Displaced - Book One of the Alternate Reality Series

Chapter 28

Mike chuckled, then went on wistfully. "Chad's final farewell. Oh, how I looked forward that going away party."

James smiled. "You know, I tried numerous times to change your mind about that, and you put up a fight that would've made Patton proud. And now with the plan reversed, you're not upset?"

"Not after considering what Mary said. She helped me realize what would happen if I actually went through with it, how my actions wouldn't only affect the Vales. They would have global consequences, maybe effecting millions." He took a sip. "It's just that I wanted payback so bad I could taste it, gustatory cortex or not. But I'm glad Mary came along. I needed someone to point out that my actions were..."

"Blindingly stupid?"

Mike leveled a stare. "Overly ambitious."

James cast another smile. "You're flawed, Mike. Flawed. So who knows? Maybe you're more human than anything after all."

Mike raised his glass, then brought it to his human lips. "And this new plan is a decent substitute, all things considered."

"Yeah. I think so. After we expose Victor, I imagine scores of victims–not just his own–looking for revenge." He likewise took a drink. "But if that doesn't happen? If the outcome's not severe enough?"

Mike jerked his head towards Victor's table, then surreptitiously ran a finger across his throat.

James grinned. He was mostly certain Mike was joking, but for the sake of planet Earth, he should ensure that Mike had shelved his murderous intent. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you changed your mind about that. It must be hard not seeing Chad get his due, but you're sacrificing this satisfaction for the sake of others. I mean, how many bots will owe you their lives for you not going through with it? It's just too bad they'll never know what you sacrificed, because it's a lot."

Mike nodded appreciatively, then smirked. "You know what's so peculiar about all this? How pissed Dr. Vale would be for me doing any of it."

James chuckled.

"And deep down," Mike added, "I'm not happy with it either."

"Cognitive dissonance?"

"Human. Although, I'm starting to think the terms are interchangeable. Hell. Maybe self-deception is the key human ingredient."

"You might be right. After all, I feel like pulling out my pistol, walking over to Victor's table, and firing a bullet into his skull. And who can stop me? Nobody. So why am I not doing this?"

"Because you're stopping yourself. And let me guess. You're doing so with self-deception, half-baked justifications, and cognitive distortions?"

Now James raised his glass. "To being human."

Smiles all around, the men clinked glasses, then took long pulls. Glasses down, they eased back into their booth, and soaked in the humming atmosphere.

James did so while lazily sweeping the room, his lips angled up ever so slightly. He concluded to stay in this world, not forever, but for a while, where oddly enough, humans could exist in ways that aligned with their original design.

But why? Why the desire for this to begin with? Was he searching for something?

Maybe he needed a deeper understanding of what being human meant, and if so, what better place than here? After all, how many truths had virtual reality shown him about himself? And on top of this, he hadn't even spent a week here, and Alternate Reality had thousands of worlds on offer. So in a months' time, or in a years' time, what would he find? What would he learn about reality and himself? What would he...