by Danny
Danny Hearn ripped off his vid-glasses and threw them to the floor, frustrated. He didn't know who this Hal was, and he didn't want to know. He turned and stormed out of his room, the automatic door sliding open and shut silently as he passed.
Standing in the center of the hallway, he said, "Kitchen." A hole opened up in the ceiling above him, and with a rush of magnetism propelling him, he was on the second floor. "Coke," he said, and a full glass appeared in the slot in the front of the fridge. "With ICE," he added, and ice tumbled into the glass.
"Your fridge is empty of the following items: milk, bread, bottled water, and apples. Would you like me to order them for you?" the fridge said.
"No, thank you. I think I'll walk down to the shops today," Danny answered. A lot of his friends said he was crazy wasting energy like that, but Danny liked the feel of actually going to the shops to do his shopping. He liked to interact with the outside world.
He took the drink and went back to the lounge room. "TV on. Channel seventy-four."
A holographic projection shot out of a silver box on the other side of the room, a 3-D image of a man doing a stand-up comedy routine. "So how about that President? Haven't seen an American that scared since World War III..."
Amidst the laughter of the crowd, the comedian stopped. Turned. Looked directly at Danny.
"Danny!"
"Huh?" Danny looked around, unsure of how to respond. This was one of the non-interactive channels.
"Danny. Listen to me. It's Hal."
"The voice from my vid-glasses?"
"Uh... yeah... I think so. Anyway, you HAVE to listen to me."
"Yeah, right. I'm going to listen to some creepy voice that hijacks my vid-glasses AND my TV... you're probably just a computer virus!"
"Would a computer virus know that your name is Daniel John Hearn, you live at 7 Elwyn Place, Albion, your grade four teacher was Mrs. McIninly, you had a dog named Fatso up until you were ten, when he got hit by a car..."
"TV OFF! Fuck it! I'm going shopping now!"
Danny stormed out of the house. He surveyed the street around him. To either side were dozens of houses just like his own, gray cubes with little ornamentation about them, on a slick black street, upon which hovered several cars on their way to wherever it was they were going. Above him were several quick transport shuttles in mid-sky jump. And to his right...
"Ah, crap."
A billboard floated along the footpath toward him, advertising some sort of new underwear. It was a flat computer screen in a silver frame about two feet across. It approached Danny.
"Good morning, sir. May I interest you in our brand-new line of mens' underwear? They're under-riffic!" the billboard said in a voice that sounded both excited and inhuman.
"Why would I want new underwear? I already have lots of underwear."
"You may have ordinary underwear, but you don't have under-riffic Under-Roos!"
"How do you know? I may have under-riffic Under-Roos."
"They're BRAND NEW! Only on the market this morning! They're under-riffic!"
"So you said."
The image on the billboard changed from the Under-Roos corporate logo to a shot of a well-built man wearing a pair of the undies in question.
"If I were gay, you might have a sale."
The picture changed to that of a woman ogling the man wearing the underwear.
"Sorry. Not interested. Please go away now."
The billboard floated off, looking dejected. Well, looking as dejected as it was possible for a billboard to look. It was leaning forward slightly, you see.
Danny walked to a small keypad sitting on a pole at the side of the road. He hit a button, and a hole opened up in the road in front of him. A taxi rose up out of it. It was a small, black shuttlecar with a cabin for one person in the front of it and a small engine compartment in the back. It was long and sleek, and a UFO enthusiast would describe it as a "cigar-shaped object." The road closed back up behind it, and Danny got in.
"Woolworth's supermarket, please," Danny said out loud.
"It is a pleasure to assist your journey, Daniel Hearn. Twelve dollars are being deducted from your account," the taxi replied.
It sped off on its way, hovering toward the supermarket.
There were very few supermarkets left in Melbourne where one could just walk in off the street and purchase food in person. Pretty much everybody just ordered food. Those few supermarkets were regarded as novelties, historical relics.
"The journey will be completed in six minutes and thirty-five seconds. It is a pleasure to be of assistance and DANNY YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME!"
"Hal, I'm guessing. Now you're hijacking the taxi?"
"Yeah, well, it's technology's fault for making everything talk."
"Who are you? How did you know all that stuff about me?"
"You'll remember all that soon enough. But right now, you have to realize something -- you're trapped in a fake reality! It's a mental construct to keep you trapped! Danny, THERE IS NO SPOON!"
"Huh? Then how are you talking to me?"
"I'm kind of... a voice in your subconscious..."
"A voice in my subconscious is talking to me through a hallucination in my subconscious?"
"Something like that. I'm less IN your subconscious and more... grafted onto it, but there's time for all that later. Anyway, it seems I can influence this vision..."
"Do you know how ridiculous this all sounds? And what do you mean, 'influence the vision'?"
"Like... for example... making the taxi crash..."
On cue, the taxi sped out of control and struck a concrete wall. Danny blacked out.
A moment later, he opened his eyes.
And looked into the grinning face of Ma Kalunga.
"Hello, little hero," she said softly. She seemed to be clutching some sort of voodoo doll of Danny.
"GAH! HAL! COBRA VENOM!"
"What?" Kalunga said. After all, Danny's statement must have seemed rather cryptic to those unfamiliar with Danny's powers.
But before she could contemplate the meaning behind Danny's exclamation, he had spit into her eyes. She bent over and yelped in pain, clawing at her face.
Danny got up and tried desperately to run away, managing only a hurried stumble.
"Hal... I'm in no shape to face her... with a busted rib and a stab wound. I... I gotta find the other guys..." Danny said, and headed off into the vast corridors of the Castle of Crossed Destinies.