The Annihilation of Foreverland

threw on clothes and started for the stairs. A joyride? Maybe the old Zin was putting up a fight after all.
    He never bothered opening Zin’s door.

32
    “Preposterous.” Mr. Jones’s threw his arms up. “You’ll have a real problem on your hands if he’s hurt, I promise you, Director. Something happens to my Danny Boy…”
    Mr. Smith stood next to him. They were looking out the tinted windows of the Chimney’s top floor. Mr. Smith calmly kept his hands latched behind his back, while Mr. Jones folded and unfolded his arms making a small sound each time he did, like he was choking on words until he had to spit them out.
    “There will be hell to pay. I’ve invested too much time and money to take such a risk, you should’ve consulted me.” He looked over his shoulder. “This is absurd!”
    The Director was throwing a floral red and white shirt over his head. “Mr. Jones,” he said, his flip-flops slapping his feet, “I don’t consult my clients. You pay me to do the thinking.”
    The Director stood next to Mr. Smith. They were looking at the back of the dormitory.
    “Besides,” he said, “you don’t exist, so don’t make idle threats.”
    Mr. Jones’s face went red. “You’re punishing him for what? For going in the Nowhere? I’m a fair man, Director, and this has nothing to do with fairness.”
    The Director looked at Mr. Jones. His beard did not conceal the smile. Fair man? His delusion knows no bounds.
    The program thrived from the self-centeredness of these old men, the infection of false entitlements that comes from money and power. Their universe revolved around their petty concerns and anything that affected them. They couldn’t see the bigger picture, they couldn’t see opportunity when they looked in only one direction. Stay open to life, gentlemen. Let it unfold and the universe will provide you will endless paths on your journey.
    Fact is, they got lucky.
    The Director expected Danny to be risky, but he never would’ve guessed the kid would hack through the security firewall and spread across the world! He did it through a vast web of communications. He didn’t attempt any communication because he was smart. Any other frightened kid would’ve shouted out to the world, Help! Help! The Director had answers for that, but that wasn’t what Danny Boy did. He was patient, scoping out his potential. He would do something the next time, something the Director might not be able to stop.
    But, more importantly, he showed the Director how the world’s vast communication network had become a living body that just needed a soul to breathe. Danny Boy merged his identity with the network. He became the network.
    Danny showed him just how short-sighted he had been all this time.
    “We’re making him stronger,” the Director said. “He needs this to push through his psychological barriers.”
    “On what basis do you make these assessments?” Mr. Jones said. “Those barriers were put in place by us! He’s not supposed to remember his past in the flesh, Director. Like every boy on this island, he only recovers them inside the needle, and now you want to remove the barriers that prevent him from remembering in the flesh? Director, I must question your motivations—”
    “Question nothing, Mr. Jones,” he snapped. “Every boy on this island is different, each needs the program tailored to his individual needs. May I remind you that you were the one that argued to recruit this young man against my better judgment, that he would bring problems that would be dealt with in an unorthodox manner. Do you recall that conversation?”
    Mr. Jones folded his arms, once again. “You are introducing anarchy. I hardly see how that will benefit those involved.”
    “Sometimes death provides life, Mr. Jones. I believe that is something we can all agree upon.”
    They watched the scene unfold behind the dormitory.
    “I’ve had enough. I’m putting a stop to this now.”
    The Director didn’t stop him from going to the elevator. The event was over.
    Mr. Smith was nonplussed. It didn’t involve his boy. In fact, it was for the benefit of Danny Boy and Reed. Therefore, Mr. Smith watched with great interest.
    “Danny Boy is Reed’s salvation,” is what the Director told him before Mr. Jones had arrived. “He’s our best chance to draw him inside the needle.”
    And the needle was what Mr. Smith needed him to take. Otherwise, he will have wasted his time and money. Money, he had. Time was what