Andy stirred from his nap, stretching his arms up over his head. It was bright, he could tell that much without opening his eyes. Had he overslept and now the setting sun was reflecting through the rafters of the barn? He swore he hadn't gone to sleep that long ago, just enough to rest some before he finished up the rest of old man Brown's new sheep fence. Damn coyotes kept getting in at the lambs, if they kept killing them, then Brown would lose money. Which would mean Andy would lose money. Which would mean he might have to go farther west for better paying jobs in the winter. That would be a long way by hitch hiking, and even longer by bike. Nah sir, he'd like to stay at home in Oklahoma, and only move down for Texas work in the winter if absolutely necessary.
Yawning, he sat up, ice blue orbs flickering open, the boy ready to pick up his work gloves and get back to the lovely job of wrangling barbed wire. Except, his work gloves weren't there. The soft bed of hay he had been sleeping on wasn't there. As a matter of fact, the whole damn barn wasn't there either!
Now fully awake, Andy leapt to his feet, whirling around in shock. Oh god, oh god, oh sweet Mary, mother of god! He wasn't in Brown's ranch anymore, he wasn't in May anymore, he probably wasn't even in Oklahoma anymore! He was in a giant, gleaming city, silver and steel sparkling as buildings reached up to scrape the sky. At first, Andy perhaps wondered if he had been spirited away to one of the great cities of the world. Houston, Miami, Chicago, L.A., New York, Seattle, Boston, any of them! But the hovering baubles in the air and the flying cars proved him wrong.
Staggering with shock, Andy bumbled backwards, knocking into a cart selling bells and toys. And the cacophony that reached his ears sent him reeling. And then he realized. He... He could hear them? Stunned, he grabbed one of the strings of bells, shaking it. A ringing, tingling sound reached his eardrums and travelled up his spine, hitting him again. He could feel the vibrations in his hands, these sounds were real! This wasn't a dream or a hallucinations, he could feel the cool touch of bronze and tin in his hands! Not noticing his vision becoming foggy with tears, the boy grinned widely, delirious with joy. He could hear! He could hear everything! Everything and anything! He was cured! He opened his mouth to scream out to the world, to let them know "I can hear!"
What came out was more of a garbled yell.
Surprised at the croak that had come out of his mouth, out of his mouth, Andy tried to speak again. Again, an inarticulate mass of vowels came out, a slush of speech. Oh, that was right. He had never spoken before in his life. He didn't know how to speak.
"Hey, kid! Are you doing alright?" came a voice from behind him. Andy looked up, seeing the man at the stall selling the bells and toys. Andy quickly dropped the bells with a clang and stood up, embarrassed. He was still getting over the fact that someone had just spoken to him and he had heard it!
"Oh you can keep that. Everything's free here, food, drinks, clothes. Not that you'll need them, no one ever goes hungry here. You're obviously new, given you're still in the tracksuit. If you wander, you'll find clothes that you can wear instead of those old things." The man happily chittered. Andy found himself still watching his lips, associating new sounds with the motions of the mouth. He looked down eventually and realized the man was right. His clothes, boots, and pistol were gone. Now he was in plain white sneakers and an ugly grey tracksuit, like a jogging elephant. More importantly, his pad and pen, and his weeks wages were gone. Feeling his elation ebb, Andy remembered the responsible thing to do, and began his pantomime asking for one thing.
Pen and paper?
Pen and paper were gotten. Currency, however, was nowhere to be found. After a short conversation with the shop owner, Andy soon discovered that money didn't exist in this place. That he was in some sort of utopian paradise where thirst, hunger, exhaustion and illness were mere memories, where people could simply take whatever they wanted. Feeling a sense of unease settling over him, Nick walked into the first clothing store he found, changing into a simple pair of jeans, work boots, a cotton t-shirt and jacket. He abandoned the ugly grey clothes, walking back out onto the street and setting himself to wander.
It became apparent very soon that this city should not exist. There was no other place like it on earth. He passed by neighborhoods that reminded him of ancient Greece, Victorian London, medieval Germany, 14th century China. Places that you wouldn't see all meshed up together unless you were in a showcase at Disneyland. And yet here they were, with those great sic-fi skyscrapers looming in the distance. The entire atmosphere felt more ominous than welcoming to Andy, and he was reminded of a passage in the Odyssey he read in 8th grade. After being attacked by the Cicones and losing a good deal of his men, Odysseus and his ships were swept up in a storm lasting nine days and nine nights, until they were brought to shore on the island of the lotus eaters. Thats who these people reminded Andy of, the lotus eaters. Living in their high city with happy faces and happy lives, all so cheery and oblivious. There had to be a catch somewhere, he just knew it. And so he ignored when people called out their goods, he ignored the tantalizing scents of food, and he ignored the beautiful houses and buildings. All of it he ignored until he ran into the blue man, Adam.
Apathetic, elusive, and generally unhelpful, Andy conversed with Adam through written notes as best he could. But the hologram remained vague, and seemed to only serve as little more than a glorified shopping assistance. Andy pestered him repeatedly over where they were, what this city was, how did he get back to Oklahoma? What year was it, what continent were they on, were they all dead? The AI remained eternally unhelpful, and irritated, Andy dismissed him.
That was when he saw the red girl.
She beckoned him to follow her, and follow he did. At least she seemed more helpful than that Adam program. Andy didn't know anything about computers and programming, only that they were big, important, and you had to be really rich to have them. Like companies and hospitals and military personnel. But he did read science fiction, and he knew that AI were basically just the tiny little minds inside of robots. They could do their actions on their own, unlike robots, and performed their own duties. And tended to take over the world, in one story or another. But Andy felt more disturbed hanging around with Adam than he did the little red girl. At least she was taking him somewhere.
Eventually, chasing her through the city streets, Andy came to a place that reminded him of the Indian casinos he knew Vic Holt went to every Saturday, to blow his money on gambling and showgirls. Or as Vic called it, Slots and Slu- His train of thought was derailed as the girl ran straight into one of the casinos, and Andy hurried to follow her. He ran through the casino, paying no mind to the flashing neon lights or the new bells and sounds that ached against his newly freed eardrums. Instead, he came to a large, metal door that the girl held open for him. He paused, glancing at her with new found nervousness. As if sensing his distrust, the girl walked in ahead of him. Andy swallowed the bile welling up in his throat and followed suit, stepping into the room beyond.
