DoubleThink - An SOS Novella

SEPT. 18, 10:21 P.M.

WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO KNOW? — ROSEBURG, OR 

OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF days, Penny had watched the movie Stargate (terrible) the first season of the TV series (not bad), and several episodes from some of the other shows (why?). She read as much as she could about the sprawling franchise, and finally, she found another detail that seemed strikingly relevant:

Stargate was the first film to have its own marketing website.

The countdown clock had long since expired, taking the musical clue along with it. Anyone who hadn't found the site right away and gotten past that first hurdle was out of luck. The page had been replaced with a roster of the people who were still in the game, like the leader boards for top-scoring players on an old arcade game. They were identified only by their email addresses, perhaps to egg them on or foster competition. There was Penny's, at number 7 of 53: p-------d@freemail.net. Evan had nicknamed her "P-squared," and that was the account she had emailed him from the most.

Ping. A message popped up on her screen. It was still strange to see a message from DoubleThink—she had been DoubleThink before. Half of the two-person alias, anyway. But now it was all Risse. Who was sitting literally on the other side of Penny's bedroom wall.

They messaged each other all the time, even when they were in the same room, and especially late at night when they didn't want to wake their mother or stop their respective work to have a conversation.

DoubleThink: Hey.

+g00d: Hey. Is everything okay?

DoubleThink: Everything's fine. Great, actually. I, um, have a date?

+g00d: WHAT.

Penny paused in her search for the original Stargate website.

DoubleThink: Right?

+g00d: Who is he? She? They?

DoubleThink: Emerson Swift.

Penny vaguely remembered a Todd Swift in her class. She didn't pay attention to a lot of real-world stuff, like people, but she thought Todd was decent looking. She distinctly remembered that he had hair and eyes, and a mouth. Probably a nose too, but she couldn't swear on it.

She looked Todd up on Panjea; she still kept her Emmie Steed account there, the better to manipulate dudes in the tech industry.

Oh, okay. That guy. Yup. He did have a nose, just like she'd thought. And freckles. The very definition of unmemorable.

His younger brother, Emerson, did not have a Panjea account, or any online presence she could see. So that was promising.

+g00d: How did this happen?

DoubleThink: He asked me out at lunch. I said "No." He said, "That's disappointing, but I understand. I hope we can be friends." And I said, "Can I change my answer?"

+g00d: OMG. I would ask whether he has an older brother, but . . .

DoubleThink: You have Max. Don't be greedy. And Emerson's definitely the cuter brother.

+g00d: Verified. So where's he taking you?

DoubleThink: He thought I might be interested in the "mythical creatures" exhibit at the Douglas County Natural History Museum.

+g00d: Perfect. It's almost like he knows you!

DoubleThink: He said it took him a year to work up the courage to ask me out. And . . .