Cube (eBook)

A Novel

Kelly Fumiko Weiss (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2018 | 1. Auflage
266 Seiten
Windy City Publishers (Verlag)
978-1-941478-64-6 (ISBN)

Infos

'The Cube appeared as if from nowhere. He felt his eyes well up... It was beautiful.' Will barely remembers life before the Cube. He and Kim were early players of the game but since her death, he has been in a cocoon of grief, doing his best to ignore the Cube and people in general. On a rare night out with friends, Will is as surprised as anyone that he still believes in the virtue and grandiosity of the game-and perhaps more startling, that he has emerging, yet deep-rooted feelings for his friend Molly. The night takes a turn when Will and Molly discover an enigmatic symbol on the ground by the game's stadium. Will uses Molly's interest in the symbol as an excuse to keep seeing her, but what starts off as a fun and flirtatious treasure hunt for more symbols quickly escalates and sets off a dangerous chain of events that puts their lives at risk. Will soon realizes that unlocking the mysteries of the Cube may not only be the key to returning them to safety...the chase ultimately may give him a second chance at love.

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"e;The Cube appeared as if from nowhere. He felt his eyes well up... It was beautiful."e;Will barely remembers life before the Cube. He and Kim were early players of the game but since her death, he has been in a cocoon of grief, doing his best to ignore the Cube and people in general. On a rare night out with friends, Will is as surprised as anyone that he still believes in the virtue and grandiosity of the game-and perhaps more startling, that he has emerging, yet deep-rooted feelings for his friend Molly. The night takes a turn when Will and Molly discover an enigmatic symbol on the ground by the game's stadium. Will uses Molly's interest in the symbol as an excuse to keep seeing her, but what starts off as a fun and flirtatious treasure hunt for more symbols quickly escalates and sets off a dangerous chain of events that puts their lives at risk. Will soon realizes that unlocking the mysteries of the Cube may not only be the key to returning them to safetythe chase ultimately may give him a second chance at love.

Textauszug

1

TRAFFIC WASN’T TOO BAD ON Lake Shore Drive. Normally, there was a little bit of backup coming into the Loop, but it was green lights and smooth sailing from Randolph all the way down past Roosevelt.

“Stella, time to destination?” Will asked as he glanced over his shoulder to change lanes.

“You will arrive in fifteen minutes,” Stella’s sultry, computerized voice answered back from the dashboard.

“Thanks, Stella,” Will replied. “Turn on radio.”

Radio was an antiquated term, but Stella still knew what he meant and turned on the streaming music station Will preferred. He caught it right during a rare commercial and sighed at his bad timing. “Tonight, for one night only, come to the Illinois Cube for Exhibition Night—your chance for an inside look into new levels.”

“Stella, turn off radio.” Will cut the commercial short. The car fell silent.

Wasn’t it enough that they were going to eat all the way down in Hyde Park, when they all lived on the north side, to a restaurant owned by the Cube? Did he have to hear Cube commercials, too? Why he agreed was also beyond him, but he shook off his default grumpy attitude about social engagements and reminded himself he was getting better. He wasn’t saying no to every single invite anymore. He was smiling at parties. He was laughing at jokes. Hell, he was listening to music again. He wasn’t even entirely faking it anymore, either. He just knew that none of them really understood. Understood that grief was like a wet blanket covering you all the time, occasionally twisting out the excess moisture to water board you where you stood.

Will saw some traffic up ahead, so he pulled off a bit early at the 47th Street exit and used his muscle memory to get to the restaurant. Back in another life, while he put himself through graduate school at The University of Chicago, he shared an apartment with his brother Chris who was finishing up an internship at the Lincoln Park Zoo. The budding entrepreneur and the zoologist, starving twenty-somethings, not a real care in the world. Seemed like a lifetime ago. It was a lifetime ago. Will barely recognized anything as he drove. Between ongoing city improvements, the Obama Library and the Cube, the south and west sides of the city were entirely different.

He found his way down to 57th Street and parked in front of Medici’s. He wished they were just going there. Medici’s had been there forever and he knew he liked the food. But they were going a few doorsteps down to a new place called The Cube’s Annex. Max’s choice, Max’s night, he reminded himself.

“Stella, pay for parking,” he said as he powered down the car.

“Parking paid,” Stella replied. Will climbed out of the car and pressed his palm against the side to lock it. He jogged across the street and stood in front of the restaurant. On the storefront marquee, instead of the word “Cube,” there was a holographic three-dimensional rotating cube in between the words “The” and “Annex.”

“Subtle,” he whispered under his breath and then pushed open the door to the restaurant.

“Are you here to dine or to play?” the hostess asked. Will looked around. He saw the far wall of the restaurant was lined with standing VR stations for headset play.

“Dine. Pretty sure a friend of mine is already here. Yep, there she is,” Will said, pointing to the back.

Sitting at a four-person table was Molly, captivated by whatever she was reading. Her long black hair was slightly covering her face. Will always wondered how women could see when their hair was in their way like that.

The hostess motioned for Will to go ahead, and Will started his way through the restaurant. Everything around him was white. White walls, white tables, white chairs, white uniforms for the waitstaff. Made sense for a Cube restaurant. There was nothing quite as blinding white as the inside of the Cube right before game play. The normal color of the clothes of the patrons was a bit jarring against all of the white—like a jelly handprint on a wedding dress.

On the wall opposite the VR stations was a giant interface, split into multiple views, all showing Cube stadiums from around the country. A small child was touching one of the screens, each touch flipping the view to another live shot, the name of the Cube flashing at the bottom of the interface panel— Alaska, Montana, West Virginia. The largest view, in the center of the wall, was locked and was broadcasting the Illinois Cube (although everyone called it the Chicago Cube). The Cube was huge, about three stories tall, hovering at an angle over the Cube Deck base. It was radiant with light bouncing and reflecting off the thousands of tiny solar panels that made up the surface of all six of its sides. Surrounding the Cube was a large stadium and miles of grounds and open park space, but the interface was zoomed in on the Cube itself, slowly spinning in place.

On the view screen wall behind Molly was the typical Cube Project Board. Will quickly glanced at its marquee and winced. Kim used to love the Project Boards. She said they proved the world would be all right. He forced himself to read it. “All proceeds from this Cube-funded restaurant go straight into local Hyde Park improvements.” The list below showed the most recent projects funded: street repaving on 51st Street; a landscape improvement at Nichols Park; system upgrades to the smart grid; upgrades to the solar-paneled street lights.

Molly glanced up, spotted Will, and smiled. Her smile always warmed Will up a bit. It made her cheeks rise and brush right up against her dark brown eyes. “Took you long enough,” she said.

“Nice to see you, too,” Will replied as Molly stood up and they hugged. Will eagerly accepted the hug. This was a corner he had turned. Right after Kim died, he didn’t let anyone touch him. Then, about a year ago, some sort of shift had happened where he realized how desperately he needed physical touch, and he went on a little bit of a (shameful) attempt to scratch that itch. Thankfully, he escaped the unhealthiness of that pattern and now just found himself a little more affectionate than he had been—not shy to put his arm around a friend, give hugs to relatives, give pats on the backs to coworkers— anything to tether him to the people around him.

“I actually wasn’t sure you would come,” Molly said as they sat down. Will took the spot next to her, leaving the other side of the table open for Max and Sam.

“Oh yeah, why’s that? Because I’m an old grumpy hermit who never leaves his house?”

“Well, what’s it been, a year since just the four of us have been together? No, once I saw where Max picked, I figured you wouldn’t show because you’ve spent the past three years pretending the Cube doesn’t exist,” Molly answered.

“Better than you, believing that the Cube is out to ruin the world,” Will teased back.

“Well,” Molly said as she waved her hand, pointing around the room, “Look at this rampant consumerism. Capitalism at its worst. Seriously, can you blame me?”

“You say as you sit below a Project Board,” Will bantered back. Molly gave him a begrudging smile. Will tapped the table and a menu screen appeared in front of him. All organic food. All locally grown or raised. “I’d kill for a Hot Pocket right about now.”

“That’s a pretty random craving,” Molly said with one eyebrow slightly raised.

“Just a memory association. I used to live down here with Chris when we were both just starting out. Pretty much all we ate.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met Chris,” Molly replied. “That’s your brother, right?”

“The one and only. He lives in Cleveland now. Moved out there ten, maybe twelve years ago. Doesn’t come back too often.”

“Ah, before my time then.”

“Yes, before we met.” Will paused.

Will and Molly settled into an awkward silence, although what Molly was feeling awkward about, Will hadn’t the faintest. “Please let her talk next,” he internally pleaded.

Molly did speak next, although so quietly Will almost didn’t hear her. “Seems like forever ago, doesn’t it? Me working with Kim?”

Will took a deep breath. “Yes. Yes it does,” Will answered, knowing that if he just took a few more deep breaths, the wave of nausea he usually experienced when really thinking about her would soon pass. “Always seems to go back to Kim, doesn’t it?”

“I suppose. But, I didn’t work for Kim for very long after all. Almost right after I started, Graphically Speaking got the Cube account and I quit.”

“So, we both love that we’re at a Cube restaurant then.” Will and Molly both smiled, his sarcasm breaking the moment.

Molly smiled. “I’ve come to terms with the world we live in—the insanity of it all. Besides, we’re both here for Max,” she replied as she looked up. “Speak of the devil!” She stood up and...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.4.2018
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Science Fiction
• ISBN-10: 1-941478-64-6 / 1941478646
• ISBN-13: 978-1-941478-64-6 / 9781941478646