This raises far more questions, and answers nothing.
Why is this inside Schneider’s mind palace? What does it mean? What energy source? What is it for? What sponsors?
My musings are interrupted by one of the travelling vendors, a man with a tidy uniform who says, “Welcome to the match! Would anyone like refreshments?” He holds up a tray of what looks like bottled water; not branded by any company I recognize as selling water, but as “Vermillion Oil’s FRACKING WATER. Totally safe! ”
It’s a company I’m familiar with, which has fallen under scrutiny recently. Their fracking activities are possibly linked to an increase in earthquakes in the upper plains regions of the state. The Texas Railroad Commission (which, contrary to its name, is responsible for energy regulation) has so far not acted.
“Oh, I am getting thirsty,” Kevin says, reaching out to grab one.
I smack his hand, making him retract it reproachfully. “No thanks,” I say. I grab Zoe and Kevin and steer them closer to the arena to get a better look.
“Well, um… I doubt any of our team would want to watch this ,” Zoe says. “But maybe Schneider is in the crowd somewhere?”
“Wouldn’t hurt to look,” I say. “But we’re staying as a pod, do NOT split up further. And if we find him, do not engage!”
“Roger that,” Kevin says.
Anja ignores my yelling. I sigh, and chase after her before she does something idiotic in her mind-addled state.
I shimmy and shove my way through the crowd, following the direction she ran in, and I find that it leads out of the stadium. I finally find Anja again on the edge of the walkway outside, staring out into the clouds.
“What don’t I get, huh?” I call out.
Without turning around, she answers, “I had my chance to get my revenge, and I failed. I thought it was my destiny. But my destiny was really to die here…”
“Excuse me? Destiny?” I respond incredulously. “We’re not done here yet. And what’s with all this talk about ‘revenge’ all of a sudden! That’s not why we came here, you fucking idiot!”
I hear a pattering on the metal floor behind me- Ted has caught up.
“I once sought revenge,” he calls out in his drawl. “It got me nothin’. And it’ll get you nothin’. You ain’t dyin’ here today.”
“Watch me,” Anja says.
And, in front of my eyes, she starts walking… towards the ledge…
I can’t fucking believe her.
“What the fuck is your…” I cut myself off as I begin involuntarily shuddering. Tears rolls down my face. God damn it…
“Okay, FINE!” I shout out. “You’re our leader, Anja,” I finally admit. “There, I said it, okay? It’s not me. It’s you. Because it’s YOU who brought us together, and it’s YOU who re-focuses us when we get off track and… act like fucking morons! THAT’s the real you, not this whiny suicidal trash you’re going on about now! If we’d never met you… Zoe probably would’ve never confessed to me. Nova would still be caught in a custody battle and wasting away. And… and…”
I take several steps closer to her and lower my voice.
“I’d probably still be the same bitter, miserable person who just wanted to take it out on everyone and everything around me. So step back because… I… we need you with us to finish this.”
Anja grimaces at me. “If that’s true, and I’m the leader, then… then I failed you all. I’m sorry…”
“No…”
And then she does it…
She takes one step forward and off the ledge.
“Children shouldn’t be playing in here,” my mom spits at me scornfully. “But you could never obey my directions, could you?
“Nope, not yours!” I say.
She slowly turns to me, and starts walking so slowly it’s nearly imperceptible. “All games and no work… that’s not how we do things in America.”
“For me, they’re one in the same!” Jane chimes in cheerily from behind me. “Because I’m- oh, sorry, I’ll stay out of this. I see you two are having a moment.”
“Well it just turns out I’m not the kind who’s motivated to work by being yelled at and hit ,” I snap back, ignoring Jane. “So I’m working harder now!”
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” she says with a snarl. “You’re lazy… born lazy. Like your father.”
“Oh yeah?” I challenge, gritting my teeth. “Well, check out what I got from Dad’s side. ”
CRACK! A bolt of lightning rends across the liquor store and slams my mom in the chest, sending her flying back into a shelf, sending dozens of bottles of absurdly expensive wine tumbling to the floor in a shower of shattered glass and slushing drink.
I look at her, expecting to see her paralyzed… but… the fuck? She’s like, disintegrating, her body turning into a sort of black substance. I didn’t…?
But then, it reforms in mid-air. She reappears as a figure in a black, hooded cloak, her face skeletal… slowly walking towards me like a zombie… and suddenly, out of nowhere… it’s like I’m just a scared little kid… a naughty child running from the belt… and I have an overwhelming compulsion to run . My anger goes away, replaced by a tidal wave of terror that gushes from the core of my being, and I bolt.
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We spend a while searching through the crowd, but no Schneider. Although, I will admit that the intermittent graphic description of the brutalities going on beneath us make it a bit of trouble to focus.
“Hey, look there!” Kevin says, pointing.
“Do you see him?” I ask quickly, nerves spiking.
“No, not him,” he says. “But I recognize that woman from TV, from when all that coverage of the bill was happening.”
I follow his finger to see he’s referring to State Representative Ella McCullough, a middle-aged woman with glasses, medium-length blonde hair, and a stern look.
“Hmm. Makes sense that government officials would be here, given the relentless lobbying of them by the oil industry,” I observe.
“I don’t remember, is she a Republican or a Democrat?” Zoe asks, biting her lip. She gasps and points near her, now excited. “Oh! Look right next to her! That’s ours!”
I follow her finger to see a man who is, indeed, our own representative; Adam Casey. He looks a bit sheepish, keeping his head low like he’s trying not to be seen.
Our efforts are once again interrupted by an announcement- except this time, by a very different voice that immediately sends chills up my spine.
“Citizens, it is your governor!” Schneider’s voice calls out, ringing through the arena and causing the crowd to immediately hush.
“That’s him! That’s his voice!” Kevin says, looking around frantically. “But from where…”
“Up there!” Zoe says, point up to the top of the dome.
Near where the man in the cowboy hat was hovering, something so small it’s nearly imperceptible is hovering nearby. I think of the detachment that had exited Schneider’s body after Nova attacked him.
“The terrorists and enemies of the state who attacked me are still in our midst,” he says. “I’m talking about the radical left among us! But we have a weapon that can defeat them definitively- if we can gather enough ore to power it up. For this, I call upon the honorable working men of our state to find purpose in their toils. If we can defeat this threat, better days are ahead on the horizon for all! E Pluribus unum! ” The crowd cheers wildly, many of them giving him salutes with their hands and arms.
“Sounds like if we don’t want to face a fully powered up Schneider, we better stop him from getting that energy source,” I observe.
“Uh… yeah, okay,” Kevin says. “How do we do that? Enter the games and win it for ourselves?
“I doubt it’d be that simple,” Ruth says. “It seems like it’s all going to him- which means it must be stored somewhere.”
“I know how to find out,” Zoe says. She turns away from us and makes her way a few rows in the stands. I follow, frustrated that she’s acting without telling us her plan.
“Um, excuse me, Sir?” Zoe asks, having approached Rep. Casey. “My name’s Zoe. Do you remember me?”
He sits and raises his eyebrows at her. “Eh? Oh, you’re that girl from the Parkers. You’ve grown up!”
Zoe nods. “I wanted to thank you for having the courage to vote against that awful bill. It’s made our lives so much more difficult.”
“Ah yes,” he says, posture slumping again. “I appreciate it, but… I probably shouldn’t have. I’m receiving death threats…”
“What? That’s completely unacceptable,” Kevin chimes in. “You shouldn’t have to deal with that just for standing up for the peoples’ rights.”
“It’s never okay to threaten someone over a disagreement,” Rep McCullough chimes in from the seat next to him. “While I disagreed with my colleague, I respect his right to his own opinion, as we are both united in our concern for the people of our state.”
Clearly you’re not, I think bitterly. But I don’t say anything so as not to sabotage what Zoe’s trying to do.
“Well, I appreciate that, Representative,” Zoe says. “Actually, I wanted to ask a favor. My friend here-” she puts her hand on my shoulder- “is very interested in, uh, the energy sector, and… what options there are, so we’d kind of like to learn a little more about this energy source that’s being mined here, see if it’s… a, um…”
“Sustainable alternative to fossil fuels and natural gas,” I offer.
“...Yeah! What she said!” Zoe agrees.
“Oh, well, that’s good that you’re thinking about your future, and ours,” Rep. Casey says. “The only issue is, I’m not sure where exactly it is…”
“I’ll lead the way!” Rep. McCullough offers. “I’m always willing to help out an enterprising young lady. Follow me!”
She leads us down the stands, back into the hallways, past the hedonistic pleasure that adorn the stands. I start to grow more anxious as we walk. I try my telekinetic abilities again. I can’t ‘see’ anything around us… but I force my mind to push outwards anyway, like walking into a pitch black room, and eventually bump into Zoe’s consciousness.
Zoe, this is a bad idea, I say.
It’s too late to back out now, she replies. If it doesn’t work, I promise I’ll let you make the next plan.
We can’t trust them, I tell her emphatically. Even if they’re “moderate,” they’re willingly part of the party machine.
I trust our Representative, Zoe says. He had the courage to stand up to his party for us. And McCullough is the only one who knows where the energy source is. We can put aside our differences at least long enough to get it.
I sigh, agitated. But I’m not surprised. It’s just the story of my life all over again.
“You… fucking idiot!” I shout out. I’m shaking, my fists clenched. I just want to scream, to tear this entire floating metal fortress apart bolt by bolt…
“Ashley!” Ted’s voice says from a million miles away.
“WHAT?” I shout.
“You said… what you needed to say,” he says.
This makes my whole body jerk to a sudden stop. “What?” I ask incredulously.
“She’ll be back,” Ted says.
My mind starts rushing, trying to comprehend what he’s saying.
Okay… what happened to me when I ‘died’ back at the church/military base palace? I woke up on the other side later, finding that the others had finished the job without me. Very humbling moment for me, I must say.
But, people CAN die from what happens here. Ms. Truman did. But she clearly didn’t die because of us . Someone else went in there afterwards when she started spilling too much.
So, how does someone actually die here…? Is there some specific sequence you have to follow? As it seemed irresponsible to leave a bloody trail in our wake, I had yet to consider this.
But, Ted at least seems to think that Anja was just thrown out of the palace and can come back, and he usually has a sixth sense for this sort of thing.
I sigh and sit down on the cold metal. “She’s still a fucking idiot,” I say.
“For the time being, we should reunite with the others,” Ted suggests.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” I say. “Just give me a minute.” I put my face in my hands, trying to refocus myself.
Bleh.
I heard people shouting in the distance… chanting…
No, Dad, I don’t want to get up.
Wait, no. This isn’t my bed. It feels like concrete. This sucks.
I open my eyes. It’s starting to get dark out already. Jesus, my sleep schedule sucks.
“Anja? You guys done already?” a familiar voice says.
I turn my head to see it’s Kat, walking towards me with a concerned look and her hands in her pockets. “Where’s Nova and the others?” she asks.
Uuuhhhh…
I shake myself awake and push myself up to my feet. “Er, we’re not done yet, I don’t think,” I explain. “I think I just, uh…” I feel a pang of guilt. “Uh… jumped off the ledge and killed myself.”
“Well, what’d you do that for?” Kat asks indignantly. “Get your ass back in there and finish.”
“Er… what are they yelling about?” I ask, trying to look around the building to see the crowd.
“Oh, that one who’s a lesbian? She got ‘censured’ for her ‘divisive comments,’ and isn’t even being allowed on the floor right now,” Kat explains. “So the others are showing that they still support her.”
I think back to the TV broadcast… she must mean that hot one the reporter interviewed. What was her name? Clara… something.
“I think they got really riled when you did that interview,” Kat continues, smirking. “Nice agitating, sister.”
“Huh,” I say.
Isn’t that something…