Dan felt like he should have heard something. He definitely should have heard the machine crash. He knew he should have heard the sand which blasted into it. He should have heard the explosions as flames burst into existence along the walls. But the only thing he heard was a faint click, as Darren crawled over to him and pressed a button, releasing the straps holding him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Without his hearing, Dan somehow felt removed from everything. He let Darren pick him up and haul him out of the smoking machine. He let himself be set on the sand while Darren went back into the machine, and emerged a moment later carrying cases and equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan looked up at the immense sky above him. It was even bigger now, since Dan wasn\u2019t looking at it through a hole. There were more lights in it. The white ones stayed put, but there were a few red and blue ones chasing each other, occasionally launching golden lights at each other. Dan watched them curiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe should move back here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan jumped as Darren spoke. He had heard him. Very faintly, but he had heard him. He could hear flames now, too, and feel an intense heat coming from the machine, which was lying on its side in the sand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Darren pulled Dan away from the flames, and across a stretch of sand. Dan struggled to move forward. He didn\u2019t really sink in the sand, but it kept shifting and sliding beneath his feet. Sand in the SR Unit mostly stayed put. More than once Dan slipped and almost fell, but Darren kept a grip on his arm. Together they moved up over a small dune and down the other side, and finally found a large rock, behind which they crouched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be safe here,\u201d Darren said. \u201cFor now. Someone will pick us up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Darren\u2019s words didn\u2019t make much of an impression on Dan. He was far too interested in the sand and the sky. He preoccupied himself for a minute, watching sand run through his fingers, until he looked up, searching for Mother. He had never been disappointed: she was always watching. That was why, when after glancing about frantically and realizing she wasn\u2019t there, Dan got truly afraid. For the first time, he realized he was beyond<\/em> his home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDarren!\u201d he cried, leaping to his feet. \u201cWhere am I?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Darren pulled him down. \u201cKeep down!\u201d he hissed. \u201cThey\u2019ll see you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan blinked. \u201cWho?\u201d he asked, his curiosity temporarily outweighing his fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSoulborgs,\u201d Darren replied. \u201cThere\u2019ll be scouts out here soon. We don\u2019t want to be found by them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soulborgs. The name was familiar. Dan remembered after a moment. RR was a soulborg. She had said so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t we want the soulborgs to find us?\u201d Dan asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Darren looked at him. \u201cBecause\u2026 What do you mean? You just escaped from them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEscaped?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t you know you were in a prison?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n None of this was making any sense. The last thing Dan knew, he was in his bed, asleep and happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLook,\u201d Darren said, turning to him, \u201cthe soulborgs aren\u2019t your friends. They have imprisoned you in that tiny cell you call home. You think it\u2019s a good life, but that\u2019s just because you don\u2019t know anything else. Listen: the soulborgs are your enemies. They want to control you, your life, your thoughts, your very emotions. My friends and I fight them. We\u2019re trying to free you and the others like you, so that you can know what life really is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan hadn\u2019t understood much of this. There was only one thing which lodged in his mind:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are others like me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOther prisoners, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019ll see them, once someone comes for us. We\u2019ve saved hundreds. Maybe thousands. It isn\u2019t easy, but we won\u2019t give up. We need to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Darren scratched his head. \u201cBecause most of them don\u2019t even realize they are slaves, imprisoned. They don\u2019t realize what they\u2019re missing. They deserve that much. It\u2019s only right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan was confused. It must have shown on his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlright,\u201d Darren said. \u201cLook over there.\u201d He pointed to the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the darkness, Dan spotted for the first time the point where the sand met the sky. It rose up and down to the left and to the right, peaking in great dunes and falling away in sheer valleys. Dan had seen something similar many times in the SR Unit, though it had never seemed quite so vast, extending forever on both sides. In the SR Unit the horizon had always seemed flat; out here the distance felt real, the horizon far off. He looked expectantly back at Darren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat\u2019s out there?\u201d Darren asked. \u201cWhat\u2019s beyond that horizon?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeyond?\u201d It must be said that the whole concept of things existing where Dan couldn\u2019t see them was one he had never thought of, much less understood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeyond,\u201d Darren repeated. \u201cWe\u2019re on this side of the horizon. What\u2019s on the other side?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan blinked, suddenly understanding what Darren was saying. There was a whole desert on the other side of those dunes? A whole world? Dan shrank back. To someone who had lived in as small a room as he had, the idea of so much space was frightening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s nothing to be scared of,\u201d Darren said. \u201cYou should be excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy?\u201d Dan asked, still looking warily at the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause anything<\/em> could be out there. Literally anything. Think about that for a second.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan did think about it. He found the idea frightening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Darren pointed in a different direction. \u201cLook back there,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s where you came from.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan looked in the direction Darren was pointing, and saw a mass of brilliant white lights and low gray buildings. He had come from there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThose are soulborg buildings. Prison complexes. See the fences and walls?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan looked. He did see fences and walls. They surrounded all the buildings. They were high, and some of them had spikes on the top. Nothing could get past them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow,\u201d Darren said. \u201cWhy do you think those walls are there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan thought for a moment. \u201cTo keep us safe? To keep bad things out?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBad things?\u201d Darren echoed. \u201cLook around. There\u2019s nothing out here. No, those walls are there to keep you in<\/em>. The soulborgs don\u2019t want you to leave. They want to control you. They need<\/em> to control you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan was getting confused. \u201cBut why don\u2019t they want us to leave?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Darren pointed to the horizon. \u201cThat\u2019s<\/em> why. You want to know why they have fences and walls? It\u2019s to keep you from reaching that horizon and seeing what\u2019s beyond it. It\u2019s to keep you from realizing that you\u2019re actually a prisoner. It\u2019s to keep you from looking over the edge of that horizon, and realizing that there is a whole life waiting for you, a life you didn\u2019t even know existed. Why are they keeping you from getting out? Because there\u2019s something to keep you from<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan didn\u2019t know how to react to this. His mind was still too preoccupied with sky and sand to really process what Darren was saying. That and the fact that one of the blue lights in the sky was growing bigger had him distracted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d he asked, pointing at the growing light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRun!\u201d Darren yelled the instant he saw the light. \u201cThe soulborgs have found us! Run!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere?\u201d Dan cried, afraid in the sudden chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo the horizon! Run, and don\u2019t stop until you\u2019re on the other side. Someone will find you there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGo!\u201d Darren shouted, giving Dan a shove in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan ran. Or he tried to. He had never run in actual sand before, and was soon stumbling and floundering. He kept the horizon in sight, however, and made for it, starting to climb a massive sand dune which was in his way. He didn\u2019t look back. Not when he heard a terrible crash. Not when he heard a strangled cry. Not even when he heard heavy footfalls behind him. He kept climbing the dune until there was a brilliant flash of light, and all sensation ceased. Darkness took him, and Dan faded from consciousness. Dan felt like he should have heard something. He definitely should have heard the machine crash. He knew he should have heard the sand which blasted into it. He should have heard the explosions as flames burst into existence along the walls. But the only thing he heard was a faint click, as Darren crawled … Continue reading Chapter Three – Discovery<\/span>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"