in the outside world.”
“Yes, and I have a feeling things are only going to get worse,” said Morgan. “I must stop him from controlling The Virt.”
Aviva was scared. She didn’t want to remain in this simulation controlled by the crazy man in her head.
“Hurry, the Control Center in New York may be our last chance,” she said.
“I’ll try, Aviva, but first I’ll come and get you out of here.”
“No,” she said. “Securing The Virt must come first.”
“But I want to be with you for real,” he said.
She leaned over and kissed him, grabbing him by the arm, and jamming her thumb into the fold of his arm. She didn’t feel anything from the kiss, only a cold draft of air between their mouths. Perhaps this Henry was enjoying it more than her.
“You must leave.” She pulled back and looked away. “It isn’t safe for you here.”
“I will get you out of here. I’ll come for—” She quickly placed a finger on his lips to stop him from saying more.
“I love you, Morgan. The world needs you to secure The Virt from this man you call Henry. If that’s too late, the Jurors will be your last chance.” Morgan hesitated not wanting to leave. “Morgan, you have to do this.”
She sat motionless, worried by the silence in her mind. Henry hadn’t stopped her from saying anything. He let her speak freely about the Decision Centers and about the Jurors. Had she unwittingly sent Morgan into a trap? Did she have any other choice but to tell him about The Virt and the Red Masks plan to overtake it?
She was terrified for Morgan, for the future, and for herself.
