Jennifer

15

The 78th Fall of Everything

The sun rose and everything fell.
Viktor: Whoa.
Kyle: IKR?
Viktor: What was that?
Jessie: I think it was the sun.
Viktor: The sun?!
Jessie nodded gravely.
Jessie: I think so.
Kyle: OMG!
Viktor cupped his own face.
Viktor: It can’t be!
Viktor ran into the HoloSphere. Kyle and Jessie followed.
Kyle: OMFG.
Jessie: I agree.
Viktor screamed.
Viktor: NOOOOOO!!!!!! Everything has fallen!!!!!!
Jessie: Viktor, please calm down.
Viktor: THIS IS THE END GUYS THIS IS THE END OH NO WHAT DO WE DO JESSIE KYLE EVERYTHING FELL WHAT DO WE DO--
Kyle: Viktor, we get it.
Viktor: NO YOU DON’T YOU IDIOT YOU DON’T UNDERS… WAIT. Did you just talk, Kyle?
Kyle: Yes.
Viktor: Did you just… WHAT IS HAPPENING WHY ARE YOU TALKING NORMALLY WHY ARE YOU GUYS NOT FREAKING OUT I DON’T EVEN--
Kyle: Viktor. Shut up.
Jessie: I second that.
Viktor gaped at Kyle.
Jessie flipped her hair gravely.
Jessie: Viktor. We have to be calm here. Everything has fallen.
Jessie leaned her hand on the side of the HoloSphere.
Jessie: Therefore, we are the last ones.
Jessie looked at the two of them. Very gravely.
Jessie: Us. Viktor. Kyle. Me.
Kyle: LMFAO.
Jessie: Exactly.
Viktor blinked a couple of times.
Viktor: Wait… what about Alex?
Jessie smushed her eyebrows together carefully.
Jessie: Alex?
Viktor: Didn’t he say that he was going to the VirtPizz?
Jessie nodded.
Jessie: I believe he did.
Kyle: OMG.
Viktor: Goodness… let me check.
Viktor typed “VirtPizz”. The HoloSphere swiveled and zoomed in to the VirtPizz, ancient 21st century Google Earth-style.
Jessie: Zoom in 120%.
Jessie, Viktor, and Kyle waited.
Jessie shrugged.
Jessie: I guess the voice manipulation feature in the Spheres has become disabled.
Kyle gasped.
Kyle: WHAT.
Jessie: Try zooming in manually, Viktor.
Kyle gasped.
Kyle: MANUALLY.
Jessie furrowed her eyebrows at Kyle.
Kyle: NO. VOICE. CONTROL.
Jessie: Yes, Kyle.
Kyle: No. No no no no no. This CANNOT be happening.
Viktor turned around to look at Kyle, then turned back to the keyboard, muttering.
Viktor: I still need to get used to that… it’s scary when he talks so fluently…
Kyle fell to his haunches.
Viktor: Guys, I think I got it.
Jessie: Yeah, stop right there.
Viktor: OH I THINK I SEE HIM.
Jessie: I agree.
Kyle crawled to the edge of the HoloSphere.
A fuzzy black-and-white hologram of Alex appeared. He was thrown back against a wall of the VirtPizz, a piece of virtual pizza in his hand.
Viktor muttered to himself.
Viktor: He’s always at the VirtPizz. Just because you’re broke doesn’t mean you should be proud of it…
Kyle pressed something.
Jessie: Is he alive?
Viktor: I’m not sure…
The hologram turned black.
Viktor: WAIT WHAT?
Jessie and Viktor turned to look at Kyle.
Kyle: Uh…
Jessie: Kyle. What have you done?
Kyle: UH…
Viktor sighed.
Viktor: Now what?
Jessie: We have to go to VirtPizz.
Viktor: HELL NAW I AIN’T GOIN’ TO VIRTPIZZ I DON’T CONDONE THEIR PRACTICES! Besides, VirtPizz is all the way on the other side of our neighborhood!
Jessie: We have no choice. We have to save Alex. Besides, he’s smarter than any of us.
Viktor processed this.
Viktor: Hey, wait a minute! Was that an insult?!
Jessie: Never mind. We have to go. Viktor! Kyle!
Kyle: No.
Jessie: What do you mean?
Kyle: I’m going to stay here.
Viktor: What?
Kyle: Voice control. The capabilities of the HoloSphere. I’ll bring it back while you guys get Alex.
Jessie: Are you sure?
Kyle: Yes.
Jessie: Okay, then. Viktor. Let’s go.
Viktor: Fine. Wish us luck, Kyle.
Kyle: Good luck.
Jessie and Viktor walked about two blocks.
Viktor panted.
Viktor: Wow, I’m winded.
Jessie pressed her palm against the VirtPizz’s front door.
Viktor and Jessie waited.
Viktor: I don’t think palm recognition is working.
Jessie: I agree.
Viktor: Wow, everything really has fallen.
Jessie: We’ll have to push open the door with our bare hands.
Viktor gaped at Jessie.
Viktor: But Jessie… that’s… that’s barbaric!
Jessie: Why are you whispering?
Viktor: Because it’s barbaric!
Jessie gravely flipped her hair.
Jessie: We have to do what we have to do. Desperate times call for desperate measures, Viktor.
Viktor: Alright, then. But don’t make me watch.
Jessie: Yeah, step away. Things might get dangerous.
Jessie heaved.
The door opened with a creak.
Jessie walked in.
She brushed her hands off on her pants and exhaled.
Viktor peeked through his fingers.
Viktor: Oh my goodness, she has made it!
Jessie heard a moan from a corner of the VirtPizz.
Jessie: That must be Alex.
She shook his shoulders, brushed the virtual pizza out of his hand.
Jessie: Alex, can you hear me?
Alex moaned.
Jessie: Good, you’re alive. Activate VirtPizz EmerSys. WingStretcher!
Jessie waited.
Jessie: Oh, right. No voice control.
Jessie nodded gravely.
Jessie: I’ll have to drag him out of here.
Jessie dragged Alex, yes all 146 pounds of him, out of VirtPizz.
Viktor had tears in his eyes.
Viktor: Jessie, you are amazing.
Jessie: I agree.
Kyle came running.
Kyle: I don’t believe this. I had to get here on FOOT, guys.
He panted, hands on his knees.
Kyle: On a more serious note, there’s something wrong with the system. I can’t hack into any of the Spheres, Scapes, or Virts.
Jessie: Obviously, Kyle. Everything fell.
Kyle: No, not just the Everything system. The Beyond system as well.
Viktor gasped.
Viktor: No.
Kyle nodded.
Kyle: I’m afraid so. This is a bigger problem than we anticipated. The sun may have triggered the 78th Everything apocalypse AND…
Kyle paused for dramatic effect.
Kyle: The FIRST, yes the VERY FIRST, Beyond apocalypse.
Alex sat up.
Alex: Wait, what?
Kyle: Oh, hey there, Alex. How are you feeling?
Alex: Uh, like I ate a bad virtual pizza.
Viktor: What do virtual pizzas taste like anyway? They can’t taste like actual pizzas.
Alex: They do, you snob.
Viktor: Fight me.
Alex: Yeah, let’s go right now.
Kyle: Guys. Shut up.
Jessie: I second that.
Kyle: You guys do understand that there is only one option left now, right?
Jessie: Yes.
Alex: The Beyond.
Kyle: Yes. Therein lies the great and terrible beauty of the Beyond system. To access the system, one has to enter the realm itself.
Viktor contemplated this.
Viktor: Wait, guys, so what’s the only option?
Jessie: Kyle literally just explained.
Viktor: Well, it certainly was not in English.
Jessie sighed.
Jessie: We have to go into the Beyond, Viktor.
Viktor gasped.
He processed this.
Viktor: Wait… how?
Alex: Kyle, you do realize that there are many routes, right? We could easily get lost, even if we start off together. The forces of Beyond would tear us apart.
Kyle: Exactly. But we have no other option.
Viktor, Jessie, Kyle, and Alex thought in silence.
Alex: We have to find the 159 Ports.
Viktor gasped.
Viktor: But.. but… there are only 159! In this entire neighborhood!
Alex ignored him.
Alex: If we use the Ports, we’ll at least know that we will end up in the Beyond, not in the EarthYond or worse, the AtmosYond, where we will be face to face with the sun itself. The sun, Viktor. The sun that mysteriously made everything fall. It has infinite evil power. We have to use the Ports.
Kyle: Alex is right.
Alex: Alright, then. Jessie, you search streets Xenity through Emeke. Kyle, you search Scapes Mighty through Twinkle. Viktor, you stay here. And I will search Virts Bagel through Buns. If you find a Port, go through it. If not, come back here in two dingdongdangs. Okay?
Kyle: Okay.
Jessie: Okay.
Viktor: Okay.
The neighborhood dingdongdang dingdongdanged.
The neighborhood dingdongdang dingdongdanged again.
Alex returned to the VirtPizz.
Viktor was sleeping on the ground.
Alex waited for a while.
Alex: Guess I’ll have to keep searching. Jessie and Kyle must have left already.
He looked down at Viktor and sighed.
Alex: Well, it’s best that he stays here anyway. I don’t want him to get himself killed.
He left Viktor, and walked off to VirtCheese.
Alex looked behind the counters of virtual cheese platters. Near the robot staff bathroom, he found an ancient 21st century-style door.
Alex: A Port!
Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.