The Annihilation of Foreverland

the paper to cast a shadow over his notes. It was stupid to write these things down, but he had to organize his thoughts. He was just writing bullet points but they were still clues:
    o Mutual Fund
    o FBI
    o Mt. Rushmore

    These were the three ideas he’d come up with to get the world’s attention. The first one, mutual fund. Get control of the largest mutual fund in the world and sell all the assets. The stock market suffers a flash crash and people lose money.
    Money is power and it will find you. If they found the rogue trader holed up in his parents’ basement, they would find an island in the South Atlantic .
    The second idea—
    “Danny Boy.” James flung a folded sheet of paper into his pudding. “Message.”
    Danny turned his notes over. James looked back. They were watching. And laughing. Danny wiped the chocolate smudge off and spread the note open.
    Turdbrain. You die in the needle.
    Sid was standing on the table with both birds flying. James nodded and smiled.
    “Hey, you’re a pal,” Danny said. “Hang on a sec.”
    James waited for him to finish writing, watched him fold it back up.
    “Don’t peek now,” Danny said. “I want it to be a surprise.”
    James opened it anyway. He carried it back to Sid still holding up middle fingers and still getting laughs. James handed it to him and Sid opened it. He sat down.
    I’m running at you in five minutes.
    Sid was sixty feet away. If Danny rushed him, he’d be less than twenty and pissing his pants. He could curse him all day long, but all it took was minus twenty feet and he’d be catatonic.
    Second idea: destroy the FBI’s database. Danny was drawing on previous memories. Crime-fighting agencies, like the FBI, were touchy when it came to their data. If he got inside their network, he could detonate everything digital. That was like kicking a hornet ’s nest. They wouldn’t come to the Chimney asking questions, they’d kick the door down.
    The third idea: blow something up. Destroying a national monument was surely going to set off a worldwide manhunt. If he dropped a building with a couple thousand people in it, they were as good as rescued, but Danny wasn’t a killer. And there was the problem of getting explosives to detonate. It could be done; he could redirect a couple of military bases but that would get complicated.
    It was down to the first two ideas. He was only going to get one chance. It had to work. But he wouldn’t know until he was back inside the needle and tested the system. First, he had to find Lucinda.
    Pick a fight.
    Danny took his tray to the return window. Sid was in a conversation with someone across the table, but kept an eye on Danny as he filled a to-go box with food. Danny closed the lid and held up his hand for Sid to see, all four fingers and thumb.
    He had Sid’s full attention as he dropped one finger at a time. When he folded the last one into a fist, he started walking right at their table.
    Sid was out the exit before twenty feet.

36
    Danny tapped on the door. He didn’t expect an answer. He turned the knob, poked his head inside, slowly. There was a lump on the bed. The curtains were closed. Danny didn’t bother closing the door quietly. Zin had been asleep for two days.
    “Zin, my man.” Danny pulled one of the curtains open. “Let the sunshine in, brother.”
    The light fell on his face with no effect. His head was half-buried in the pillow, mouth open. His complexion was lighter, a grayishness mixed with mocha. But still dark beneath his eyes.
    “Hey, man, wake up.” Danny shook him. “You got to eat or you’ll shrivel up like a leaf.”
    Zin moaned, smacking white slime between his lips. Danny sat him up. Zin’s head lolled around. “What time is it?”
    “Daytime,” Danny said. “You need to join the living while you’re still alive. I brought you some food, here.” He doled out an apple, a turkey sandwich with spinach and tomato, a bag of chips and a container of pudding. “Get some of this in you before you fall asleep again.”
    Zin was beginning to collapse.
    “Hey, come on.” He shook his shoulders. “Throw some water on your face or something. Wake up.”
    Zin rubbed his eyes then shuffled to the sink. When he turned around, his eyes were at least open. So was his mouth.
    “The mouth-breathing is starting to annoy me, you know,” Danny said.
    “Then look the other way.”
    “Can’t you just breathe through your nose or something?”
    “I’m too tired.”
    Zin