Algorithms

8

Months ago, Marc had come in with a brochure from a travel agency. I'd thought this strange, as Marc never seemed interested in any of the Excursions. This one was to Mount Everest.

"They can't fly you all the way to the base camp," he'd said. "You have to walk. That would be a real adventure, wouldn't it?" He had seemed to be asking himself more than me.

"Sure," I'd said. "You should do it."

"People used to climb mountains for answers, to find out things about themselves, you know? Especially this one, the world's highest. It seems so... spiritual. Mountains were sacred to many different cultures, after all. Climbing it is still dangerous, but I could make it to the Base Camp, and see it. I wonder if you could do this one without the agency..."

He had no longer actually been talking to me, a regular occurrence, and one of his only irksome habits. I'd just continued to work after that conversation, but now I had a clue to where he was going. Clearly some of his unusual ideas had gone too far, and he might be in some kind of danger from the Feds. I had to get to him before they did.

I knew that the Feds might still be tracking me, so I used cash for my plane ticket, and for my bus ride to the airport. I couldn't fly directly to Kathmandu—that would give it away—so I chose a flight leaving that afternoon for New Delhi. I would take a train to Kathmandu, then figure out how to get to Mt. Everest. If there were trains between the two cities. I couldn't look it up or the Feds would know where I was going.

I walked through the airport with decided steps, trying not to glance around me and arouse suspicion. A harsh, metallic taste filled my mouth and I could feel my heart throbbing against my ribs. I thought back to all the times in the past when I'd thought I'd been scared, and I realized what Marc had meant. This was real—this was fear.

I was on my way to my gate, anxious to save Marc, when suddenly he appeared beside me. I threw my arms around him without thinking, so glad he was safe. But he didn't embrace me in return. Something was wrong. There was a door behind him, across the hall—maybe he'd come from there—and I saw two men in black suits exit through it. I felt uneasy.

"Well you're happy to see me." Marc finally said, pulling away.

"Yes," I said cautiously. What had they done to him? "How are you?"

"Fine," he said. This was not Marc, not my Marc.

"So you decided to take a trip?" I asked, not liking the way his eyes seemed to be looking through me, beyond me.

"What trip?" he asked vacantly. "I was actually just thinking about the new virtual experience I heard about—Everest Adventure. You get to climb Mt. Everest for one-thirtieth the price, and they say it feels incredibly real, and the after-feeling is amazing. The best yet, I hear. And the characters..."

He droned on about the game, still not really looking at me. A tear trickled down my cheek, and I slumped into a chair behind me. Marc didn't even notice. As he went on about simulated snowdrifts and Sherpas, I felt both heavy and empty inside.

There was a rushing in my ears—the sound of my world collapsing—as the realization sunk in that they'd taken from me the only thing that mattered. The truest friend I'd had, the only genuine person I'd known, was gone forever. And now I am truly, inescapably, alone.

~~~

author's note

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed Algorithms. This started out as a short story, but I'm considering turning it into a longer work. Let me know if you'd want to read more about Erin and her quest to save Marc! I'd love to hear your opinion.

Also consider checking out my post-apocalyptic sci fi novel, We Survivors!