The Apocalypse Contract

CHAPTER 33 - SYDNEY

"Maybe we can just outrun the devil? If we can get through the maze and reach the castle before we tire, perhaps we can strand him outside."

"I don't think that will work. I can solve the maze, but we'll likely have to double back a few times. I wouldn't want to backtrack with the Guardian on our heels."

Roger scanned the horizon, his gaze eventually landing on the castle and all the dark shapes flying around it. "If we could fly, it would simplify things immensely."

"That it would. It's a lot of fun, too."

Roger raised an eyebrow.

"Oh come on, I made my own world from nothing, of course I gave myself the ability to fly."

"I take it this is not an ability you retain."

"It requires an anti-gravity belt. I was trying to stay thematically consistent."

Roger sat back down. "I much prefer your world to this one. Whatever possessed her to create a place like this?"

Sydney sat down next to him. "I can hazard a guess."

"Please do."

She sat quietly for a bit, gathering her thoughts.

She took a breath. "I didn't have the happiest childhood. I was always a brainy kid. Started teaching myself to read when I was two. Was smarter than most adults by the time I was ten. It was good in a lot aways, but it made it hard for me to relate to kids my own age. I spent a lot of time reading.

"My favorite book was the The Adventure Twins on the Island of Crows. There was a whole series of adventure twin books, but I didn't read any of them. Why would I? For me, the twins weren't the heroes. The Queen of Crows was the real hero. Becky and John, the twins, they were just a couple of spoiled brats who blundered onto her island and started messing things up. The Queen was smart and powerful. She had a whole island, and lots of crow friends, and she could do magic. I read the story over and over, but always stopped when the Queen of Crows imprisons the twins. Eventually I even tore out the last few pages, the part where they escape and defeat the Queen. I thought that part was totally unfair."

Roger sat and absorbed this. "I gather we are John and Becky in this recreation."

"Give that boy a gold star."

"So, this is all just something she cooked up to torment us?"

"No, I don't think so. This is far too elaborate and detailed. It would have taken years to make something like this. And she was wearing the Queen's robes when we first met her. I think this is how she lives. Those aliens were screwing with her head, running god only knows what sort of experiments on her, and then she must have gotten free like I did. I'm not surprised she walled herself away in a fantasy like this, behind the walls of a big castle, surrounded by an army of crows and armed with magic. It's probably what I would do. Hell, it's obviously what I did. She is me, after all."

Roger placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "You are an entirely different person than that... madwoman."

Sydney wished she could agree, but she suspected her madness was just better hidden. Instead she just sat, feeling the warmth of Roger's hand on her shoulder.

"Are you going to kiss now?"

Sydney and Roger both spun around. A darkly cloaked figure sat cross legged on another boulder a couple dozen feet away. "If you really were the Adventure Twins, that would be like incest and really gross," the Queen of Crows continued, "but I'm not that crazy, so you can go ahead and kiss. I don't mind."

Roger cleared his throat. "I can assure you madam, I am not the sort of man to take such liberties."

"Your loss," the cloaked figure answered, "I'm a really good kisser."

"Based on what evidence," Sydney challenged.

"Bob Metcalf, sophomore year of college."

"That was one kiss."

"Yeah, but he seemed to really like it."

Roger watched the exchange, his head turning from one Sydney to the other like he was watching a tennis match. "This is most unusual," he muttered.

"You think this is weird for you?" the robed figure replied, "I'm the one talking to myself."

"So you're finally convinced we're not just aliens in disguise?" Sydney asked.

"I believe that much, but that doesn't mean you're not dangerous. Those pasty bastards are tricky. You're just another fragment. A guided missile. They cooked you up and threw you at me, but I'm not falling for it."

"I'm not a fragment, whatever that is. We're the same, I think. Copies. We've obviously just had very different experiences the last few years."

"That's just what a fragment would say if it was programmed to trick me."

Roger leaned over and whispered to Sydney, "she seems much more lucid today."

"Thank you," the distant version of Sydney replied, "I would compliment you, but honestly, you kinda look like crap this morning."

Roger turned back to the robed figure. "How did you even hear that?"

"My world, my rules."

"You've been watching us this entire time," Sydney accused her, "listening to every word we say. That's why there was a steam powered spider instead of wind-up insects."

"Of course. And as soon as this dude had a sword, I just had to move the Guardian and see what he could do with it. It was worth it. Our alien overlords did a bang up job making this one. I didn't think they had that kind of skill."

Roger seemed to take offense. "Are you implying, madam, that I am not a real man? That I am some sort of... construct, as Miss Rossiter would say?"

Dark Sydney performed an exaggerated shiver. "Ooooh, say that again, but this time slower." She flickered out of existence, then popped back right next to Sydney. "It's the accent that gets me," she whispered. "I just might save a copy of him." She vanished and reappeared on the other boulder.

"He can't be a construct," Sydney insisted, "his neural architecture is far too sophisticated."

"Be serious," her twin replied, "he's way too perfect. Look at him. He's like Benedict Cumberbatch playing Indiana Jones."

She glanced at Roger and mentally conceded the point, then desperately hoped she wasn't blushing.

"Ladies, you do realize I'm right here, don't you?"

Sydney gave him an apologetic look, but did not answer. Instead, she turned back to her double. "I promise you, we are not constructs. We're not some trap invented by the aliens. I rescued Roger from that base. We were running away when you chased us down."

"That's just how devious they are. I've been floating out there for months now, ship tucked up against a chunk of comet to stay hidden, bouncing signals off of micro-relays, trying to crack their network. And you expect me to believe you just waltzed in there and busted back out with a top of the line scout ship and Mr. Indiana Cumberbatch tucked under your arm?"

"I didn't exactly waltz in, I was captured. And escaping was anything but easy. Let me show you. We can go back to my control room and I can walk you through the whole thing. It's all stored in the logs."

"Oh you would just love that, wouldn't you. Talk me into giving you access to your control systems, and then what? Boom! That's what."

Sydney pounded her own legs in frustration. "So that's it then. We don't even get to plead our case. You're judge, jury, and executioner, and you've already decided we're guilty."

The robed version of Sydney seemed about to answer, but hesitated. "Oh yes, I like that idea." She jumped up and began pacing an abbreviated circuit around the top of her boulder. "I like that a lot. You are a clever fragment. This could be a lot of fun." She clasped her hands over her head and shouted, "To the Court of Mirrors."

Then the world tore in two.