NightRacer

Chapter 6

Greg helped him find a room more or less shielded from the elements in one of the nearby houses, and he tore some carpet from the floor to make a bed.

Before Racer even touched the floor, he was dreaming. The images were vivid, in bright colors, and were coming fast. He was running along a busy road, but it was an odd kind of running, because he was moving fast, but he wasn't really feeling his legs. It was more like flying. There were a lot of cars on the side of the road, new and old models, some recently parked, some stuck forever, and there were many people around—exchanging, selling, and buying stuff. He tried to get some details about the things they were trading but couldn't. After a crazy race along the street, he finally remembered why he was there. He was assisting a woman who was doing something important. She was an important person in this place—like a mayor, or a judge, or something like that.

Remembering this detail helped him slow down. He wasn't just walking with her, he realized, he was supposed to help her. They crossed a wide plaza and headed toward a nearby building that looked like a railway station. They stepped into a large hall, full of people. While the woman talked to some of the folks, he waited. After a while, people started to leave, one by one.

Racer studied the woman he was helping. She looked a lot like his wife, Julie, but she was younger somehow, and more energetic. During the last few years, Julie had started to age fast. She was skinny and looked tired, and then she suddenly gained a lot of weight. This was a different Julie.

"I see you woke up, Racer," she said, and the world slowed down even more.

This is not a dream, he thought. Careful. Something is really odd here. Then Racer had another idea. He wondered if the Grass could hear his thoughts.

"Who are you?" he said.

"Don't you recognize me, Colonel NightRacer?"

"You look a little like Julie, and you talk like her, but who are you really?"

"I'm Julie's mind, to be correct."

"Her mind? You must be...Prove it!"

"When we first talked to each other, you steered your truck with your knees."

"This only proves that you had access to Julie's memories."

"I should've guessed. You came here to be stubborn and difficult."

"And this surprises you?"

"Not a bit. Now, why are you here?"

"I'm here to get Hellen back."

"That was true yesterday. Today it's only partially true." Julie said, and she stepped closer to him, or maybe she just slid forward. It was a very quick step.

"What do you mean?"

"Today you want to see Hellen, and you want to talk to me. Tell me it's not so."

"It's not so. I came here to talk to Julie, if she's still...real...or her mind is. You—I think you're Devil's Grass pretending to be Julie."

"And you're the same stubborn ass I always knew, Racer!" she said, taking a step back. "How the f**k can I prove it to you? Make myself look skeletal and paranoid? Or obese and scared? Is that it? Is that what you want? How can I prove it to you when you already made up your mind? You wouldn't believe anything I say."

Now that sounds more like my wife, Racer thought. "There is nothing you can say to convince me. You had access to her memories," he said.

"How about personality, emotions? What about attitudes? Is that something you can just copy from somebody's memory?"