Episode Thirty-Three: The Moon

Five happy, healthy arrived for dinner at an elegant table. Gilded plates, cups, and utensils waited for them on a hand-carved hardwood table. A mound of mashed potatoes sill steamed, next to a plump pot of deep brown gravy. Centered among a host of other dishes was a large ham, struck with a knife all ready to carve. Above them the stars twinkled, fighting against the light of the brass lamps hanging from posts that circled the table at a comfortable distance. But none of the guests had eyes for the table and food. They were all looking at the earth.
There it hung in the sky above them with the stars, a blue orb covered in moving swirls of white and solid patches of green and brown, larger than anything any of them had ever seen before in the sky. Troy Lombardi was the first to break from the spell of the earth and test their new surroundings, jumping much higher, and falling much slower than he ever did on earth.
“This is fantastic! We don't even need spacesuits!” he said, doing three flips in a single jump. He landed on his back in a puff of gray dust causing the others to laugh.
“You're going to be dirty enough you wish you'd had one though!” laughed Jim, but joined in the fun with a flip of his own.
“Jim, be careful,” said his wife Susan, “you're going to get dust all over the dinner William prepared us.”
“No he is alright,” said William, “There is a sort of force field around the food table, the dust can't get in.”
“So much for being realistic,” joked Sarah, “A breathable atmosphere on the moon, force fields to keep the food clean, the three of you are back to your normal weights, and my guess is we couldn't possibly run out of food at that table, but we'll have to eat again anyway once we get out.”
With a smile, William added, “We won't get so full we can't eat dessert either,” causing another round of mirth.
By the time they got settled down for dinner—which was a task in its own right in lunar gravity—they were all covered in gray dust. Even Susan had bounded around a bit, but had refused to even try and flip.
“Well, William, I have to hand it to you. This was a wonderful idea—much better than suffering through a meal together in our weak bodies. Now that we've had a little fun, lets get to the serious business.” Here he paused, all eyes were on him and he looked at William. “How in the world, did I reach the horizon?” The general eyesight switched to William.
“Easy, when you told Dean about the horizon, he added new hard drives to the computer. One of the things I had changed about the computer was the way in which the hard drives are formatted. The Endless Frontier was incompatible with the memory he added.”
“Then how did Elizabeth install the memory in the first place?”
“I ran a program that re-formats them to meet the needs of my new system. If Dean would have run that utility his plan would have worked, but he didn't”
At about that time Sarah made the mistake of trying to pass the bowl of gravy. The low gravity wasn't quite enough to hold it in the bowl as she extended it toward Troy. The heap of gravy slid upward out of the bowl, then scattered into a thousand brown drops. Reacting without thinking, Susan tried to pull the bowl of punch out of the way as the drops threatened to mix with the drink. The attempt resulted in a much worse disaster much worse than the gray.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Troy launched the mashed potatoes high into the air, which were soon falling like snow, and a full out food fight exploded into being. When all the food had been majestically spoiled in the slow motion drama of low gravity, everyone was covered in much more food than they had been dust. Troy humorously took back his comment about the moon being a good place for dinner, and everyone had a good laugh.
After they had all settled down, Jim spoke, “When I reached the mountain peak the morning we got out, and saw the horizon way out in the distance I couldn't have been more surprised. I knew that even if we had been close, Dean would have added memory, so I with him knowing I didn't think we had a chance.”
“I'm just glad you found it,” said William. “If you hadn't of ran your guts out to get there Dean would have gotten away with the whole scheme!”
“Actually,” said Jim, “I didn't run at all. The closest bit of the horizon was a few miles out at sea, so I thought someone else would get out before me. For a few hours I was basically waiting to be rescued. I started hiking down the mountain fully expecting someone else to escape and release me. I thought Elizabeth and William were still on the boat, so after three hours passed and they hadn't crossed the horizon I realized something must be up. So I decided to get the horizon myself.”
“How did you do it though? Did you swim out that far?” asked Susan.
“No, I was still a few hours away from the shore as it was. I dug my way out.”
“What?” said Troy.
William exploded into laughter, “I should have thought of that. We couldn't have made it out of the Origin valley much faster. If you find a good spot, you'd only have to dig eight inches.”
“I think it was closer to a foot,” said Jim, “but I was ready to dig ten feet.”
“You mean I spent over two months on less than a foot of soil!” said Troy.
“Dirt takes a lot of memory,” said William, defending his creation. “And you never noticed anyway”
Some time later, after much lighthearted discussion Troy stood up from the table, “Friends, I must be off now. Lombardi Inc. didn't fare so well without me, and I am still trying to get it back together. How do I get out of here, William? I don't tell me it involves chasing the horizon.”
“Push the big red button on the phone.”
“Thanks,” he said and in a moment he was gone, and to William's delight, his clothes went with him.
One by one the others left, until William and Sarah were left alone. They sat for a time, looking up at the great blue earth. Then William knelt down and pulled a little box from out of his pocket.

THE END

Episode Thirty-Two: Return to the Portal

William was running so fast that when he saw the horizon, he only saw it as a wall of blue as he came around out of a stand of trees, and then he was in it. The moment of nothingness seemed much longer than when he had come in. His mind was full of a thousand thoughts of what might be happening in the portal. Had the girls successfully subdued Dean? Or had he overcome them like he had Troy? If so, was he in time to get Dean himself?
The first thing he became aware of was laughter. Dean's laughter. His own weak body, the feeding tube in his mouth, the handcuffs around his wrists all came a moment later. As he put the pieces of the scene around him together, William felt his hope deflating.
“Did you hear that, Sarah?” mocked Dean. “She told me to give it up. She said the misery wasn't worth it. Do I look miserable to you?” He walked away from the bed with Elizabeth in it; she was now sound asleep. Dean was still holding the syringe he had emptied into her. Hoping to benefit from the element of surprise, William held still as Dean passed him.
“What do you think, Sarah, would I be happier in a world of fame and fortune? Or a federal prison?” Dean asked walking over to where she too was chained to her bed.
In response, she swung herself out of the bed and landed her foot squarely in Dean stomach. Dean seemed to have forgotten that unlike his other prisoners, her muscles hadn't weakened a bit. He doubled over in pain, the wind knocked out of him.
“Definitely prison,” said Sarah, standing to a somewhat awkward position; feet on the floor, but hunched over with her hands chained. “And I hope you enjoy it a long time.”
When he was able, Dean retrieved another set of handcuffs from the desk at the front of the room and began walking back toward Sarah, murder in his eyes. William decided to get in on the struggle and kicked at Dean as he went by. His foot caught Dean in the thigh, but it lacked sufficient force to do much. He fell out of bed in the attempt. The whole experience—the impact on Dean's thigh, the weight of his body on the edge of the bed frame, falling onto the floor, the handcuffs jerking his arms in their sockets, and Dean's return kick—were all more painful than William thought possible.
Elizabeth tried to take advantage of William's actions, by kicking out again, this time aimed at Dean's groin. Dean was ready for her and caught her foot while stepping aside. With one quick motion he pulled her around, back on the bed, and cuffed her foot to the other end of the bed. Elizabeth struggled, but it was useless. Dean laughed again, seeming to enjoy the sport.
Unable to bare the pain of having his weak wrists pulled by the metal, William struggled back into the bed. Stretched out as she was, she couldn't resist much as Dean put her to sleep. After dealing with her, he turned on William. “So, you finally got out. I'm glad I have real prison walls to hold you in from now on. What do you have to say for yourself?”
William didn't respond; he had nothing to say—not to Dean.
“How did the three of you, and Troy earlier get out? When Troy told me about making the computer run out of memory, I thought he was telling the truth.”
So that's how he found out, thought William.
“But I know it's a lie—look” he pointed over to the screen, where on the wall was projected the computers status: hard drives only sixty-one percent full. “I added a dozen hard drives, and they haven't hardly been used.”
Suddenly, William understood, but it did them little good now. He still refused to say anything to Dean.
“Fine—give me the silent treatment, but Sarah and your other friends will pay for this.” He picked up another syringe and twiddled it in his fingers, the bare needle going round and round. “After I kill Troy, Jim, and Elizabeth, I'll take Sarah out to the cabin as planed. Don't expect to wake up until, she is already in the death trap.” The words hurt William, but didn't say a word—just stared Dean in the eye, who kept getting nearer.
Suddenly Jim, who had been laying motionless on the bed across from William, sprang to life. Arching his body between one foot and his hands on the pillow, he thrust out with his other leg. The timing and placement was perfect; his foot shoved the syringe from Dean's hand and into his stomach, emptying it's contents.
For a second time the air burst from Dean's lungs, but this time accompanied by a sharp pain, then a dulling of the senses.

Episode Thirty-One: The Call

Buzzz. Buzzz. Buzzz.
William decided to let it ring a few times. Every second counted. They were further along then he had hoped they would be. He guessed they were two thirds of the way up the canyon. Following behind Sarah, he plunged into the stream for the third time. This crossing wasn't as bad as the last one, it was wide and mostly shallow.
Buzzz. Buzzz. Buzzz.
In the deepest part he comically let the water cover the cell phone, just because he knew it wouldn't hurt it in the least. Although unfinished, it was intended to be the link to reality, and he had made it waterproof.
Buzzz. Buzzz. Buzzz.
“Aren't you going to answer that?” asked Sarah as they jogged along the gravel bank. William caught a hint of worry in her voice, and he wondered if Elizabeth had told her about Dean's threat before he started listening to their conversation earlier. Either way, he knew she was right. For all their sakes, he needed to answer the phone.
“Don't slow down for me,” he said, then dropped to a walk.
Buzzz. Buzzz. Buzzz.
He waited just long enough to be able to hide his heavy breathing. “Hello,” he said in an intentionally discouraged voice.
“Well, William, I gave you your hour and a little more besides. Are you going to help me now or do I have to kill some of your friends and torture another first?” Dean wasn't helping him waste any time.
“Tell me what happens if I agree. I want a specific agreement, not just an arbitrary I do what you say.” The girls were already out of his sight, but he continued walking, following their footsteps.
“Well, the first thing that happens is I take Sarah on a road trip out to a cabin I've purchase for this very purpose. I'll lock her up there, then come back for you. I've rigged the cabin to burn down with her trapped in it, if for some reason you prevent me from getting back there. With your cooperation we should get there in a few days without any problem, well before the trap springs.”
Although the plan sounded horrific, William was grateful it was complicated enough to take some time explaining.
“Actually, I misspoke. I won't take you to the same cabin. I'll take you to another cabin and lock you up there. After ensuring that Sarah will stay alive, I'll come back for the computer and things and we'll set up another Endless Frontier in the cabin. With you safely in it, I'll go and get Sarah and bring her to you. Back in the Endless Frontier, you'll be able to see her. For a few hours each day, I'll pull you out and have you work for me. On days you don't work for me, I'll take it out on Sarah, but hopefully we don't have to worry about that.”
“What about Troy, Jim, and Elizabeth?” asked William. Dean hesitated and William wondered if Dean had just hoped he would forget about them because he was worried about Sarah.
“I'll sedate Troy and take him when I take Sarah. Jim and Elizabeth will come with us, also sedated, when we go.”
“Would I be sedated?”
“No, I only want to make two trips, and I am certain with Sarah's life at stake you won't do anything foolish.”
William knew he was right. He reached a spot where he was was blocked by boulders and a small cliff. He could have easily climbed them with both hands, but with the phone he was forced to stop. They should be getting close now, he thought. “What happens after I give you the plans?”
“With as much money as I'll have after being able to sell the technology, I'll be easily able to afford a babysitter to watch over the five of you. You can live happily ever after, in your digital world.”
“Where did you get the money for those cabins? I remember a week ago you were worried about paying rent.”
Dean laughed. “Your friend Troy helped me on that one. Thanks to him I have plenty of—Hey, what—” The line died.
With a surge of excitement, William dropped the phone, scrambled over the rocks, and ran for the horizon.

Episode Thirty: The Chase

Sarah awoke shortly after William got off the phone with Dean, but William was too distraught to talk. He sat on the hill looking down the river; tears marked his tired face. Elizabeth sat down with Sarah and unwound their bizarre situation to her. Although some distance away and with his back to them, William listened as Elizabeth told the tale, starting with Troy's grand vision of the Endless Frontier. A few times during the narrative, Sarah asked a question. William had missed her voice, and relished each word she spoke, but his rejoicing in her presence was poisoned by the knowledge that Dean had degraded her into a bartering chip. Her well being depended on his cooperation with the man who had robbed him of everything, twisting his masterpiece into a cage.
About the time Elizabeth was recounting the storm, Troy Lombardi appeared, standing on the Origin in the default clothing. Seeing William, he took a few steps in his direction before falling to his knees. William ran down the hill, concern for Troy let him forget his own problems for a minute. Troy was crumpled on the ground when William reached him. Troy's eyes were closed, but when William shook him, he opened them for a moment.
“The Horizon—” Troy whispered, then closed his eyes.
“What?” asked William, afraid to hope.
Barely audible, Troy said one final word before sleep enclosed him: “—open.”
Suddenly very aware of the camera mounted near them, William calmly picked Troy up and carried him up the hill. Elizabeth and Sarah hadn't noticed William's absence, but they both stopped talking and gave him their full attention when he appeared carrying Troy.
“What happened?”
“Who is that?”
William didn't answer them until he had fully passed the crest of the hill and knew that Dean couldn't see them. “The Horizon is open.” Elizabeth opened her mouth, forming a question, but William kept talking. “Troy must have gotten to the portal. I think Dean drugged him and sent him back in. If the three of us escape at the same time, I'm sure we will be able to overpower him. We went south and Troy went north; I think the quickest way out would be to head east: that ridge isn't has high. Elizabeth, I haven't been paying attention to time, how long do we have before my hour is up?”
“I don't know, maybe a half-hour, forty minutes at most.”
“I'll take the phone and talk to Dean when he calls—stall him as long as I can. He'll drug me before he pulls me out. Don't stop for me.” Even as he was talking William began walking, then when the girls followed he increased the speed to a jog.
As soon as they entered the trees they fell into line, William took the lead and Elizabeth held up the rear. There wasn't much of a trail, but the forest had only sparse underbrush, leaving the way forward mostly clear.
When William accidentally led them into the thick patch of brush, Sarah found a quick way through and took the lead, pushing the groups speed even faster then they had been going. Had they not been in the Endless Frontier, with a computer generated perfect fitness level, they never would have been able to keep going.
Running behind Sarah, William found himself admiring her. Dumped in a totally foreign world she hardly understood, exposed to torture of the most brutal kind, and finding a boy friend she must have given up on a long time ago and who had hardly even spoken to her, she was doing amazing well. With only a short explanation she was leading a charge through the wilderness on the faint hope of escape. Not having time to do anything about her long hair, she had tied it in a knot behind her head. Like everything else about her, he found that knot attractive.
As they ran up a grassy hill, William came up next to Sarah. “I'm sorry, you were pulled into this,” he said.
“I honestly can't say I'm glad to be here,” she responded quickly, “but I'm glad to see you alive.” Her voice dropped to a whisper that William could barely hear as they ran. “I never thought I would see you again.”
After about half an hour, the group had to slow down. They had reached the foothills and were all out of breath. As they walked William pointed out a canyon that he knew turned into the random horizon. He told the girls that would be the easiest route, but that they would have to cross a small stream multiple times as they ascended. “If we were on a Saturday afternoon hike, I would also mention the beautiful wildflowers,” he finished, somewhat surprised at the happiness he was feeling. They were going to make it! And even better, he thought, Sarah had missed him.

Episode Twenty-Nine: The Horizon

Troy Lombardi awoke in tattered clothing with his back on the sandy beach. Nothing hurt. The wet sand was comfortably conformed to his body. After looking around the beach for a while he was able to find some of his gear, but not much. No tent, torn clothes, spoiled food, no canoe. He found some jerky, which for some reason seamed funny to him this morning. Meat in a world without animals.
He kept breakfast short, the quiet determination to go on hadn't left him, and he wanted to be on his way. For a short time he delayed, trying to decide if he should return to the remains of the lodge for supplies, or adventure into the wilderness with what he had. He decided to reach the top of the stairs and at least examine the next leg of the journey. If it looked easy, he would start out. If he felt like he would save time in the long run by getting gear, he would go back.
Once again Troy began to climb the stairs. As he realized that he was the only one who had ever actually climbed these stairs. The others had always gone off in other directions. He decided that he would call them the Lombardi stairs. And if these were the Lombardi stairs, the waterfall was certainly the Lombardi Falls, and the river the Lombardi River. These pleasant thoughts occupied him for most of the climb up. Near the top, he looked up and saw the clump of grass.
“This time,” he told the grass from below, “I'll reach you. I'll see what you see, when you look the other way.”
But to the north, there was nothing to see. At first Troy thought the ridge must immediately drop away, because he couldn't see anything beyond it, but the absolute nothingness of it shortly came into his full view. The landscape abruptly ended; only the sky continue on in a great blue sphere. Far below him, the sky turned black where stars looked upward at a blue sky.
“How?” Troy whispered to himself. Glancing back at the Origin Valley to make sure he wasn't dreaming, he saw that everything was in order; water appearing from nowhere rushed into the river at his left before plunging into the lake. Curious he picked up a rock and tossed it into the horizon, the moment it crossed over the line where the landscape ended, it vanished.
Then impulsively Troy threw himself into the void. Just like the rock, he vanished, or as he felt it, everything vanished—himself included. In the bareness of his thoughts, Troy had the wonderfully strange experience of gaining a thrill of hope after having believed all was lost. Freedom was about to be his.
Then reality hit him hard. Over two months of lying prone and unmoving had left his body weak. A feeding tube was jammed down his throat. He tried to move his hands, that were lying on the pillow above his head, but he couldn't. The room was slowly coming into focus, but his eyes didn't seem to work very well. After stretching his fingers a few times, he felt around with them and realized Dean had handcuffed him to the bed.
Slowly, painfully, he rolled onto his stomach and used his hands to pull out the feeding tube. His eyes were working better now, he could see the others one of which, to his surprise was Elizabeth. “What is she doing in there?” he thought. Another girl he didn't even recognize. He wondered if William and Jim knew about them. Using his feet he was sure he could hit the power switch on the white box under Elizabeth's bed, the one that housed the mind connection equipment, but he was certain that would only lead to his recapture.
The next closest was William; the head of his bed was against the foot of Troy's. Stretching as far as he could Troy was able to touch the white box with his foot, but not quite far enough to reach the switch. Unable to think of anything else, he kicked the box as hard as his weak legs would let him. Pain shot up his leg. Hearing a noise, Dean Senoma walked into the room, magazine in hand. Seeing Troy awake and moving he immediately stepped out of the room. When he returned a moment later, he was pointing a pistol right at Troy.
“How did you get out?” Dean demanded.
Not wanting to give anything away, Troy held his tongue—he wasn't sure if it still worked anyway. For good measure he kicked the white box a second time, but the only result was his own wincing. Dean walked over to the desk and shook the mouse. The screen lit up showing a window that was tracking the status of the computer's memory. It said sixty-one percent full.
“Something must have gone wrong with your connection. I should kill you now,” said Dean, “but William will want to see that you are still alive.” He waited for a response, but Troy wouldn't give one. “In fact, I think I'll send you back to the Origin right now. Perhaps having another one of his friends around will help him change his mind.”
Realizing he was about to be sent back into the Endless Frontier, Troy raised himself to his knees and stretched out his neck away from the pillow. His effort was rewarded as Dean cursed at the computer when it wouldn't connect. Seeing Troy's defiant effort he retrieved a syringe. In his weakened condition Troy couldn't put up much of a fight, but he did his best. In only a matter of moments, Dean had emptied the contents of the syringe into his arm. He lay back on the bed and drifted into the Endless Frontier.

Episode Twenty-Eight: Sarah

The cool smell of evergreen trees filled Sarah's nostrils. In a groggy state she felt the cot beneath her and tried to remember where she was. Filling her with fear, her memory slowly returned.
A man had called her, wanting to know about William. He said he was William's brother and wanted any information that might help find him. After telling him on the phone that she had already told the police everything she knew and that they were trying, he offered to take her out to lunch so they could talk about it. Unable to say no, she reluctantly accepted. She was tired of repeating how little she knew, wishing she knew more.
Lunch had been a ruse. Instead of taking her to a restaurant, he took her to a large office building, not saying a word the whole drive there even when she had tried to start a conversation. He just stared ahead and kept driving. In the parking garage below the building, after he brushed off her comment about there not being a restaurant in the building, she had demanded he take her home. He had been walking in front of her and turned around with a wicked smile on his face. She couldn't remember anything after that.
“Where am I?” she tried to ask, but the words came out jumbled and she had a hard time opening her eyes. Above her she could only see green, but in a moment a blurry face appeared above her.
“You are going to be alright Sarah,” the face said. She recognized that voice.
“William?”
“Yes, it is me.”
“What is going on? Where are we?” Her mind and senses were clearing quickly, but her confusion was mounting. She could tell now that her cot was under a green canopy and that William was the only one next to her. She tried to sit up, but still found herself weak. They were on a grassy hill top somewhere high in the mountains. “How did I get her? Where have you been?” William had a troubled look on his face. She could tell she was asking him too much all at once, but in her nervousness she couldn't help it. A sudden thought curdled her blood. “Are we dead?”
William heaved a sigh. “No, we're not dead. At least not yet.” He paused for a moment, then went on when Sarah kept looking at him in the eye, demanding answers. “We are in the virtual world I told you I was working on. We're being held captive—”
Elizabeth's voice shattered the air, coming from the bottom of the hill where she had been sitting alone. “No, Dean. Don't do it!” She jumped up and came running toward them. “William, if you don't help him, He's going to hurt Sarah!”
“What?” said William, visibly afraid.
Any answer Elizabeth may have been about to give was cut of by Sarah's piercing cry. She clutched her left arm protectively to her body and in a spasm tumbled out of the cot and onto the grass. William immediately dropped to her side and held her as she sobbed. After only a few seconds passed, Sarah screamed and tried to push William away.
“Sarah, what's wrong? I'm not hurting you.” William didn't know if he should hold her close or let her go. She responded to his voice but looked into space focusing on things he couldn't see. William wheeled on Elizabeth who had crumpled on the ground. Grabbing her shoulders and pulling her up to look her in the eye, he demanded, “What is Dean doing to her?”
“He is using a spliced mental connection with her. At any time he can play a recording to one of her senses that overrides the information being sent from the Endless Frontier.” Her words were strained and were broken by occasional sobs. “He can make her feel like she is burning alive, play recordings of starving children in her ears, make her see nothing but bullets and burning buildings around her. You have to stop him, William.”
William encased Sarah, who was now shuddering uncontrollably, in his arms. Great tears formed in his eyes and flowed without restraint. “Sarah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Sarah,” he whispered in her ears, not even sure what torment she was going through.  She suddenly went limp in his arms, even her breath stopped.
William jumped and took the phone from where Elizabeth had let if fall, still open. “Dean stop it now. I'll talk, just stop.” He gasped the words out in heaving breaths.
“Okay, I've stopped it,” Deans voice was calm, like they were engaged in small talk over lunch.
William looked over at Sarah and saw her chest rising and falling, but still unconscious. “What do you want from me?” he asked.
“Plans and diagrams on how to construct another computer like this one. Then if I can't find someone who can build it, I want you to build me one.”
“Will you let Sarah go.”
“I can't have her run to the police.”
“Why should I help you? You want everything and promise nothing in return.”
“You and your friends can live happily ever after in the world you have created, otherwise I'll dispose of Troy and Jim, move you and Sarah to a better location where I don't have to pay rent. There I will play with Sarah's senses until I break your will, I'm sure that will be much quicker than breaking your will directly. In the end you will help me either way.”
William felt hollow inside. He was ready to die, but he couldn't watch Sarah suffer. “Please Dean, give me an hour. Just to think.”
“What is there to think about?”
“Only an hour. Just one hour.”
“I'll call you in an hour. If you don't answer, or I don't like your answer, Sarah will feel her back bend and snap, repeated every ten seconds for the next five days!”
Already broken, William openly wept.

Episode Twenty-Seven: The Deadline

Buzzzz. Buzzzz. Buzzzz.
William felt the cold hard stone of the origin under him. Trying to relieve his aching head, he sat up and covered his hands against the bright light of the morning sun. I am alive, he thought. He remembered watching as Elizabeth lost strength and dipped beneath the waves. Pointlessly he had shouted her name. The urge to save her had almost given him the strength to dive after her, but he knew he was struggling just to keep his own head above water. Even in the freezing water, his arms and legs burned from the effort to stay alive. In the back of his mind he was aware that all the struggle was pointless, but the situation was just too real.
He remembered slipping beneath the waves, unable to wave his arms and legs any longer. Then heavy water water rushed in to fill his lungs as bad air burst out. Then darkness. I'm alive, he thought, almost disbelieving, I'm alive.
Buzzzz. Buzzzz. Buzzzz.
He only vaguely remembered hearing the first ring of his phone, but he ignored it a second time and looked around. A few feet to in front of him he saw Elizabeth, still unconscious in the default clothing. The pine forests and rugged mountains of the Origin valley surrounded him in all their majesty, but the sight only wearied him. He turned to look over his shoulder at the camera, wondering if Dean was watching him. A second woman lay between him and the camera, also with long hair and in the default clothing. Startled he jumped up and went to her. Kneeling over her he saw that this woman was Elizabeth. Then who was the first?
Buzzzz. Buzzzz. Buzzzz.
Cautiously walking over to her came to a horrible realization.
“NO! No. No. No. No No.” he cried. Behind  him he heard Elizabeth stir, but ignored it. He ran to Sarah's side and gently shook her. She remained totally unconscious, barely even breathing.
Buzzzz. Buzzzz. Buzzzz.
“What have you done to her!” William shouted into the phone, speaking before he was even sure it had connected.
“Uhhh—William, where are you?”
Williams voice suddenly dropped cool and hardened. “What have you done to Sarah?”
“I didn't know you would be at the Origin this morning,” answered Dean weakly.
“I died last night, but that is beside the point. What have you done to Sarah.”
William's shouting fully aroused Elizabeth. She moved over to Sarah and seeing a patient her medical training kicked in. She became cool and collected and began to look for a pulse.
“William, I promise you she is fine,” said Dean. “I wanted to talk to you before you saw her, but I guess that it too late now.”
“Why is she here.”
“This isn't about her, William. It's about you. I need your help.”
“I don't care what you do to me. Why is she here!”
“I know you don't care about yourself. She is my insurance. You won't help me for your own sake, so I'm asking you to help me for hers.”
Elizabeth had grasped the situation the moment she had seen Sarah. A part of her tried to convince her that she should be happy about it. With Sarah here, William was sure to cooperate. But she had learned that it was that same part of her that had let Dean pull her into this mess in the first place. No, she thought, another victim. Sarah is another victim, and Dean is the monster.
William was still as stone for a few long seconds. Elizabeth could tell that he didn't want to believe what was happening, but was trying to deal with it anyway.
“Listen to me Dean,” he said. “A week ago, you were right. I was going to die before I helped you. But a few days ago your brother Jim changed my mind. He wants to live much more than I do, so does Elizabeth. I was going to help you for their sakes, but not now.” Surprised Elizabeth looked up at him, but he wasn't looking at her. “I love Sarah more than anyone in the world, but I cannot help you now. How many people will you trap before this is over Dean? A hundred? No Dean I'll let Sarah die with the rest of us before I have to breath each day knowing others are trapped because I assisted you.” With a finality she knew she could not contest, William threw he phone to the ground. The plastic casing shattered, and little pieces scattered.
Without a word, William put Sarah on his shoulders and began to hike over the hill toward the lodge. Elizabeth waited for a moment, trying to get a grasp on what had happened before following. She met he at the top of the hill where he had stopped.
“Where is the lodge?” she asked, seeing the wreckage.
“I have no idea,” he replied. For a moment the two of them stood looking at the wreckage. William came to himself first, setting Sarah down on the grass. He gathered a canopy and cot from the mound of supplies that had replaced the shed, wading through a bit of water and generally having to clear a path through the rubble.
Elizabeth sat down next to Sarah and waited for him to return. “What are we going to do now?” she asked him.
“You start working on the canopy. I'll get the cot set up so Sarah doesn't have to lie on the ground.”
“I mean what are we going to do about Dean? About trying to stay alive?”
“We can't stop Dean from killing us.” As he spoke William opened up the cot bag and began piecing the different parts together. “If he does, it will be on his own prerogative; I'll have nothing to do with it. Right now I plan to do what I can for Sarah. If Dean doesn't kill us, I'll start pushing the horizon again, unless I can come up with a better plan of escape. Regardless of the method, I will always try to get out. But I will not—I will never—don't even ask me to—bargain with Dean.”

Episode Twenty-Six: The Peak

During the night as the snow deepened encasing Jim in his small hovel, the sounds of the storm were muffled into silence. In a few hours his own heat had comfortably raised the temperature, and he drifted into a deep sleep. He became aware of morning as a passage of time; the snow blocked the rising sun. Preparing himself to brace the storm anew, he used a hatchet like as an improvised shovel and hacked his way to open air.
The morning was still new. Blue sky was everywhere and the snow was dazzled by the light of a new sun. Jim saw that he had been closer to his goal than he thought. Less than a hundred yards up the ridge the peak was raised against the sky. Leaving his sleeping bag and pack, putting socks on his hands again to protect them from the snow, and reawakening his hopes that he might yet live through the day, he began to struggle through the waist deep snow toward the peak.
The air was abnormally warm for a snow covered peak, but perhaps the storm and snow were the true abnormality. The ridge he had been following came from the direction of the shore and at the peak joined another ridge that was still blocking his view. When he saw the land beyond pushing back the horizon he would see it all at once.
His heart began beating as he neared the peak, to the west he could see the mountain range sank into the ocean many miles away. To the east he could only see peak behind peaks and the plains next to the ocean. To the north, there was only a horizon.
When his eyes reached the same level as the peak, the whole world froze.  He could clearly see that he was on a peninsula with an ocean on the north and the south, but the peak still blocked a wedged shape of the northern ocean from his view. The next moment he could move again and surged up to the peak.
He had found the horizon. A black void, an inverted triangle in the shape of the mountain that had blocked his view the moment the memory in the computer ran out, lay like a strange shadow in which nothing could be seen across the surface of the ocean. Jim guessed the computer had started trying to fill that void in with the land nearest him, because the north side of the mountain was solid and whole.  A large band of ocean had also been filled in, but the void was there—just a few miles from the shore.
His mind leaped to William and Elizabeth. Their boat would reach the horizon long before he could—unless Dean was already talking with them. Perhaps Dean had already talked with them and taken them out! Then Troy, wherever he was must be close to the horizon. It would take Jim at least a full day to get down to the shore and a few more to make a boat.  He would have to wait.
For a moment he considered the glade at the foot of the mountain, but now that he had seen the horizon he just couldn't let it leave his sight.  After getting his things, he returned to the peak and began walking to the horizon—but this time, he could see it.

Episode Twenty-Five: The Storm

Jim gripped the wooden handle of the large knife tightly as he hacked a path through the thick bushes. From a distance they just looked like tall grass, or else he would have gone around them. He didn't know what kind of bush they were, but their green tops were almost chest high and their stems were so intertwined that pushing through was impossible. A blister had formed and popped leaving his palm raw, but he figured it would be gone in a few hours. No point in slowing up; he grit his teeth and hacked at a particularly thick branch.
Two days ago when William finally realized he had to accept Dean's offer to prevent them all from getting killed, he agreed to do so on the condition that they continue looking for the horizon until the last minute possible. Glad for an excuse to get off that little boat, Jim had mentioned that it was a waste to have all three of them together when it only took two to handle the boat. As soon as they had seen land that afternoon they dropped him off.
Since that time he had accomplished nothing. From the boat they had seen gentle hills resting before a row of mountain peaks that hid the interior of the continent from view. Now he was two days into those hills. When he had looked from the boat, he hadn't realized how many there were. In two days he hadn't added a single foot of land to the computer's memory.
Tomorrow was the last day: the day Dean said he would kill them, unless William gave in. Jim didn't know what it would be like for him. If Dean did kill him, it would probably just be like it had been in the tree, a deep sleep suddenly overcoming him. Even if his body felt pain, he wouldn't know it with his mind in the Endless Frontier.
And if Dean didn't kill them, what then? He was hundreds of miles from the origin valley. He wouldn't see Troy. He would just be alone in a vast wilderness waiting. Waiting to die, or waiting for William to somehow get him out. Just like his family was waiting. Waiting for the news that he had died, or waiting for him to come home. Or just waiting never knowing.
He supposed that even if he spent the rest of his life pushing the horizon he would never see it. Dean would add more memory, or just put him to sleep and clear the memory every once in a while. Around noon he found a nice glade in a small canyon at the foot of the mountain. A large boulder had fallen there—or rather had been generated there—and had a hollowed out side. He imagined that with very little difficulty he could use some trees and brush and make a very good shelter.
“I told William I would chase the horizon until tomorrow,” he said aloud. “He'll never know if I did. What I do now won't change if he accepts Dean's offer.” He sat down in the shade of the boulder for a few minutes, enjoying the rest.
The whole time he sat there, he knew he wouldn't stay. He couldn't. But maybe tomorrow, he finally decided. Once he reached the peak, there would be no where he could go before tomorrow ran out. No more land for him to generate. Then he decided he could rest.
Shouldering his pack, grabbing a branch that would make a good walking stick, he faced the mountain. As he walked he noticed that the wind was blowing dark clouds over the summit of the peak far above him.
Following the small canyon where the creek came down, he made good time, but as he pressed onward the temperature began to drop. Soon he got out the coat he had packed. Another or mile or so up the trail snow began to fall.
White snow on green shrubbery and trees with green leaves. There wasn't an evergreen in sight. Jim wondered if the snow was some kind of glitch. Without a trail he frequently pushed aside branches and scrambled up cold rocks that left his cold hands raw. Determined to press on to the peak before giving up, he stopped again and put a pair of socks over his hands.
Darkness came early, hiding the peak from his view. Still he pressed on, though somewhat reluctantly. The trees he had been hiking among had vanished some time ago. The snow was up to his shins and he was bitter cold. Between snow, fog, wind, and darkness he couldn't see more than thirty feet.
Suddenly the ground angled downward and he almost tripped. He looked out into the flakes of white and darkness and wondered if there, less than thirty feet from him, the horizon waited. He was definitely on a ridge, but he didn't know if it was the ridge he had seen from the boat. He might still have miles before then. Too cold and tired to really care, he turned up the ridge and continued, resolved to stop at the first sign of a half decent shelter.
Shelter came in the form of a crack under a large boulder just under the ridge. It was dry under there, and slightly warmer. He shoved his sleeping bag in then barely wedged himself into it. He covered his head, that was still sticking out with his coat and used his pack as a pillow. It wasn't comfortable, but after a while it was warm.
The snow deepened around him. The wind howled. But his thoughts were of home which he didn't know if he would ever see again. And a brother, that was willing to kill him to make sure he didn't.

Many miles away at sea, the storm overtook the only boat. Soon the waves heaved against the sky, tossing the frail craft. William and Elizabeth desperately fought to keep the craft afloat, but to no avail.
When the boat finally capsized, they were both already exhausted. As he struggled to tread water, unable to find anything to hold on to, William shouted above the din of the storm, unsure if Elizabeth could hear him from even the short distance that separated them.
“Don't worry, we'll soon be back in the lodge. Dieing doesn't matter. Remember!” He couldn't tell if she heard, or hear if she responded, but both of them tread water for far longer than they thought they were physically capable of.

Episode Twenty-Four: The Breaking Point

Three days after starting the lodge on fire, the explosions—that Troy still felt from the other side of the lake—stopped. The first night he had been unable to sleep; the ground shuddering with clockwork regularity.  His short sleep ended when the wind shifted carrying the smoke from the lodge to his small camp, and forced him to get some distance.
Luckily the blasts had thrown many supplies along with debris into the lake, and he was able to salvage a canoe, a tent, and other supplies that had washed up on the shore a safe distance away. He returned to his camp at the base of the cliff and once again began to wait.
For two days he watched the continual stream of smoke and flashes of light with a sick hollow feeling, eating little. Nothing he did in this place worked. The deal with Dean fell through. Because he told Dean about the horizon they would never be able to reach it. Destroying the lodge hadn't messed the computer up a bit.
Early in the morning on the third day the small vibrations stopped. When the sun rose the sky over the south end of the lake was clear. After crossing the lake in the canoe, Troy examined the wreckage. A pool of water filled a crater where the shed had been, filled with pyramids of of supplies. Everywhere else was covered in the reappearing supplies in various stages of burnt and burning. The stench was horrible. All signs of the lodge were gone, covered in ax heads, cooking pots, backpack frames, tent stakes, and other non-flammable supplies where piled high above the kitchen where Troy was certain a fresh bag of chips waited at the exact spot the shelf had been. Only when the dynamite had blasted its way to the lake and let the water in, the chaos stopped.
His phone rang.
“This is Troy Lombardi speaking how may I help you,” he answered, dripping with sarcasm.
“Don't worry. I haven't forgotten our deal,” said Dean on the other end of the line. “I probably should since you destroyed all the cameras.”
Troy was relieved that he only knew about the cameras.
“Yes, Mr. Lombardi, I will get you out, but I've run into a financial problem trying to arrange the details of your transportation and placement. I need you to give me access to one account that will clear up that problem in advance. Just one bank account and all the passwords to access it. I'll collect the rest later after you have your freedom.”
“I don't remember all of the passwords. That is why I made the website that has all the information.”
“I only need you to remember the password for one account. Surely you can do that.”
Troy hesitated, the situation was totally in Dean's control. The only account he could remember was one he used frequently to satisfy his expensive tastes and buy luxurious gifts. Every week the bank automatically transferred a million dollars into it; by now it was over ten million.
“After what you have done to me, how can I trust you to keep your end of the bargain after you get some money. No, you can have the money, but I come out of here first.”
“You have no choice.”
“No,” said Troy. “If you want my money, keep the deal. You have already stretched it by delaying for days. I can't trust you for a moment. I'd rather you killed me than repeatedly be fooled into giving you money. I have learned I cannot trust you and do not plan to. Every chance you get you'll swindle money out of me and never let me go.”
“I am holding a syringe with cyanide in it right now.”
Troy sat down in the ashes. His palms were sweaty. After opening his mouth a few times he finally gave up trying to respond.
“Now. Mr. Lombardi,” said Dean, “I believe we were discussing your bank account. Don't you have something you want to tell me?”


Disgusted with himself, angry at Dean, and more aware of his mortality than he had ever been before, Troy doodled with his fingers in the ash around him. For a few hours he watched the clouds, just as real, just as majestic, and just as unknowable as the real ones. The wind pulled and stretched, gathered and clumped them, slowly growing thicker and thicker. A drop of rain landed on the back of his hand. Another landed in the ash turning it to a bead gray mud. Sparse and irregular, moist spots began appearing.
Suddenly increasing in strength, the rain soaked his clothes and hair. Little rivulets appeared in the ash like the branches of a tree growing backward, many branches growing into larger trunks. Rising out of the receding ash, wire cages—the remains of cushioned furniture and mattresses—and shattered porcelain from lamps and light fixtures began to appear. The water and ash smeared against and soiled Troy as it passed him, then slowly began to clean. Clouds masked daylight. Thunder echoed around the valley walls.
With the elements raging around him, Troy felt himself washing away. All his ambition, pride, and fear gave way to the pouring rain that emptied his soul. Then, like the tangles of wire around him, he felt something stick, something he didn't know had even been there.

The water of the lake was rough, but Troy paddled on. The rain was cold now and struck his skin like nails. Visibility reduced and he would have been totally disoriented without a small plastic compass. He legs felt cold and raw. Twice he stopped to bail out water, but the second time did hardly any good. As he approached the North shore he abandoned the canoe and swam.
Water flowed down the stairs in little waterfalls, making the rock slick. Small rocks and sticks from rushing in the torrent ripped at his bare feet: he had kicked off his boots in the water. He ascended them carefully and purposefully. No longer would he wallow and fret. No longer would he let the impossibility of success torment him. He would go on. And when the end came, it would catch him chasing the horizon. Out in the world, where the businessmen still traded stocks, laborers clocked in hours, and the weatherman appeared on the news every night, no one would know. Lombardi incorporated would fall into someone else's hand, his giving up now or continuing to try wouldn't change that. Perhaps his father would know, but even that didn't matter. What matter was that he knew. He, Troy Lombardi, would never allow sorrow and fear ruin him. He would go on.
After he climbed about two thirds the way up, the wind shifted. Air from below thrust upward violently, throwing drops of water into his down turned face. He froze in his steps, then looked upward. The green tuft of grass stood over him, guarding the horizon. Unable to look down, he locked his gaze on the green grass and continued to climb.
A round pebble that he never saw, slipped underfoot and pitched him backward. His arms flung around wildly, twisting his body, trying to get a grip on anything. With his legs dangling in midair, he caught himself for a moment, but he knew his grip wouldn't hold. “I'll be back,” he told the grass, then dropped into the rain.

Episode Twenty-Three: Anguish

    William, Jim, and Elizabeth stood silently on the deck of the boat. Elizabeth still had the phone open in her hand. Jim sighed heavily and looked up at the sky. William's words, “he knows”, still hung in the air.
    “What does Dean know?” she asked.
    “The Endless Frontier isn't really endless. It will only expand as long as there is room for the new landscape to fit in the computer's memory. If the memory were full, the horizon would move away from us and we could walk into the void, triggering an emergency exit sequence. That is what we were really looking for. The edge of the world.” William spoke softly and slowly. “We only have three more days to look, and forty-eight percent of the memory to fill up. We never would have made it, even if he didn't know.”
    “So why did you want me to have him reset the program?”
    “Every time you start the program it opens a new file. I hoped there wouldn't be enough memory to fit the origin valley and the program would fail to restart, letting us out. Or, even better, the origin valley would barely fit. That way we could cross the horizon when Dean wasn't ready. It doesn't matter now. Thanks for trying to help.”
    “William,” said Jim, speaking up. “I think you should accept Dean's offer.”
    “No,” said William.
    “He's right,” said Elizabeth. “The only way any of us have a chance at getting home is if you help him until you get a chance to escape.”
    “Isn't Dean going to let you back out. You could easily pretend that we lied to you. I told William that we should lie to you. He is the one who wanted to give you a chance to really help us against Dean. Pretend you didn't know it was lie. He will still think he is on your side.”
    “I don't think that will work. He was really cold with me on the phone right now, and he knows I'm considering going to the police. I think I've become part of the evidence that he has to get rid of. I think I have about the same chance of you getting out of here, Jim. William, you really do have a chance. And make sure that Dean will keep us alive as part of the deal.”
    “I will never cooperate with Dean again,” said William. The tone of his voice was final.
    “William,” said Jim, “please think it over. You don't actually have to help him at all. Tell he that you will help, then get help as soon as you can. No one would tell you it was dishonest to deceive him, think of what he has done to us. It is good and right to fight him back, even through deception.”
    “I already told you, Jim. I will not even talk with him.”
    “Do you want to die?”
    “I would rather die with a clean conscience than live knowing I had helped that monster destroy more lives,” William shouted back. “I've already been tormented by knowing my dream has become a prison. All the good I've worked for he has turned to evil. I cannot trust him with anything, and refuse to give him another chance to take advantage of me.”
    “What are you going to do then?”
    The two men stood with less than two feet between them. After a moment of silence, William dropped his eyes, then looked out to sea. “I'm going to look for the horizon. If I have a million to one chance, I have to try. You taught me that. Perhaps Dean lied about the memory to get us to stop looking.”
    “You know that isn't true.”
    “I have to do something.”
    “Call Dean.”
    “I already told you—”
    “I said, call Dean. If you really have to do something, do that. It the only chance we have.”
    “I'm sorry Jim. I can't”
    “You disgust me,” said Jim turning away. He stormed into the cabin and slammed the door.
    William remained standing, looking at the cabin door, smoldering.
    Elizabeth, who had shrunk away from the heated discussion and was sitting on the railing turned back to William. “I don't have any right to judge you, but do you know why Jim hates you?” she couldn't help the sarcasm that slid into her voice. “Because if you have your way, his children will grow up without a father.”
    William exploded with furry, “I never trapped anyone in here! This is not the world I tried to make! I didn't even know Jim before his maniac brother threw him in here!” For the next few minutes the air was full of his angry shouts. Some were directed at Dean, some at Elizabeth, some at Jim for not understanding him, and others where at himself for not realizing what Dean was planning until it was too late. He paced up and down the deck, considered jumping overboard, in general acted like a caged tiger.
    Elizabeth was surprised at her own calmness. She patiently waited for William to calm down. With Jim in the cabin there was no where William could go to be alone. Eventually he sat down on the far side of the boat looking out to sea.
    “After we successfully made mind connections to mice, Dean and I went to a poor village on the other side of the world to test the equipment on humans,” said Elizabeth, coming up behind William. Caught up in his own grief, William was unable to form thoughts in a response to her sudden confession. “After we announced the price we were willing to pay for anyone willing to volunteer for an experiment we had a line of around a hundred people, but after the first few experiments they people of the village realized they wanted nothing to do with us. The first man's connection was only partial, and the input was a recording of a movie. Horrified at what he saw—we realized later it had been scrambled—he covered his eyes, but that only made it worse because the real world vanished, but the wild moving colors became more vibrant. He was lucky though, afterward everything was normal for him. In that village we left two men blind and a child who developed frequent seizures as a result of our failed mind connection, before the locals got together and drove us out at gun point.
    “I was devastated. At first I refused to help Dean anymore. He kept preaching to me about the good of science and how although a few would be hurt until we got it right, the technology would bless millions in the future. Reluctantly I resumed helping him, but I never let him accept child subject.
    “By the time we were back in the United States, I was having nightmares every night. If I had gone to the police then, I might have gotten away with only a little prison time fine, but I didn't. To cover our tracks we had to pretend it was a vacation. You can read the whole big lie on my blog, which is kind of funny because that is the only post I have made in the past year.
    “Just when I had promised myself I would never get involved with that kind of thing again, Dean told me that Troy was going to discover our illegal experiments if we didn't do something to stop him. After that I just kind of became numb to it all, following Dean every instruction and praying no one would ever find out.” After her confession, Elizabeth fell quiet and watched the waves pass under the boat. The evening was coming on, and the wind was cool. Tears streamed down her face.
    “Why did you tell me that?” asked William.
    “I don't know. Maybe I just needed to say it to someone, and since Dean betrayed you too, I thought you might understand. He has ruined everything for me.”
    “Do you really think I should pretend to help him?”
    “It is better than giving up.”
    They sat in silence for a long time.
    “Fifty-two percent. You must have put a lot of hard drives into the computer.”
    “Just eight.”
    “That's it? What size?”
    “I don't know. Large, but just ordinary one you could purchase on-line.”
    “But that doesn't make sense. Even with eight commercial hard drives we would at least be around seventy or eighty percent. I can't believe my math is that far off.”
    “Why does it matter?”
    “Just. I wonder if maybe Dean is lying, trying to get us to stop looking for the horizon.”
    “If you really think there might be a chance, I'll help you keep looking. I don't like who I have become, and if we never get out, I'll never have a chance to change.”
    “And if we don't find the horizon by the time the week is up. I'll negotiate with Dean.”

Episode Twenty-Two: Guilt

    Troy fetched another bag of chips from the kitchen cupboard, plopped down into the large couch, and devoured it. Four empty cereal boxes leaned against each other on top of the fireplace, a fifth had fallen sometime earlier under the weight of the others. A pile of both chip bags and crumbs slumped next to the couch. Fifty-eight glasses—Troy had counted them—covered the small coffee table, most were empty, but some he hadn't bothered to finish before getting another one. An abandoned roast that was still mostly raw waited on the spigot to be cooked, but after the fire died, Troy hadn't bothered to get it going again.
    After finishing the chips and adding the bag to the pile, he stood and paced the room. After a few minutes he returned to the kitchen and opened the cupboard again. A new bag of chips waited next to a box of raisins where he had already removed so many. Its appearance infuriated him. The billionaire took the bag and threw it out the window. He knew it was irrational, but he didn't care. As soon as he looked back there was another one in the cupboard. He tossed that one too. And the next.
    Suddenly remembering he was being watched by cameras, he froze. Then began a hunt that lasted a few hours. He searched the rooms of the cabin one by one gathering all the cameras he could find and tossing them in the lake. Every camera time he pulled a camera off the wall and every time he threw one in the lake, his anger increased. By the time he couldn't find another camera he was storming through the lodge, ripping paintings off the walls and lights off the ceiling, wanting to spite Dean just one more time by destroying another camera.
    Eventually his anger burnt itself out and he took an impromptu nap on a pile of furs. Waking up he just felt miserable. Whatever chance they had of getting out, he had ruined it. Over and over he wished he would have promised to tell Dean after he was out, but deep inside he knew it wouldn't have even mattered then. Dean wasn't going to let any of them out ever again. They were evidence that needed to be destroyed.
    Seized by hunger he returned to the cupboard where he found yet another bag of chips waiting for him. Maddened by the sight of it, he flung open the cupboard door, breaking off one of its hinges, and hurled it out the window. The wooden door hung oddly on the remaining upper hinge, behind it was a bag of chips. The fire burning inside of him was suddenly doused by an idea. Here in the lodge's kitchen, the computer did more than just calculate physics: food appeared out of no where and the garbage can made anything thrown into it disappear. Perhaps, he thought, there was a way to mess things up and make the program crash.
    Grabbing the perpetually empty trash can, he ran out to the lake and dipped it under the water. Immediately it began sucking up water like a pipe.  Hoping it was at least forcing the computer to use some extra processing power he left underwater a few feet from shore. He knew it couldn't drain the lake, not with how much water came down the waterfall.
    In the kitchen he attacked with the replenishing cupboards with an ax. After a time he grew a little more sensible and fetched a crowbar from the shed. Even after the wood had been removed, food appeared in midair where the shelves had been and began heaping up in great piles of boxes, bags, and haphazard piles, as new items appeared and immediately fell.
    He fetched the trash can from the lake, pushed the top of the pile of chips, and place the trash can under the first new bag that appeared. Watching hundreds of bags of chips appear from nowhere and vanish into the oblivion, entertained him only a short while. His idea wasn't working.
    The kitchen was now totally full of food and very difficult to move around in, so he took the trash can back to the lake where he thought it was probably doing more good. Then he went to each room on the second floor of the lodge and turned on every faucet in every bathroom and bathtub, plugging all the drains so they filled up and ran over. He took out a few light bulbs, stripped and crossed the electric wires, then turned the switches back on. All he got were a few sparks and the power died. Outside he found a fusebox. While looking for extra fuses in the shed he came across a box of signal flares and had a wonderful idea.
    Three hours later, he  dumped one last box of flares inside the lodge, splashed another bottle of kerosene around for good measure, and ate one last bag of chips. One the porch, where a trail of kerosene ended, he had placed a wax candle. Lighting the candle, he ran for the hill. Laying on top of the hill he watched as the candle slowly burnt down.
    Whatever made the food appear in the kitchen, water appear in the pipes, electricity in the wires, and supplies in the shed had held up to Troy's manipulations so far, but this would far outdo anything William could have anticipated. Troy wondered what the program crashing would be like. Would a sort of black hole appear where the lodge had been and suck him up? Or would the whole program stop and everyone would wake up at the portal? What if it didn't end the program, just messed it up? Images of a strange convoluted world where he couldn't move and bags of chips appeared everywhere choking him suddenly filled his imagination, and Troy watched the last bit of candle burn away wondering if he would live to see the result.
    The candle's flame reached the fuel, dashed into the house, and exploded into all directions in a deafening roar. Of the hundreds of flares Troy had tossed around earlier, only a small portion happened to be pointed at a window, but they the frequency of trails of smoke and flame that escaped the inferno trapped behind the wooden walls was enough to rival independence day fireworks.  A huge pillar of smoke reared above the lodge. Flame poured from the windows.
    Perhaps a flare burst through one of its windows, perhaps a flaming bit of wood landed on the roof, or the temperature might have just been raised high enough. The shed exploded into a ball of fire, sending a shock wave that would have thrown Troy off his feet if he had been standing. Only a moment passed before an equally loud and strong explosion rocked the ground again, and again, and again. Before his eyes, the lodge crumpled away from the blasts. Troy couldn't help but wonder if the bags of chips were still appearing in the inferno.
    The anticipated crash in the program never came, but the blasts continued unmercifully destroying the peace of the valley. Troy guessed there was dynamite in the shed that, like the chips, flares, and other supplies, kept reappearing. Frustrated that the program ran on smoothly and unable to think of anything else that might possible add to the strain, Troy wandered into the woods looking for shelter.

Episode Twenty-One: Deception

When Elizabeth awoke the next morning, she stayed rolled up in her blanket on the cabin floor pretending she was still asleep. All that day, William and Jim ignored her. They never entered the cabin and she never left it. Feeling betrayed by Elizabeth, William felt used. He had given her the benefit of the doubt and even allowed himself to believe that she was just another victim like they were, but now he new better. Both men wanted nothing more to do with her and would have set her on the first land they saw, but they didn't see land all day, and were unwilling to turn back: they had to keep pushing the horizon.
Elizabeth was miserable. Moving as little as possible, sleeping whenever her mind would calm down enough, then waking in trembles, she hated her predicament. Sometimes she would let herself fantasize about punishing them all, finding a way out of the Endless Frontier then trapping Dean in it before he could stop her, but the dream just made her feel worse. Over and over she now realized she had rationalized wrong into right and pretended that everything was okay, that she was innocent. William's sharp words shifted something deep inside her, forcing her to see who she had become.
Perhaps when Dean let her out she could run away from everything. She escape to a foreign country and live under an assumed name. She would get a common job, she had all the skills needed to be a secretary, and spend her free time working in a garden like her grandmother. Then, if she could only forget, life would be bearable again. Her grandmother had always had a quite smile and sure confidence about life, and Elizabeth envied her for it.
The day passed without incident, William and Jim took turns on watch and slept on the boats deck under the stars. Late that night, while William was on watch, he peered into the stars. To his surprise he saw the silhouette of a plane cross in front of the moon. The urge to signal it for help swelled with amazing force within him, but in only lasted a moment. The full moon and all the stars where just a illusions, and he—more than anyone—knew it. The distance involved made it totally impractical to actually simulate the moon and stars. The sky was simply an image, or more accurately a movie, added as a background to his vision. Somewhere in the many thousands of hours of film he had used to create a lifelike vision of the sky, a camera had recorded a plane crossing the sky. He thought of the thousands of errors like that he had found over and over again. Then he had a wonderful idea.

Please with himself, Dean threw the last few cardboard boxes into the trash. That should take them awhile, he thought. In the portal he looked at the four bodies that appeared to be sound asleep, each breathing slowly and rhythmically. William was the only one he cared about, but he cared about the others. That was the whole problem. He needed some way, any way, to get William to work for him.
The computer rang, signaling an incoming call. Hoping that it was William, finally giving in to his demands, Dean pushed the button on the keyboard to answer the call.
“Hello, Dean.” It was Elizabeth's voice.
“What do you want.”
“I need to talk fast. William and Jim are off the boat, but could be back any minute. This morning they finally told me what they are looking for. A few days before they were trapped in here, William was working on a papaya tree, but it still isn't finished. The last time he loaded the program with it, it crashed leaving a hole in the landscape. The hole has a funny effect on the physics that makes it is emitting light. They are on the boat sailing, hoping to find a tropical region where the computer will put a papaya tree and give them a way out. All we have to do to stop them is put them all to sleep again and I can remove the papaya entry from the landscape database. After we tell them what we've done they won't have a hope of getting out!”
Dean just smiled. “Elizabeth, do me a favor.”
“What?”
“Tell William the memory is at fifty two percent.” Before she could react, he pushed a button and closed the call.

“What did he say?” asked Jim. For the first time he was beginning to understand Elizabeth. After William explained the plan to him, he didn't think Elizabeth was willing to try it, but he'd been wrong. When William told her that if she was willing to help they had a good chance of getting out, she had accepted eagerly. Jim now realized that Elizabeth wasn't evil like he thought, just weak. Doing whatever she could to try and save herself.
She had looked pretty sorry that morning when she finally came out of the cabin after a whole day without food or water. Jim guessed she had cried most of the time. He still had a difficult time tolerating her, but after that phone call she had firmly committed herself to there side, and they needed all the help they could get.
If William's plan worked, Dean would reset the Endless Frontier again, giving them another full valley worth of landscape, and think he had them trapped. He would also probably pull Elizabeth out and hopefully this time she would really go to the police.
Elizabeth slowly put the phone down. She new something must be wrong. “I don't think he even listened to what I said. He just gave me a message for you William. He said the computer's memory is at fifty two percent. What does he mean by that?”
William and Jim both suddenly looked crestfallen. “It mean he knows,” said William, “and, we don't have time, even if he didn't.”

Episode Twenty: A Night Watch

    “Stratford,” Jim whispered forcefully, “your watch.”
    Elizabeth raised a hand signaling she had heard. She had hardly gotten any sleep anyway with the rocking of the boat. Outside the air was cool, but wrapped in a blanket Elizabeth didn't mind it. She sat on the highest part of the boat, on top of the cabin next to the sail. That had become the official post of whoever was on watch. Most of the stars were blocked by clouds, and the moon was nowhere to be seen. Wind filled the open sail, pushing them forward and onward into the unknown.
    She waited for about an hour, long enough that she was sure both Jim and William were asleep, then opened her phone and made a call to the portal. After ten beeps a recording of her own voice asked her to leave a message. “Dean, they don't trust me enough to give me any specifics, but whatever they are looking for is big. We are sailing on an ocean, and they constantly watch the horizons. They even put me on watch. William said as soon as I saw it, I would know that that was it. I'll try and call you tomorrow at about this same time.”
    As she hung up the phone, William, who had been hiding in the doorway cabin, asked, “How's Dean?”
    Startled by his voice, Elizabeth shoved the phone into a pocket and stood up in the same motion. “What are talking about?” she gasped, hoping he hadn't actually seen the phone and was asking the question rhetorically.
    “I couldn't understand what you were saying, but the cellphone lit up your face,” he said. Unsure how to react, Elizabeth just froze. “We need to talk. Jim's a little uptight, so if you don't mind, we'll keep this quite and not wake him up.”
    “What are you going to do to me.”
    He held out his hand. “If you give me your phone, nothing right now.”
    “And if I don't?”
    “I don't want to hurt you, Elizabeth, but I won't let you ruin everything we are working for.”
    She hesitated a minute then slapped the phone into his hand angrily.  Dropping down to the deck again she put her back to him. After a minute she hear him sit down also. For along while they both sat there staring into the night.
    “Is everything you said about Dean blackmailing you true?”
    She didn't answer.
    “Do you mind if I take a guess?”
    She pulled the blanket closer around her, and glared away from him.
    “I think what you told us is true. Except that instead of throwing you in here, Dean blackmailed you into spying on us. You hate Dean, but you don't know how to escape him.”
    Elizabeth suddenly burst into tears. Everything seemed so hopeless. William's kindness to her only made it worse. She wanted him to be mean and cold like Jim. That way she could just spit in his face and hate everyone. “What do you want from me? I can't help you get out of here even if I wanted to. You can't trust me with your secrets. We both know that even though I don't have a phone right now, I could just drown myself and get another one.”
    “You're right. I can't tell you our secret hope.” He paused. “I guess you just reminded me of someone, and I wanted to help you if I could.”
    “I don't need help from you. Dean can't kill me, he can't even keep me in here for any longer than a week or so. Too many people know we work together. If I disappear, the police would investigate him.”
    “Will you go to the police?”
    “I can't, William, I'm just as guilty as he is. I don't want to live the rest of my life in prison.”
    “Is life under Dean's hand any better?”
    She couldn't respond. His suggestion that her life was already wore than prison made her angry, but she knew he was right.
    “Sorry,” he said. “I shouldn't have said that. I guess I'm just wish you were on our side.” He stood up to leave.
    “William,” she said, holding him back. “I won't let Dean kill you, any of you.”
    Something in him snapped. “You have already let him kill all of us!” he exploded.
    “What?”
    “The only person I care about in the world is dead to me, and I am dead to her because of the Endless Fronter. I will never be able to marry Sarah. Never even be able to say goodbye.”
    Every word struck Elizabeth's soul like a physical blow.
    “Do you know why Jim hates you? Because if you get your way, his children are going to grow up without a father. He knows that right now his wife is crying herself to sleep ever night for worry over him, wondering what possibly could have happened to him. Troy doesn't know that you are in here, but I'm sure he feels the same way. He is certain his business if floundering without him. Don't you see Elizabeth, being trapped in here is the same as being dead.”
    The cabin's door opened and Dean stepped out. “What is going on up here?”
    Elizabeth was slumped on the ground with William standing menacingly over her. “Nothing,” said William hopping down to the main deck. “You were right though. She's nothing but a spy.”
 

Episode Nineteen: Interrogation

    Elizabeth struggled to keep upright in the canoe the whole trip downstream to the ocean. The darkness hid sandbanks, rocks, and logs that each in their turn battered the small vessel. She arrived at the shore cold, wet, and bruised. Not wanting to face the awkward situation of waking up Jim and William who must be on the boat tied to the dock, she lay down on some grass above the sand to try and get some sleep. Luckily she had thought to put the supplies she carried in a large plastic bag; the blanket was still dry. Exhausted, she quickly fell into a sound sleep.

    The morning sun rising beyond the horizon to the east woke her, but she didn't care to get up. When she heard footsteps coming toward her from the beach, she sighed. She thought she probably would have been happier if they had just left without her. That way she could forget about having to spy on them.

    “Good morning Elizabeth.” It was William's voice. “Breakfast is ready on board. We'd like to get an early start, so we'll eat just after we leave dock.” Elizabeth ignored him. After some silence William tried again, “Are you okay?”

    “No,” she snarled unable to help herself. “I'm stuck in this stupid wilderness waiting to be killed. You don't trust me a bit, but frankly I don't blame you. I'm a wretched horrible person, so just leave me alone. You don't want me along anyway.” She sat up, but only looked at William's feet.

    “Jim doesn't trust you,” he said squatting down to catch her eyes. “I haven't decided yet. I want you to join us for a while before I cast judgment. Last night Jim tried to convince me that you're spying for Dean.” He smiled. “But I kind of doubt that a spy would try and get us to leave her.” When Elizabeth didn't reply he added “See you on the boat,” and walked away.

    Riding in the boat seemed surreal to Elizabeth. Sailing on a digital ocean in a digital boat with a digital body and being companions with men whom she had held captive for two months, almost felt like a weekend vacation. The sky and water were both clear. She didn't eat very much of the breakfast that William had prepared. Jim and he were talking at the front of the boat. It looked to her like Jim gave William some tips on how to sail. After a while Jim went down into the boats cabin, and William joined her at the back of the boat.

    “We're headed for that small island out there,” he said.

    “Is that where whatever you are looking for is?” she asked.

    “No. We'll just stop there to talk. Jim and I aren't sure where you and Dean placed the cameras and we want to be sure and not have Dean watching when we talk to you. This boat was on the very edge of the preprogrammed valley. We've decided not to talk about anything important while were on it.”

    “I can promise you there aren't any cameras here. We only put them in at the lodge.”

    “We'll hopefully you understand why we can't trust you yet.”

    “Personally, I don't understand why you let me join you at all,” she said, making William laugh. 

    The sandy island didn't have anywhere that the boat could come right up to shore, so they had to get out in waist deep water. Once on the shore, Jim lead them to the far side of a small clump of trees that grew in the center of the island. He hadn't yet said a word to Elizabeth and she could tell that William's kindness to her bothered him. The threesome stood silent for a moment, William looking at Jim with a this-was-your-idea look on his face.

    “Well,” said Jim, turning toward Elizabeth, “What do you have to say for yourself.”

    The abruptness of his manner through Elizabeth off guard. Conflicting emotions swelled up in her, threatening to cause her to burst into tears, but she pushed them back. “When Dean hired me, I thought I was getting an honest job. The chance of a lifetime to work with an expert in the field on a cutting edge project. What I didn't know was that Dean doesn't care about anything other than making a name for himself. When some legal difficulties came up, he sidestepped them at the expense of helpless people. At first I reasoned that some sacrifices needed to be made for the progress of science, but eventually I went along because I knew I was just as guilty as he was.

    “When he talked to me about trapping you and Mr. Lombardi in the Endless Frontier, I refused. Then he admitted because he had spent Mr. Lombardi's money illegally, he was sure that eventually he would realize what we had done and we would both end up in jail. Feeling trapped and helpless I agreed. I see now that it just made things worse.

    “Things were going fine, until the card Mr. Lombardi gave to Dean stopped working. Then when we tried to set up another Endless Frontier nothing we could do could get it to work. Then yesterday, when you refused to help Dean, I was surprised about his treat to kill you. I faced him when he came out, so he turned on me just like he did on you, Jim. Sent me into this virtual prison. I don't know why he didn't just kill me then. I'm just as much evidence as the rest of you. If we don't somehow stop him he will kill us all next week.”

    “How do we know you aren't just spying for Dean?” said Jim. “He knows that we are looking for something. Perhaps he is afraid our plot will work.”

    “If he were really afraid, he would kill you now,” she said. “The only one he wants alive is William.”

    “He know that if he killed any of us, William would never work with him,” snapped Jim.

    “Hold it you two,” said William, stepping between them. “Elizabeth, you know that we can't trust you. Jim, you know that, even if she is telling the truth, there is nothing she could say right now that wold give us proof, so lets drop that subject.” 

    Jim glared at both of them, but didn't say anything. 

    “Elizabeth,” continued William, “I need to know what changes you made to the Endless Frontier program.”

    “A few days before the first run, I changed the function that triggers when the virtual body dies. After closing the virtual simulation, a fresh one now starts without disconnecting the mind connection.  Two days ago, while you were all drugged I loaded a modified file of the origin valley that has additional cameras in and around the lodge. Other than that I haven't changed a thing, and Dean doesn't know enough about programming to have done anything without me.”

    Jim and William looked at each other, trying to communicate without words. “Let's talk alone in a minute,” William said to dean. Then turning to Elizabeth he said, “If what you said is the truth, its good news. Yesterday you mentioned wanting to help us. The thing we are looking for requires constant vigilance. From here on out we need someone constantly scanning the horizon. We had originally planed on the two of us taking shifts, but we would appreciate it if you took one.”

    “What will I be looking for,” asked Elizabeth.

    “William, don't you dare tell her,” said Jim. “As soon as she knows she'll call Dean.”

    “Don't worry, Jim” said William, “I won't give it away. I'll just say this. When you see it, Elizabeth, you'll know.”