Michael Robertson: New Reality: Truth

“I just want you to be careful. Please don’t cut her, or her hair.”

“To be completely honest, mate, I don’t give a shit about her hair. I’m sure she won’t either when she realizes her life has been a lie for the past three years. I’m more worried about her ear at the moment.”

“Oh God. Please stay focused on what you’re doing, Jake.”

With his slim shoulders clamped to his neck, Jake squeezed the handle of the knife until his grip hurt. It tamed the wobble ever so slightly. “I will if you shut the fuck up.”

“I hate what they’ve done to this world and the people in it.” Jake looked up to see Tom tilt his head to one side as he looked at his wife. “She’s a mess.”

“Look, mate, I know this is hard for you, but we don’t have the time to talk about it now. Are you ready?”

Tom nodded. “Yep.”

Clenching his jaw, Jake pulled the blade up. It made light work of the first strap and didn’t cut her. The Bots were coming now for sure. The second strap went easily too. Jumping to his feet, Jake pointed at her. “You need to be quick, Tom. Are you sure you’re up for this?”

Tom’s eyes were glazed. His wobbling head was barely a nod.

Running around behind her, Jake slid his hands under her fat shoulders, the rubble beneath her raking his skin. “Tom! Help me out, man.”

Clarity cut through Tom’s vacant expression. Rushing to Jake’s side, he helped lift her.

Fire tore through Jake’s biceps and his entire body shook. With both men grunting and moaning, they slowly raised Thalia from the ground.

Holding her in place, Jake tried to blink away the sweat stinging his eyes. “Hurry up, Tom.” Each breath was shallower than the last, and he shook more vigorously. “The Bots will be here soon.”

The only thing Jake saw move was Tom’s Adam’s apple. It bobbed on his long neck. “Hurry up, for fuck’s sake!”

The tall man moved around in front of her, grabbed the headset and froze again.

When Thalia slipped, Jake had to adjust his feet to hold her upright. Gravity was winning. “I can’t hold her forever, man.”

The glaze had returned to Tom’s eyes as he stared at his wife’s face.

As soon as the acrid smell hit Jake it smothered him. Settling on the back of his throat, it tasted like stale sweat. When he looked down, he saw excrement leaking over her waistband. Several heaves flipped his skinny body. What little strength he had in his arms vanished. His legs went bandy. His stomach clamped. “Do you need me to do it, Tom?” More shit belched out. Rixon’s synthesized sludge went through the gamers like water.

Tom shook his head.

“Well, bloody hurry up then.” Jake slipped again. The woman rolled to the side, but adrenaline helped him stabilize her. Grit flew into his eyes. “If you don’t hurry up, I swear I’m going to drop her. If I drop her, she ain’t coming back up again.”

Tears glistened on Tom’s cheeks.

“On the count of three, yeah?” Jake said. He looked around. Still no Bots.

Tom didn’t respond.

“One.”

The tall man came to life. “Am I doing the right thing, Jake? Will she be grateful for being freed from New Reality? Is a harsh truth better than a fake paradise?” His eyes widened. The effort of shouting turned his face beetroot. “Will this fucking work?”

Cramps held Jake’s shoulders in a tough grip. “We can’t turn back now. Two…”

Tom was hyperventilating.

“Three!”

“Arghh!” Tom yanked the headset free.

Thalia’s shrill scream jabbed Jake’s ears, and all he wanted to do was drop her. It sounded like she was being skinned alive. The Bots must have heard that. The people in the tower probably heard that one too.

With the headset in his hands, Tom held it as the food tube recoiled back inside. It left a line of white syrup up his chest. Dropping it, Tom grabbed his wife’s shoulders.

Stepping back, Jake let Tom take the weight, his own limbs close to giving up. While scanning for Bots, he rolled his tight shoulders and stood next to his friend. Any second now, and they would have to run.

Although Thalia had stopped screaming, her mouth was still flung wide. Yellow teeth sat in her dark gums. The smell of dog shit filled the air. Was that really her breath? Not even the wind could dispel it. Jake shuddered and stepped back. He swallowed the hot saliva in his throat.

Reduced to a snapshot of suffering, she sat there. Greasy hair. A thick neck. Wide eyes. Her irises glaring a pained accusation. Frozen. Broken.

When she tilted to the side, Jake’s stomach lurched. Although he wanted to help, he couldn’t. She was sure to crush him if he tried.

Crack! Her temple hit a rock. Claret belched from the wound. Tom knelt down and brushed her hair from her face. Blood continued leaking out. Jake looked around again. Where were the Bots?

Putting his hand on Tom’s bony shoulder, Jake shook his head. “There’s nothing we can do. She’s gone.”

When Tom didn’t respond, Jake leaned in close to hear him talking to her.

“We need to go, man. She’s dead. There’s nothing we can do. We need to get out of here before it’s too late.”

Tension snapped through Jake’s body when he heard the mini helicopter blade, and his bowels fell to his bollocks. It was already too late.

“It’s a trap.”

Jake looked at the bloated corpse in the crater and then back to his tall friend. “You reckon?”

Tom nodded. “Definitely.”

“What makes you say that? They haven’t set traps for us before.”

“No, but they probably thought we wouldn’t last this long.”

Following the line of Tom’s gaze, Jake stared at the onyx tower in the distance. It was mostly hidden by dust clouds, but the red writing down its side glowed like a ruby in murky water. Each letter was at least seven stories tall, and although he couldn’t read them from where he was, Jake knew what they spelled. The horizon was branded with the name of the world’s new deity—RIXON. “So you still think they want us dead?”

“Absolutely. I think they would have wanted it to be through natural causes, but their patience must be wearing thin. We’ve lived without a headset for four years now. Even the initial objectors put them on within the first year. We may be the only two still eluding them.”

Looking at the naked gamer in the bottom of the crater, Jake’s eyes settled on the shiny glasses on his face. They looked brand new. His headset had fallen off and was on its side next to him.

Pointing down the hill, Tom shrugged. “If it’s not a trap, then why have they left the headset there? They’re normally super-efficient at cleaning up after themselves, so why not this time?”

The grit in Jake’s eyes burned so bad he wanted to claw them out. “Maybe you’re right, maybe it’s a trap. But that doesn’t mean they want to kill us. Maybe they just want us to play New Reality.” Scratching his beard, he blinked several times, his eyes streaming. “I need those sunglasses.”

“Of course. We both do. That’s why they’ve put them there.”

Clenching his teeth, Jake glared at his friend. “Yeah, but I saw them first!”

Pulling his head back as if the words had dealt him a physical blow, Tom held his hands up. “Calm down, pal. I know you saw them first. All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t go in there because you’ll die. Come on, Jake, open your eyes. Can’t you see what’s happening?” Tom counted the points out on his fingers. “One, there’s a dead gamer with something we need. It’s the first dead gamer we’ve seen in four years—”

“But what about—”