Original Fiction: Welcome to Wormhole Operating System 6.9, The final Episode!
What if your phone could take you into any photo you downloaded?
“Thanks,” Dave said, sipping the whiskey, “So, we picked out a list of places we’d like to see. Niagra, the Eiffel Tower, the usual places. We decided on ten and for a finishing touch, we decided we’d see what happened if we uploaded a video! It worked. The people moved and talked, interacted with us, it was just like being there.”
*If you haven't read the last episode, find it here. If you need to read the whole story, start here, or find it on my blog. *
“Where?”
“Africa. We went on safari, or part of one, anyway. We hopped around a bit and in the last segment, it just happened.”
“What ‘just’ happened?”
Dave finished his whiskey, “Well, we were about to hop back when this little motorbike with a guy on it just snatched her. Threw her across his lap and just drove away before I could even move, he drove right out of the frame.”
“Why didn’t you follow her?” Mike asked, forcing himself to remain calm.
Dave looked up at the ceiling, tears welling in his eyes, “Yeah, don’t you think I tried that man? I did! I tried everything, but every time I left the frame, I just bounced back here.”
“Aaaaagggh!” Mike threw his glass at the stone hearth, where it shattered in a dozen different directions, “Classic! Dave, just great! So, when was this, tonight, I assume?”
“No, three days ago. I thought for sure I could figure it out. I read every tutorial in the app, and that’ a lot, then I went back into the video and asked around, but every time I was there, the motorcycle just swept through, and once the video segment is over, you bounce back. I took her photo and asked, no one knew her,” he dropped his head into his hands.
“So, I had an idea, maybe if I could jump into our wedding video, I could bring her back from there, or ask her where she was, I don’t know!”
Dave stood and paced over to the fireplace, “But, I couldn’t jump into any segments that I was in for some reason, so it took a while to find one where she was there, but I wasn’t.”
“So, what did she say?"
“Nothing really, turns out, they’re just echoes. She couldn’t understand me, didn’t even recognize who I was. She thought I was just another guest, if they ‘think’ I guess. I don’t know,” Dave deflated. The anger and energy he’d felt coming here just seemed to be gone.
Mike was done being angry, it was time to help, “So, why do you think I can help?”
“This morning, I got this,” Dave held out a burner phone that Mike recognized. It held the operating system that had recently gotten him stranded. He hesitated to touch it, but after Dave shoved it toward him, he took the phone. On the screen were these words, ‘Mike will know where I am’. What the hell did she mean? Do you know where she is?”
Dave looked at his friend, tears in his eyes, “Was there something going on between you two? I’ve been trying to figure this out, and finally I decided I don’t care, I just want her to be safe.”
Mike froze. The look on his face told the whole story. Dave’s suspicions were confirmed in an instant, “You son of a bitch, I wish I’d left you on that beach.”
Mike sighed, “Man, it’s not what you’re thinking. Val and I were never involved if that’s what you believe."
Mike poured himself more whiskey and offered the decanter to Dave, who accepted.
“Tell me, what was it like, Mike? Why would you have a secret with my wife?” Dave said, angrily.
Mike slugged down the whiskey he’d just poured and tipped the decanter again, “I didn’t want to have a secret man, but I wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk to you, either. After the Eiffel Tower, she called me. I told her what happened to me and she told me she was worried you were losing it."
"She said that everything was setting you off, that you kept talking about her leaving you, that were scared she would. So, somehow she got it in her head that you were going to leave her, like you left me, so she couldn’t leave.”
“What?” Dave laughed sloppily, the whiskey was beginning to take effect, “That’s crazy!”
“Is it? Is it man? Ever since you bought that damn Wormhole OS app things have been getting weirder. I couldn’t argue with her, so she convinced me to get her out. I was the guy, on the bike.” Mike said.
“You? You were the shpy, I mean, guy, I don’t know what I mean…” Dave tipped dangerously in his chair, whiskey slopped out onto the tile. “What did you do to me?”
A beautiful blonde stepped into Dave’s view, “Val? Val, is that you? You came back to me!” he slurred. Reaching out to her, which tipped him forward, onto the carpet, where he landed on one side, looking up at Mike.
“Sorry buddy, you’re too predictable. I knew you’d never leave that whiskey alone, so I poisoned your glass. Oh, you won’t die, but you’ll be paralyzed pretty soon. Meanwhile, Val and I have decided you need to spend some time here in this image."
"You didn’t come here on your own, we staged this, the door outside, the rain, we videoed all of this two days ago, it’s not even raining, man. You didn’t even know you were watching it. We fed it into your TV and it sucked you right in.”
“We’ll be back sweetie, I just need some time to think about what to do with you,” the blonde said. She knelt beside Dave and took the phone he’d dropped, “Won’t be needing this, you’ll be here for a while. The drugs will wear off, the fridge is stocked and we’ll come visit you soon. Bye now.”
As Dave watched, his wife and best friend blinked out of existence. He closed his eyes and passed out.
quality post!
~upvoted!
thanks, I hope you'll check out the rest of my stories if you liked this one
This was an excellent conclusion to your series! The characters were portrayed well. I could easily tell what they were thinking. It makes me want to go and read the rest! I loved it!
thanks, I directed theater for about 20 years, so I actually become each character and I'm told I write in a very visual, theatrical style. Glad you liked it.