The Annihilation of Foreverland

Halfway down, there was a door on the left, another on the right. The one of the right was the network computer room. Mr. Jones had never been in that room. There was no need, he knew very little about that part of the program.
    He followed the others to the one on the left.
    They passed Sid lying motionless on a bed, a needle protruding from his forehead. A cable was attached to the needle, plugging into the equipment that was beside the bed. The technician, Mr. Jackson, pulled the curtain across to hide Sid’s Investor, Mr. Williams, lying on a bed parallel to Sid’s. A needle protruding from his head as well. Eyes closed.
    Mr. Jones averted his stare.
    He did not like thinking of the needle. He imagined it would feel like a cold, steel nail when it came to his turn. He hoped it would be quick and numb, that he wouldn’t remember it. That when it came his turn for the crossover, he wouldn’t remember any of this. That he could leave all the memories in the past, start a new life.
    He followed the Investors into the side room where they would watch the progress. It would be quite boring. Many of them resented being forced to sit in the waiting room like outsiders. Mr. Jones didn’t mind it so much. He could sit in a way that he didn’t see the needle sticking from the boy’s head. And he didn’t have to smell the antiseptic that clung to the back of his throat.
    He got comfortable in one of the chairs at the back, happy to let the others sit in the front row. Besides, the air vents were on the ceiling and aimed at the back wall. It was a relief to have fresh air on his face. The room was so stuffy.
    He leaned back and folded his hands over his belly. He thought, maybe, he might take a short nap. It could be hours before there was any progress. It was like waiting for a baby to be born. It was like that in more ways than one. And sometimes, when the crossover was slow, they went back to the Mansion. You never knew when the delivery would take place. You just hoped you didn’t miss it.
    His eyelids became heavy.

61
    “Okay, my boy.” Mr. Campbell’s voice was muffled outside the door. “It’s time to lock up. I hope you boys found your books because I have a meeting to attend.”
    Danny’s hands were slick with perspiration.
    He stopped to take a breath in order to steady his hand. It quivered over the scrolling text and he needed to be touching with accuracy. He had circumvented the security without setting it off and located the power grid. It would be simple to overload the power distribution and cause a blackout but he needed to find the tracker net before he did that or he wouldn’t be able to activate them and there would be a horde of old men looking for them.
    “Yes, sir,” Zin answered. “We got them, thank you for letting us find them. You know, we don’t want to waste any more of your time, but you know how important it is that we do well in our studies. They say that a brain that is active in studies is one that will be stronger and healthier. In fact, research has shown that higher brain activity increases the—”
    “Where’s Danny Boy?”
    “I’m sorry?”
    “Son, you’re playing games. Where is Danny Boy?”
    Found it.
    The tracker net wasn’t difficult to open. He had gotten past the hardest part of the security system, but the database of trackers was large. He did a quick search for names, located his own tracker. Now he need to find Zin… Zin…
    Brain cramp . He couldn’t remember Zin’s real name.
    “He had to take a dump, sir,” Zin said. “He ate some spicy food at the cafeteria an hour ago, I think it was a bad burrito or something. Anyway, he was—”
    A shadow passed in front of the window. Danny moved down the wall, all the way to the corner, squatted behind the last desk. He did a global search for…
    The cabinet is open!
    Keys jingled outside. “Son, you better locate Danny Boy in the next five seconds.”
    Metal connected with metal as the key slid inside the lock.
    The knob turned.
    Danny crouched down as low as he could, inputting a global search for Zin . Dozens of names scrolled over the interface. He went down the list. Everything with a Z was showing up. No time for another search. He went through the names.
    The light went on.
    Cameron. Nicholas. David.
    Mr. Campbell stepped inside. Shuffled over to the cabinet.
    Anthony. Benjamin. Theodore.
    Closed the door. Looked around.
    Hayden. Dane—
    He saw him, stooped in the corner. Cheeks flushed,