The Imagination Machine

Chapter 21

"I'm sorry about the whole, you know, gun thing. It's just that it's really hard  for other people to get down here, so I got kind of freaked out when I saw people...you know, down here. My name's Maddie, by the way. My real name's Madeline, but I don't like the name Madeline, so people call me Maddie. It's nice to meet you both!"

Lucretia and Courtney stared blankly at the hand the girl was extending for them to shake. "Who are you?" Lucretia asked.

"And how do you know our names?" Courtney added.

Before Maddie could respond, there was a flash of light and two people appeared in the room. They weren't there, and then suddenly they were. Rudy appeared lying on the ground, clutching Sable tightly to him. He looked up, blinking and holding a hand to his eye.

"Rudy!" Courtney rushed over to her brother and helped him up, picking up Sable and holding her to her chest. 

"How'd you disappear like that, Lucretia?" Rudy said. "What happ-" he stopped talking when he saw Maddie, who was now staring at all of them wide-eyed. Then the girl looked at Rudy and Sable and put a hand to her mouth. 

"Hey, it's Rudy!" she said. 

Courtney walked over to Maddie and put a hand on her shoulder. "Okay, I want you to tell us what's going on, now. How do you know us?"

The girl stepped back, looking nervous. She put her watch to her mouth again. "Noah, hurry up and get down here!"

Courtney looked up when a hatch above her head suddenly opened and what appeared to be a large slide fell out of it. A very pale boy with a buzz cut slid down the slide into the room. "Jesus Christ, Maddie, what are you yelling about? I'm busy right now-" the boy stopped talking and stared around the room. His jaw dropped and the clipboard he was holding fell from his hands.

"Why do people keep dropping things when they see us?" Courtney said. 

The boy, Noah, pointed a finger at them and turned to Maddie. "What the hell? Th-they're not supposed to be here!" he exclaimed nervously.

"Yeah, I know they're not supposed to be here. Courtney and Rudy weren't supposed to be in the game. They probably made it glitch!" Maddie said. Then she turned to Courtney and Rudy. "Not that we don't like you guys. You seem nice. But how did you get in our game anyway?"

"Girl, are you off your meds or something? Your words aren't making any sense," Rudy said. 

Sable struggled to be let down. As soon as Courtney set her on the ground, she walked unsteadily towards Maddie and tugged at the girl's shirt. "My name is Sable!" she announced.

"Yeah, I know who you are," Maddie said. 

"Aw man, CJ's gonna kill us," Noah moaned. 

"Will someone please tell us what is going on?" Lucretia said.

Noah walked over to Lucretia and reached out a finger, stroking his black hair and cheek. 

"Why are you touching me?" Lucretia asked nervously.

Noah ignored him, turning to Maddie. "He feels so real!"

Courtney blinked. These people were insane. What were they going on about? What game? She looked at Noah and Maddie more closely. Both looked like perfectly ordinary kids. If anything, their clothes were kind of nice. Maybe they were rich. Neither looked like they could be older than eleven. 

Noah suddenly looked down at Rudy's sneakers. "Whoa, where did you get those Nike's? I didn't know those still existed."

Rudy raised his shoulder. "Uh, at the store?"

"You haven't answered our question yet. How'd you get in our game?" Maddie said.

Courtney frowned. There was something not right about this situation. All she could really tell was that she definitely wasn't back home. "No, you haven't answered any of our questions yet. How do you know us, and where are we?"

Maddie smiled. There was something about the girl's grin that soothed Courtney a little. She seemed so cheerful and innocent. She didn't seem like she would be dangerous. But when she opened her mouth, it was only to answer Courtney's question with another. "Are you guys, like, extreme hackers or something? I know some really good hackers but I never knew anyone could actually get into a game like that and become part of it. That's so cool!"

Lucretia just stared, confused. He'd picked up Sable and was holding onto her. Rudy, for the first time in his life, looked as though he didn't know what to say.

Courtney took a deep breath, trying not to become frustrated, and most importantly, trying not to let out a stream of curse words. "Could you please just tell us where we are?"

"You're on Hill Route," Maddie said.

This clearly wasn't going anywhere.

"Are we on planet earth?" Courtney decided to take the direct approach.

Noah and Maddie seemed to find this amusing. "Yeah, you're on planet earth. What kind of question is that?" Noah asked.

That was better than nothing. At least they hadn't landed on another planet, or in another universe entirely. "Okay, so where exactly on planet earth are we?" Courtney continued patiently. 

"You're in New York City," Maddie said. Both her and Noah were looking at Courtney as if she had lost her mind.

Rudy grabbed Courtney's arm, hard. But Courtney didn't notice. Her mind was racing at a million miles per hour. Were they really home? But how? 

"We're from New York City!" Rudy 

Noah looked interested now. "Really? What part?"

Rudy was growing more excited. "We live in Midtown Manhattan."

Noah and Maddie exchanged a look. "Near the explosion site?" Noah asked. 

"Explosion site?" Rudy said. 

"Yeah, you know, near the memorial site for the 8/12 nuclear bomb thing," Maddie said, waving her hand in a gesture that seemed too flippant, too casual. 

Courtney felt her heart sink down into her stomach. "Nuclear bomb?" she asked weakly, in a voice she wasn't sure was hers.  

"Are you talking about 9/11?" Rudy asked cautiously. "That wasn't a nuclear bomb."

Noah frowned. "Um, no. 9/11 was a century ago. We're talking about the 8/12 bomb. You know. Do you guys live near the site? Cuz I know someone..."

By then, Courtney had stopped listening. Cold dread sunk in, making her hands feel clammy and her mouth feel dry. Yes, something definitely wasn't right here. Lucretia, who had been standing beside her the whole time, put one hand on her shoulder, steadying Sable with the other.

"Are you okay? Can you please tell me what is going on? I don't understand."

Courtney barely heard Lucretia. The next thing she knew, her legs had collapsed from under her.

"Hey!" Lucretia grabbed onto her waist and pulled her up with his free hand. She gripped Lucretia's arm tightly. Courtney liked to think of herself as a resourceful person. Someone who could handle anything and turn any situation around.  But this was just too much.

"Noah?" she said, interrupting his spiel. He turned to face her. 

"Yeah?" he asked.

"What year is it?"

Both his eyebrows shot up. "Say again?"

"What year is it?" she repeated.

Noah laughed out loud. "Are you serious? Man, you guys are really wacked out."

"Please," Courtney said. She herself wasn't believing the words coming out of her mouth. "Just tell me what year it is."

Noah still had a goofy grin on his face as he replied in a mock-formal way. "Yes ma'am. The current year at this time is 2101."