stepped inside the rec room and walked over to the blank wall in the back. “It was right here,” she said as she ran her fingers over the surface.
“They hid it,” Jane said.
Everyone turned to look at her. “Hid it?” AJ asked. “How do you hide a full-size door?”
Jane looked at Jake. “Do you remember how I hid from Captain Steele’s guards when I first joined your crew?” Jane asked.
“How she did what?” AJ asked.
He looked at her and then at the rest of his crew. “I guess maybe I never mentioned that. When Steele sent her people over to search the Wave , after they left, I found Jane hiding inside our rec room.” He looked at Raines. “She…somehow was able to program a simulation of an empty rec room to be displayed when the main program shut down.”
“For now, let’s skip the part where you explain why you didn’t tell your first mate about that,” AJ began, “and get to the part where you explain why it has anything to do with why the access door is missing in here.” She pointed to the dark control panel on the wall. “This room is powered down and locked out. There is no program running. You locked it yourself, Jake.”
Jake looked at Jane. “Well?”
She sighed. “I’m tired of being the one with all the answers. Could you please ask Norman to explain it to you?”
When all eyes turned to Raines, he shook his head. “Don’t look at me. I have no idea—”
“Shush!” Jane said as she walked over to stand next to him. “Just repeat after me, okay?”
Raines nodded. “All right, dear.”
“Ask them how their closets work,” she whispered.
Raines looked down at her then back up at the group. “So tell me, do you know how your closets work? I assume she is referring to—”
“Norman!” she hissed. “No embellishments. If you’re not going to solve this yourself, then you have to play by my rules.”
Raines looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry, dear. How do your closets work?”
Vee answered first. “If she means the clothing recyclers, I guess we assumed they are just very advanced versions of what we all use.”
Jane whispered something in Raines’s ear. He said, “Our recyclers can’t create new fabrics. They just recycle what’s been put in them.”
“So they have technology we don’t have,” AJ said. “This has nothing to do with—”
Jane whispered again, and Raines’s eyes widened. Then he asked, “How is it that this facility had exactly the same number of bedrooms as people in our group?” He looked down at Jane. “I should have asked that question myself.”
“Are you saying they knew we were coming here?” Jake asked. “And they built this place just for us?”
“We only left the village a few days ago,” Jessie said. “No one could have built this place that fast.”
Jake figured it out first. “You’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, are you?”
Jane smiled. “I knew you would get it first. We’re not that different, you know?”
“Get what?” Vee asked.
Jake stepped out of the rec room and looked at their living space. “How much of this is real, and how much is not?”
Jane walked out to stand beside him. “The food has to be real, or we would have starved by now. I would guess that everything inside the central ring, and everything outside is not.”
“What are you two going on about?” AJ asked. “You can’t seriously think we’ve been living inside a simulation all this time, can you?”
“Should I show them now?” Jane asked Jake.
He looked down at her. “Are you saying that you know how to end it?”
“I told you I like to stay awake at night. I heard them use a code phrase before giving a command. It’s…” She proceeded to make a barely audible series of clicks then said, “End everything.”
Jake felt a rush of vertigo as the room’s outer wall dissolved. He then found himself standing inside a large rock cave. As Jane had guessed, only the central living space was
“They hid it,” Jane said.
Everyone turned to look at her. “Hid it?” AJ asked. “How do you hide a full-size door?”
Jane looked at Jake. “Do you remember how I hid from Captain Steele’s guards when I first joined your crew?” Jane asked.
“How she did what?” AJ asked.
He looked at her and then at the rest of his crew. “I guess maybe I never mentioned that. When Steele sent her people over to search the Wave , after they left, I found Jane hiding inside our rec room.” He looked at Raines. “She…somehow was able to program a simulation of an empty rec room to be displayed when the main program shut down.”
“For now, let’s skip the part where you explain why you didn’t tell your first mate about that,” AJ began, “and get to the part where you explain why it has anything to do with why the access door is missing in here.” She pointed to the dark control panel on the wall. “This room is powered down and locked out. There is no program running. You locked it yourself, Jake.”
Jake looked at Jane. “Well?”
She sighed. “I’m tired of being the one with all the answers. Could you please ask Norman to explain it to you?”
When all eyes turned to Raines, he shook his head. “Don’t look at me. I have no idea—”
“Shush!” Jane said as she walked over to stand next to him. “Just repeat after me, okay?”
Raines nodded. “All right, dear.”
“Ask them how their closets work,” she whispered.
Raines looked down at her then back up at the group. “So tell me, do you know how your closets work? I assume she is referring to—”
“Norman!” she hissed. “No embellishments. If you’re not going to solve this yourself, then you have to play by my rules.”
Raines looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry, dear. How do your closets work?”
Vee answered first. “If she means the clothing recyclers, I guess we assumed they are just very advanced versions of what we all use.”
Jane whispered something in Raines’s ear. He said, “Our recyclers can’t create new fabrics. They just recycle what’s been put in them.”
“So they have technology we don’t have,” AJ said. “This has nothing to do with—”
Jane whispered again, and Raines’s eyes widened. Then he asked, “How is it that this facility had exactly the same number of bedrooms as people in our group?” He looked down at Jane. “I should have asked that question myself.”
“Are you saying they knew we were coming here?” Jake asked. “And they built this place just for us?”
“We only left the village a few days ago,” Jessie said. “No one could have built this place that fast.”
Jake figured it out first. “You’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, are you?”
Jane smiled. “I knew you would get it first. We’re not that different, you know?”
“Get what?” Vee asked.
Jake stepped out of the rec room and looked at their living space. “How much of this is real, and how much is not?”
Jane walked out to stand beside him. “The food has to be real, or we would have starved by now. I would guess that everything inside the central ring, and everything outside is not.”
“What are you two going on about?” AJ asked. “You can’t seriously think we’ve been living inside a simulation all this time, can you?”
“Should I show them now?” Jane asked Jake.
He looked down at her. “Are you saying that you know how to end it?”
“I told you I like to stay awake at night. I heard them use a code phrase before giving a command. It’s…” She proceeded to make a barely audible series of clicks then said, “End everything.”
Jake felt a rush of vertigo as the room’s outer wall dissolved. He then found himself standing inside a large rock cave. As Jane had guessed, only the central living space was
Similar Books
