Chapter 17 - The Sky and the Limit

I don't know why I took Nia to the future with limited technology. I could have taken her back to her own village. Maybe whatever is supposed to be happening to my brain is done and it's changed me somehow. I still feel normal though. I don't feel like I've been changed or maybe it's a result of the game. For some reason the game won't let me out.

I'm back in school. Tom has really fallen for me. It would be easy for me to forget about the game completely and live out the rest of my life here in the past. Tom has both style and money. He not only knows what is expected of him from both society and his parents but he's more than capable of not only meeting those expectations but exceeding them. Tom is destined for greatness. Maybe Tom is just a distraction the game has created to test my resolve.

I start having these dreams about Nia. She isn't happy at all in the village I sent her. She keeps calling to me to take her back but I refuse to do it. In my dreams I say horrible things to her and she thinks I'm evil. I don't sound like myself at all. I'm starting to think that maybe my personality has been altered and I've become somebody else, somebody less caring.

The dreams go on for days. One day I wake up in the Project Station where Lisa and Jake are stuck. Nia and the preacher are there and somebody else I don't recognize. I'm not sure what has just happened. I don't remember thinking myself there.

"What happened?" I ask, "What am I doing here?"

"You have a lot of explaining to do?" Nia tells me. I am disoriented. I need to go somewhere else to think.

"I don't have to explain anything." I say coldly, "I'm out of here." and with a thought I disappear.

There was a new person with them this time. A man I don't remember being a character in the game. Maybe the game is adapting. Maybe the game is throwing different things at me to see how I will handle it. Nia was there. Maybe this new character is responsible for taking them both there. If that other character can move between different futures, he could screw things up for me.

I'm lying in my dorm room. My roommate Amber is nowhere to be found. I hear the sounds of the insects of the night just outside my window. I didn't realize how much I miss the constellations projected on my ceiling. I hear a knock at the door. If it were Amber she would just barge right in, it has to be somebody else. I make myself get up and go answer the door. Tom is standing there. There is a sullen look on his face. It's also after curfew so it must be important.

"What's wrong?" I ask him, "You look like your best friend has died."

"My father gave me an ultimatum." He told me, "He said you were becoming a liability to my future."

"I thought he liked me. He even offered me a job." I told him.

"Well, it seems that opinion has changed." He said matter-of-factly.

"So what are you going to do?" I asked. I was genuinely interested in what his plans were. It seems like the game is trying to mess with my mind again and I am interested in seeing how this is going to play out.

"I have spent most of the day thinking about it. My future with my parents influence is an assured one but then I've never met anyone who stimulates my mind with way that you do. Most people bore me to tears but there's always been something about you that has kept my attention." Tom explained.

"We should part ways." I tell him, " I have enjoyed our time together but I can't expect you to give up your future for me. As much as I care about you I certainly won't give up mine for you."

"That's not like you to say something cold like that." Tom replied, "I didn't know you had it in you. It seems you find new ways to surprise me. I think my father is wrong about you. I think you would be a great asset to my father's company."

"How do you know he still won't hire me?" I shot back.

"Maybe he will. He knows how to mix business with pleasure as well as knowing how to keep both those things separate when it's required." Tom mused, "I didn't think you would take this news so well. It is a credit to you and I will make sure I let my father know. If he wanted to make trouble for you he certainly could do that. I regret having to make this decision of course and if you need anything please be sure to let me know and I'll see what I can do."

Tom is gracious to fault but there is a ruthlessness about it that impresses me. Tom's father has taught him well. I will miss him more than I care to admit but I have more important things to concern myself about. The game isn't going to throw me off with this development.