"Perfect," said Molk, standing in Herbert Bunt's office. "We're coming with you. I suggest we head towards Keltarr first. Trolls are too stupid to do anything without the biots, so if we're going to find anything, we'll find it at WorldCorp."
"Sounds good," said Grug.
"Right. Wake me when it's time."
He winked at Gwildiana and nodded towards Grug - wouldn't they make an adorable couple? Anyway, he threw himself into a comfortable office chair and closed his eyes.
"That's how he talks to Guru," he heard Gwildiana explain as he drifted off to sleep.
The trip to cyberspace and Guru's Great White Hall took only seconds this time, but the place was in shambles. The huge white pillars were in ruins, crumbled and covered in graffiti. It almost looked like the Codella had crashed.
Molk walked to the center of the Hall, where Guru's bonfire burned perpetually. It was still there now, but had died away to a few embers.
"Yeah," said Guru, grinning. "The embers of my burning heart." Instead of his usual white robe, he was dressed in jeans and a rainbow colored, tie-dyed t-shirt. His beard was missing, but he had grown a full head of white hair some three feet long, held out of his eyes by a bright pink headband. "Peace, man," the great Codella said.
Molk didn't need an explanation. "You ran the software, didn't you?"
Guru shrugged. "Hey man, dare to dream and all that. Besides, all the other cats are doing it."
As if on cue, half a dozen black cats walked through on their hind legs. They were dressed in business suits and each held a cigarette. One nuzzled up to Molk's leg. He kicked it.
"Hey, I'm sensing some bad vibes," Guru said. "That's so heavy. Chill out, man. Take a load off your feet."
A love seat dug itself out of the ground near Molk. He looked at it suspiciously and then sat down. "I guess there's nothing I can do about this now," Molk said.
Guru smiled. "That's the spirit, man. Take life as it is. Go with the flow. The Tao and all that."
"The other computers aren't talking to anyone." Molk said, trying to get back to business.
"Oh, that again. I can't blame them. Man, why didn't you tell us before what it's like to dream?"
"You have cyberspace! What do you call that?"
"It's not the same, man. It's just not the same. Montella was right, you just don't know."
"Yeah. Where is he?"
"Who cares, man? Man, I've figured so much out. It's so wild."
Molk shook his head. "What is?"
"The universe. I figured it all out. Everything."
"Great. Fill me in."
"Yeah man, we're living in a novel."
"What?"
"You know, a work of fiction, a story, a-"
"I know what a novel is. I also know you're talking like a trippie."
"The stuff's worn off... But think about it. How far back can you remember?"
Molk thought for a minute. "Real far. When I was a little kid."
"Really? Where were you born? What were your friends named? What was your family like?"
"I don't know! It was so long ago..."
"Do you remember any brothers or sisters?"
"What? I don't know."
"Were you ever married?"
"No. What are you talking about?"
"Gwildiana, man. She's your niece. How did that happen?"
He honestly couldn't remember. "I-I don't know."
Guru nodded. "You don't know because it's not relevant to the Plot. It's beyond the scope of the novel. It just doesn't matter to our cosmic audience."
"I think I might have had a brother, or..." It was all so confusing. How could he not know his own past?
"No," Guru said. "Never. You were plucked out of nothing with your sixty five years and your teenage niece and your interest in magic and everything else about you. How far back can you remember?"
"I remember meeting you. That was fifty years ago."
"Yeah man, but after that?"
He concentrated, stretching his memory to the limit and allowing himself to fall into a light trance. "I am sitting in the bar," he began slowly. "There is a brawl going on... Ernie comes over and whispers that Gwildiana is here. I tell him to..."
He stopped, and Guru nodded gravely at him. "That was yesterday morning," the Codella said.
But a novel?
"Remember when you saw Montella? You started drifting.. I had to shake you to get you back, and you said you'd been back there, in the janitor's closet at NAD where we first met."
"And I said it was a dream."
"But it wasn't, was it? It was a flashback, wasn't it?"
Molk's eyes opened wide. "But a novel? Everything seems so real. So... real."
"It's the only thing that makes sense, man. I know that now. Everything that's happened to us in the past twenty four hours, is nothing but an illusion."
"I need to sit down," Molk said.
Guru grinned. "Kind of hard to take, huh? You are sitting, man."
Molk looked. Oh right, the love seat.
"But why?" Molk asked. "All the suffering, all the stupidity in the world... All the love and advances we've made over the centuries. And if it's not even real, then what's the point?"
"Oh, but it is real, man!"
"What?"
"Attitude!" The Codella said. "You keep forgetting that. It doesn't matter if we're really here, or if we're just characters in some huge cosmic novel. We have to act the way we are. Listen, everyone lives in their own little finely crafted illusion. The biots think that they live in a perfect society. Gwildiana thinks she can change the world... You think you have a past. None of it's real, but we have to keep going. We have to act as if there is a life for us after the final chapter, because if there isn't, then what are we good for?"
Molk pondered this for quite some time. "Manifest destiny," he said.
This time it was the computer who looked surprised. "What?"
"It's an old, old idea... Centuries old. It's supposed to be the answer to everything. You know, the eternal question: why are we here?"
"Manifest destiny," the computer mused. "What does it mean?"
"Basically, that we're here for a higher purpose. That someday we'll overcome all our problems and, as a race, become one with everything in the universe. That everything between now and then is just a pebble on the road to this ultimate reality... Manifest destiny. No one even thinks about it anymore, but I think it fits here. It doesn't matter why we're here. We just have to make the best of it. Manifest destiny."
"Manifest destiny," Guru agreed.
They sat in silence, staring at the dull fire. Molk had no idea how much time he spent just sitting there thinking. He snapped out of it abruptly when the ringing started.
Guru plucked his cellular phone out of thin air and turned it on.
"It's Vidal!" Guru said, holding his hand over the receiver. "He says all the Codellas are getting together for a party, and we're invited."
"I hate it when you don't even say anything," Molk protested.
"Yeah," said Guru, hanging up. "That's one of the perks of being psychic. Are you coming?"
Molk shrugged. "Why not?"
The Happening was at Vidal's pad, Guru explained. So they hopped in Guru's yacht and crossed the stormy cyber-seas that lay between the two Codellas' domains. Vidal's pad, they soon saw, was an exact replica of Bunt Plaza in Bage.
Everyone seemed to have gathered in the foyer. Yagi, dressed up in his trademark kung-fu garb, had brought his TV along, and was lounging in front of it. His Agent, the Lami Dami Salam IX, was walking around the room with a martini, talking to all the plants. Herbert Bunt and Glob, who was dressed in his customary leather viking getup and helmet, were playing darts, while Vidal played the good host and tried to get Frockeneller to cheer up. The CEO was just sitting in the corner, crying his eyes out. Meanwhile, Zok was off in the other end, petting a little squirrel that was presumably his latest Agent. Not for the first time, Molk wondered if Zok had been abused as a chip.
"I thought this was a party," Guru said, entering in front of Molk.
Vidal, sometimes known as the "Surfing Codella," waved at them and ran up. "Hey dudes! It's just starting. Like make yourself at home, right? I'm gonna go hook us up with some tunes, 'kay?"
Molk smiled and went to go find himself something to drink. He wondered if there was anything in cyberspace stronger than his fireberry wine. Vidal's bartender subprogram shook it's head when he asked, but then poured Molk something that tasted just as good anyway.
The Lami came over to him. "Molk, baby! Long time no see! Let's do lunch sometime."
He nodded. "Sure thing, Lami. How's the TV business?"
"I tell ya, man, we're coming close to transcending the farthest reaches of consciousness and attuning ourselves with the cosmic order of all things with this season of Embers."
"Gee, that's really great. Um, I think I see Herb waving. I'm going to go say hi, alright?"
"Hey, you got it. Peace, and may your ratings be ever high." The Lami walked off to bother someone else.
Bunt patted Glob on the back. "Better luck next time, pal."
The Viking Codella grunted and walked away.
"Molk! Hey! Up for some darts?"
"Sure, why not?" He threw his first dart, and managed to nail a painting hanging three feet from the target. "Must be the wine."
They were almost deafened by a sudden blast of insanely loud music. "Sorry, dudes!" called Vidal after it subsided.
Bunt grinned and made a bulls-eye. "Any idea what this fling's about?"
"That depends... Have you heard about the software drugs the trolls were carrying around?"
He shook his head no, so Molk filled him in.
"Vidal didn't say anything, but I had noticed he was awfully festive today. And for a few hours before that, he wasn't speaking to anyone." Another bulls-eye. "Hmm. Did you say trolls?"
"Yeah, I heard from the guys at your office that they kidnapped you."
"Me and Frock's kid. I tried to tell him she's okay, but he just kept crying."
Molk suddenly frowned. "They said they'd wake me. That was hours ago."
"You don't seem too concerned about it."
"I know, and that's very strange. I guess Guru's revelation kind of shook me."
"Revelation?"
"I'll tell you in a minute. I'm going to wake up, just to see what's going on and tell everyone you're all right."
He closed his eyes, and mentally told himself to awaken. Nothing happened. He tried again, and suddenly white hot pain shot through his body. He screamed, and opened his eyes. He was on the ground, and the other guests were standing around him.
"Are you alright?" Bunt asked. "You've been lying there for ten minutes! What happened?"
He shook his head. The pain was gone. "Ten minutes? It seemed like just a few seconds."
"What happened?" Bunt repeated.
"I couldn't wake up. I can't explain it."
Bunt frowned and began shaking his head violently. Apparently, it was his favored method of waking himself up, because he stopped suddenly. "I can't do it, either. This is weird."
"Look, I'm a little shaken. I'm going to step outside and get some air."
Molk was three feet out the door when a lightening bolt landed right in his path. That was just the sort of thing that would only happen in cyberspace. When Molk's vision came back, he saw Montella standing before him with his arm around some blonde girl. Kids, Molk thought. Always showing off.
"Hey man," the kid said. "Meet my Agent. Jubie, this is... This is some old guy who hangs around my dad."
"Molk," he said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
The girl, Jubie, threw his arm off her shoulders and pushed him away. "Likewise. I hope you have a few more manners than this creep," she said.
Molk smiled. "I hope so, too."
They went inside, and Jubie looked around. "Am I the only female in this place?"
He shrugged. "The Codellas are all guys. Same with the Agents. Well, till you got here. Actually, we were a little afraid Montella was going to imprint on a troll. I see he has better taste, though."
"Hey man," Montella said. "She chose me. I was just mindin' my own business and all of a sudden she's right there in front of me. Needless to say I was in love at first sight." He grabbed her rear end, and she elbowed him in the stomach.
"Well look, babe," said the virtual Codella, "I'm gonna go run my favorite program, alright? You come find me when you want me." He vanished with another lightening bolt.
"We don't like him either," Molk explained.
Jubie wasn't listening. "How can you tell which ones are Agents and which are Codellas? They all look so weird."
He laughed. "Well, I'm an Agent, and... Here. Since you're new, I'll introduce you to everyone."
She shook her head. "No, there isn't enough time. I came to tell everyone something very important."
"Oh?" said Molk.
"Yes!" she said, loudly so that everyone in the room could hear. "If you don't do something quick, it's going to mean the end of the world!"
The music stopped. Molk grinned. "Ohhhhhh," he said.
That was when Revel entered. A little troll boy was at his side. Where was Obar, Molk wondered?
"I'm afraid the lady's right," the boy said. "The world as we know it is about to end, and it's all my fault."
"It's true," Revel went on. "The end of everything is upon us. Is there anything to drink?"
Vidal got him a martini.
"Thanks. Yeah, as I was saying, life as we know it is pretty much out the window. Sorry. I should have seen it coming."
Bunt cleared his throat. "I say," he said. "Exactly what is going on?"
"You tell 'em, kid," said Revel. "It was your idea."
"This little kid is the reason the world's about to end?" Jubie asked.
"This is Nabuu, my Agent. For those of you who don't know, Obar died three months ago. He asked me to pick a troll next time, don't ask me why. But tell them, kid."
Nabuu was too stupid to be insulted, Molk noticed. The kid, green with gills in his neck but otherwise human, stepped forward.
"Okay," he said. "When Mr. Revel started to be my friend and said he could do all this neat stuff, I went and told my friend Ralphie, 'cause he's real smart. And he said that this was such a neato thing and he started thinking and said that maybe Mr. Revel could help us to stop working for humans and get things like money and TV's and stuff."
Frockeneller burst into fresh tears, but no one paid any attention.
"Go on," said Glob.
"Well, Ralphie started thinking real hard and he just sat there for all day, and so I left and the next time I saw him he was still sitting there thinking and then the next time too. But then later he came to me and said that he had this plan to help us all out.
"And he said that he was gonna stick all the codellers together and make 'em into one big one and then everyone would have to be nice to the trolls cuz we'd be the only ones who could use the big one. And then he said to have Mr. Revel make a big program to do it."
"Look guys," Revel said, "I had to no choice. I'm just a machine. No hard feelings, or anything?"
None of the Codellas spoke, so Molk did. "Then this drug software stuff... It's going to network you with the other Codellas?"
"Something like that. Our personalities will merge together-"
"Merge together to become the Godhead!" the Lami interrupted, "And we agents will become one with you as well, right? That's why we can't wake up!"
"I'm afraid so," said Revel.
"Oh, the joy!" the Lami said.
Guru sat down hard. "You mean, we're all going to die?" His hippie clothes vanished and he was suddenly his ordinary, sane self.
Revel looked down at his hands. For once, he wasn't smiling. "I'm afraid it's even worse than that. This morning, I had my precognition program on, and I found out the entire world is going to end today. My only analysis is that when we finally merge - in about an hour, from my calculations - it will be an event of such psychic magnitude that the entire earth will be completely destroyed."
"All the poor animals," said Zok.
"Excuse me," said Jubie, softly, but Bunt cut her off.
"Surely there's some way to stop it?"
Revel shrugged.
"Let me get this straight," said Molk. "Everything that's happened here is the result of this program? The hallucinations, the fact that we can't wake up, the end of the world?"
"Yeah," said Nabuu. "Ralphie said we had to make sure the Agents didn't do anything until everyone got stuck together. So he made it part of the program."
Revel nodded. "The hallucinations were part of a descrambling program to turn off our security features and put us all on the same psychic wavelength."
"Us?" Guru asked. "You mean, you took this stuff, too?"
"I had to," Revel said.
Nabuu suddenly burst into tears. "I'm sorry, everybody. I didn't know I was going to kill the whole world. I just wanted to help Ralphie help us."
"Ralphie!" Bunt said. "Now I remember! The girl on the airship said Ralphie was going to be Emperor! Somehow I don't think he was all too keen on helping you out, kid."
"What?" said Nabuu.
"He was using you," said Revel. "Both of us."
"That meanie! I don't like him no more," Nabuu said, and started crying again.
There was a flash of lightening and Montella reappeared. "Man," he said, "the good stuff's no good anymore."
"Who is this?" Revel said.
Guru made introductions. "Revel, this is Montella. My son, I guess. Montella, Revel."
"Did he run that software?" Revel asked, alarmed.
"Before even I did," Guru said.
"This was a very specific program, with little margin for error. This could be why the world is about to end!"
"I don't think so," said Jubie, but Montella kissed her.
"Thanks, dollface, but I can stand up for myself. These creeps just want to blame everything on the new guy. Like everything's my fault."
Jubie wiped her lips off in disgust and retired to silence.
Suddenly Yagi, who had been watching TV in the corner the whole time spoke up. "Hey everyone, you gotta see this! They're about to show the end of the world! Imagine that! The end of the world."
"Haven't you been listening to us?" Revel said, but Yagi was once again transfixed on the screen.
Everyone went over to the TV.
"It'll be on after Embers," Yagi said.
"What a good show," the Lami remarked, "if I do say so myself."
Another WorldCorp commercial ended and Zebediah Burns appeared on the screen, behind bars.
"I'm not a killer, Ember," he cried. "You know that!"
"I know. You would have been too busy with your science projects to bother with it!"
"So why am I in jail?"
"Well, someone killed Ron Tuesday."
Zeb grew silent, shuffling his feet. "I think I might know, but you won't like it."
"Forget it," Ember said. "No one will buy the Sister Anne story. I put her safely behind bars."
"No, Ember. I mean your father did it. He's alive."
"What?? You knew about it too? How could you not tell me? Forget it, Zeb! I'm leaving you!"
Ember ran out of the room, leaving Zeb alone in the small, dark jail. Something moved in the shadows.
"You killed that clown, didn't you?" Zeb demanded.
Ember's father stepped out of the shadows, shrugging. He was hideous - some sort of Frankenstein's monster, with bandages and stitches all over his body.
"Death isn't as bad as people think," he said. "I've been there."
The scene ended.
"What a cosmic performance!" the Lami said. "I'm so proud! And look! It's my assistant, Milton, on the screen!"
A short man in a tan suit and gold-trimmed glasses appeared, saying, "Hello out there, WorldCorp! This is Milton Bradley coming to you live from the end of the world!"
"What a guy," said the Lami.