The Mosaic Woman Read online

  Donna made a mental note to have a discussion with Maintenance as she walked past the Welcome Center and headed toward her home office.

  Damn sharks.

  CHAPTER 2

  Zuri delighted in the fact that her life so far had been marked by constant advances in technology.

  Here she stood in a pristine white room at the threshold of a pristine city. As directed by the technician wearing a white lab coat, Zuri sat in a padded chair that reclined, raising her feet on the attached rest. Lights glared overhead.

  She balked when told to relinquish her Slim Goggles. With reluctance, she took her time digging them out of her satchel. Zuri tried to cling to them when the technician pried them out of her fingers. “I need them. They’re prescription.”

  The technician laughed and said, “Forget prescription. The Personal Bubble automatically senses your vision and corrects it.” The technician tossed the Slim Goggles into a large cylinder marked “trash,” opened a cabinet by the wall, and brought forth a small transparent box that appeared to be empty. Opening the box and holding it in front of Zuri, the technician said, “If you wore contacts before Slim Goggles were invented, you should remember how to put them in.”

  “I remember contacts,” Zuri said. “But you said my Personal Bubble will fix my vision.”

  The technician smiled. “Think of these as your gateway to your Personal Bubble. You can’t get there without them.”

  With a tentative hand, Zuri removed what appeared to be old-fashioned contact lenses and popped them in her eyes.

  The world as she knew it changed forever.

  At first, Zuri found herself inside a white bubble the size of a small room. While she could sense the Welcome Center examination room outside the round bubble walls, the reality of it was masked by a pale opaqueness. The technician’s voice sounded distant and muffled. Every movement made the technician look like a shadow outside a window on a rainy day. Zuri couldn’t remember the color of the exam room’s walls or what type of floor it had. From inside her Personal Bubble, the room looked dark and murky.

  “Testing,” the technician said in a voice that boomed loud and clear. “Can you hear me, Zuri?”

  She turned in place, seeing nothing but the round white wall of her Bubble. “Yes,” Zuri said. “I can hear you.”

  “Good,” the technician said. “You might want to brace yourself for this next part.”

  Before Zuri could ask why, her white Bubble wall filled with thousands of curved images, like tiles on a bathroom wall. Images of people, art, war, buildings, animals, and landscapes. Images of horror and beauty. Images of peace and terror. A cacophony of sounds reverberated through the Bubble, echoing in all directions until Zuri couldn’t tell up from down or right from left.

  Dazed and frightened, she shouted, “Make it stop!”

  “Hold on, Zuri,” the technician said. “We’re almost there.”

  Zuri clapped her hands over her face to shut out the attack of sight and sound, willing it to leave her alone without success.

  Moments later, as promised, silence.

  Tentatively, Zuri let her trembling hands drift away from her face.

  The Bubble wall stood white and empty again, except for a cartoon figure of a bundle of wires that spoke with the technician’s voice. “Better?”

  The bundle of wires shaped itself into a stick figure.

  “I don’t understand,” Zuri said. “Where am I?”

  The stick figure put its hands on its hips. “Welcome to your Personal Bubble.” It waved one hand, and the white wall surrounding her filled with colorful and animated icons. “Navigation is simple. All you have to do is bring your focus to whichever place you want to go. Try it.”

  Speechless at the symphony of sight and sound that filled her vision, Zuri scanned the icons until she recognized Book of Friends. “That one,” she said, pointing at it.

  The Book of Friends icon—an open book filled with short videos of everyone she knew—enlarged until it stood like an open doorway in front of her. All of the other icons remained visible in the background but became muted in color and sound. As usual, the videos of her friends chattered and waved.

  “What do I do when I’m done with it? When I want to go somewhere else?”

  The stick figure swept a wiry arm across the hundreds of icons covering the bubble wall behind the dominant Book of Friends. “Just shift your focus.”

  Zuri scanned the smaller icons until she recognized another place where she liked to spend time. She pointed at it. “That one.”

  The Book of Friends doorway minimized back to icon size and slipped back in place among the others while the SeeMe icon—a jigsaw puzzle of images captured across the world of tourist sites, food, and parties—came forward and commanded Zuri’s attention. The images began rotating on a carousel, and the people inside those images called out to her. “See me!” a little girl walking on the Great Wall of China shouted. A fork next to a fancy chocolate dessert on a porcelain plate bounced up and waved while screaming, “Ignore her—see me!”

  Unable to resist temptation, Zuri reached out with an empty hand until she realized she didn’t know how to interact with them. “How do I show my approval?”

  “Your PDA will show you.” A cable port materialized alongside the SeeMe doorway that burst with rotating and boisterous photos. The stick figure unfurled until it looked like a strand of cooked spaghetti, plugged into the port, and disappeared through it.

  The port then morphed into the image of a human-like silver robot with amber eyes that glowed like traffic lights. The glowing eyes turned and fixated on Zuri. “I will be your Personal Digital Assistant, Miss. You may call me Benjamin. How may I be of service?”

  Zuri had never encountered anything like Benjamin before. For the past ten years, her connection to the world had been simplistic and intuitive. She’d never needed any kind of assistance before, and she didn’t like the idea of being dependent on anyone or anything.

  On the other hand, the Personal Bubble brought her world to life in breath-taking detail. Already, Zuri felt more connected to all the places she loved than she’d ever experienced before.

  Maybe having a Personal Digital Assistant wasn’t such a bad thing. Surely, everyone who lived in VainGlory had a PDA. The Personal Bubble was a luxury unlike anything Zuri had known until now, and the PDA appeared to be part of that luxury.

  She answered Benjamin’s question by pointing at the SeeMe doorway. “How do I stop the revolution? How do I approve?”

  “With a simple pointing gesture,” Benjamin said. His amber eyes darkened for a moment. He demonstrated. “Point at the frame to start and stop the rotation.” The carousel responded to his pointing metallic finger and halted before the photos Zuri liked disappeared out of rotation. “Then point at whichever image you want for approval. If you disapprove, punch at it with your fist.”

  Following instructions, Zuri pointed at the little girl on the Great Wall and the chocolate dessert. A red stamp reading “Approved by Zuri” hovered over each photo before sinking into its corner.

  The sudden sound of sweeping violins and gentle bassoons made Zuri jump.

  “Nothing to fear, Miss,” Benjamin said. “What you now hear is nothing but your Personal Soundtrack.”

  Zuri felt her jaw go slack with confusion. “Soundtrack? What soundtrack?”

  Benjamin wrung his metallic hands and took a small step forward. “The soundtrack to your life, of course.”

  Zuri paused and listened as the tune lightened and brightened.

  The voice of a girl sang

  Happy and calm

  That’s what I am.

  Happy and calm as a clam.

  Yes, I am.

  Raising her voice to be heard over the song, Zuri said, “I thought the most famous singers and musicians lived in VainGlory. This isn’t one of them.”

  “That is correct,” Benjamin said. “Your Soundtrack plays mostly in the background, especially when you
’re visiting these places. It guides your feelings.” Once again, he swept his arm toward the hundreds of icons surrounding her like a dome. “But the Soundtrack takes center stage whenever your attention is required by someone in VainGlory. In this case, your supervisor is calling.”

  In that moment, Zuri realized this morning’s face-to-face encounter had left her feeling traumatized. She couldn’t bear anything like it again so soon. Her throat clenched, and her heartrate raced with anxiety while the girl sang again.

  Happy and calm

  That’s what I am.

  “This song is supposed to tell me how to feel?” Zuri said. “What if I don’t want to feel happy and calm?”

  “But you do feel happy and calm, Miss. You must. After all, you’ve arrived in VainGlory for the first time this morning, and now your supervisor has a very exciting assignment for you. Why wouldn’t you feel happy and calm?”

  The silver robot hurried to stand in front of the SeeMe doorway. With the flick of one shining hand, he dismissed it back to its small icon status on the bubble wall behind him. “Incoming message from your supervisor, Miss.”

  Zuri averted her gaze from the bubble wall surrounding her and stared at her feet instead.

  Donna’s voice boomed throughout the bubble, as if echoing inside a cave. “How do you like your Personal Bubble?”

  Zuri tried to speak loud and clear, but her voice came out as a whisper. “It’s great.”

  “Please, Miss,” Benjamin whispered next to her ear. “There’s nothing to fear. You’re quite safe. I’m in control of how people appear here. If you don’t like what I’ve chosen, simply notify me, and I’ll be more than happy to change it.”

  Zuri didn’t know if she should trust her PDA, but the thought that he controlled how Donna appeared inside Zuri’s Personal Bubble intrigued her. Zuri looked up before she could think twice.

  A cartoonish pink caterpillar inched across the space in front of Zuri where the icons had become doorways. It reminded her of bubble gum.

  The caterpillar halted and sat up on its haunches. “Is anything wrong?” the caterpillar said in Donna’s voice.

  Zuri sagged with relief. The experience of meeting and being so physically close to her new supervisor had been unnerving, but talking to cartoons was easy. “Everything is fine.”

  “Good.” The caterpillar gave an approving nod. Its tiny black legs wiggled while it remained on its haunches. “I have your first assignment. Tonight is your launch.”

  “Tonight?” Zuri said in alarm. “But I just got here. Can’t you reschedule me? I’m not ready.”

  The caterpillar waivered and tumbled onto its back. Its legs wiggled in the air. “There’s plenty of time to get ready. Choose one thing, and that will be the launch.”

  Desperation tightened Zuri’s throat. She’d assumed she’d have weeks to prepare. Launching tonight would be impossible.

  What have I gotten myself into? What if I’m not good enough?

  Before Zuri could protest again, the caterpillar righted itself and inched until its back rounded as if it were a frightened cat. “Remember what I told you earlier about taking note of the tour I gave you. Select one location. That’s where your launch will happen.”

  Zuri’s mind raced, filled with memories of all she’d seen earlier this morning. Then an alarming thought occurred to her. “What about the privacy wall? How can I launch if the privacy wall keeps the rest of the world out?”

  The caterpillar crawled forward until its back flattened. “Think about what you’ve seen inside your bubble so far. Has any place you normally visit been blocked?”

  “No,” Zuri said, now confused. “But I haven’t posted anything of my own. Or contacted anyone outside VainGlory.”

  “You can do that,” the caterpillar said. “The privacy wall blocks any images or words that shouldn’t leave the city. It’s automatic. When you launch, everyone in VainGlory will see everything, including the location you choose and how you use it—that’s the purpose of the launch. If you choose wisely, you’ll be a viral success. Anyone outside VainGlory will see only what you launch and none of the surroundings.”

  “I see.” A sudden pang of guilt gnawed at Zuri. From the moment she’d first set foot inside VainGlory, the excitement had dazed her to the point where she’d forgotten the one thing she’d promised. “I need to talk to you about my business partner. She’s like a sister to me, and I wouldn’t be here without her.”

  The cartoon caterpillar froze for a moment and then flickered. It turned toward Benjamin, standing far behind it, and said, “Assistant, interpret.”

  Zuri’s stomach churned. Had she made a misstep? Done something wrong? If so, what?

  Surprisingly, the robot appeared to detect her discomfort. He waved a hand at the caterpillar, which froze in place. “Nothing to worry about, Miss. This isn’t a live conversation. It’s a recorded message. You may ask questions, but they must be made in a clear and precise way so that the recording can calculate how to answer.” With another wave, he freed the caterpillar and addressed it. “Miss Zuri appears to have a question about another person.”

  The caterpillar rotated its head to gaze at Zuri again. “Proceed.”

  Zuri shuddered, unsure how to ask for what she needed and afraid to fail. Words popped out of her mouth before she could think. “When you first contacted me about moving to VainGlory, I asked if my business partner, Mae Lin, could move here, too. She’s the brains behind what we do. I don’t know if I can do anything without her.”

  A fly buzzed in a circle around the caterpillar’s head, and the insects stared at each other in contemplation.

  Benjamin whispered, “She’s parsing your question and searching the main database for an answer.”

  “Database?” Zuri said. “What database?”

  “The one database that connects all information in VainGlory, of course.”

  The fly paused long enough for the caterpillar to rise up on its haunches and eat it.

  The sound of chomping made Zuri’s stomach queasy.

  “Mae Lin,” the caterpillar said. “Yes, she is your business partner. But there is no need for her to be in VainGlory.”

  Had their meeting been in person like this morning, Zuri would have mumbled her acquiescence but left riddled with guilt. Talking to a cartoonish caterpillar eased her apprehension about standing up to her new supervisor.

  “I need her,” Zuri said. “I work better when she’s nearby.”

  In truth, while Zuri had worked with Mae Lin for most of the past ten years, they rarely saw each other in person. They spent a great deal of time together in the virtual world.

  They’d met soon after Zuri began her career. Their success had been gradual but steady.

  For as long as they’d known each other, Zuri and Mae Lin had planned on becoming famous. Convinced they were good enough for VainGlory, they’d planned their move together, never imagining that anyone would consider splitting up their team.

  When Zuri received her invitation to VainGlory but Mae Lin was left empty-handed, Zuri agreed to pave the way for her friend. If they had to be split up, it wouldn’t be for long.

  Now that she was here in VainGlory without Mae Lin, doubts assailed Zuri. Could she even succeed without her friend?

  And the thought of failure was unbearable. If Zuri failed, wouldn’t it destroy the partnership with Mae Lin that they both cherished?

  “You will be fine without her,” the caterpillar said. “However, if you succeed tonight, you will advance. When you advance to the highest tower, it will be acceptable to invite your partner to VainGlory.” The caterpillar waved its legs. “Remember: fame is the name of the game.”

  The caterpillar then winked out of existence.

  “Wait!” Zuri shouted. “What happens tonight?”

  Benjamin cleared his robotic throat. “I will be most happy to explain, Miss. Please follow me.”

  The robot turned his back to Zuri and walked through the domed wall o
f icons, still animated and crying out for Zuri’s attention.

  “Wait!” Zuri called out again. “What am I supposed to do?”

  “Follow,” Benjamin said, his voice now growing distant.

  Zuri hesitated. She could hear Benjamin but no longer saw him. She saw nothing beyond the wall of icons, which filled her entire field of vision.

  The idea of walking seemed precarious at best. But she decided to follow the sound of Benjamin’s voice and hurried toward it.

  Several running steps later, Zuri crashed headfirst into a wall.

  “PDA,” the technician’s voice called out from nothingness. “Guide your client! She missed the door.”

  Benjamin poked his head through the wall of icons and stared at Zuri. His amber eyes flashed as if warning of an impending storm. “Apologies, Miss. But you must hurry. There’s too much to be done and little time in which to accomplish it!”

  CHAPTER 3

  Hesitant at first to instruct the wall of icons to fade enough to detect the real world outside her Personal Bubble, Zuri accepted Benjamin’s advice to do so. Satisfied that all of her favorite places were still visible and accessible, she glanced at the outlines of the buildings outside just enough to keep pace with her Personal Digital Assistant.

  At the same time, she asked for his help in making a call beyond the shores of VainGlory, promising Benjamin that she’d pay enough attention to walking to keep from bumping into anything else.

  Zuri gestured the TalkToMe icon to come forward and open its doorway, and then pressed the image of her friend. Soon, Mae Lin’s smiling face filled the space. “Zuri! Are you there? Is everything OK?” Mae Lin’s smile faded. “All I see is your face. Everything around you is black. Are you in a dark room?”

  Seeing her friend filled Zuri with hope. “No. I’m in my—”

  —REDACTED—

  The loud and impersonal voice startled both women.

  “Benjamin,” Zuri said, slowing her pace. “What was that?”

  Ahead of her once more, Benjamin called back. “VainGlory monitors and edits conversations taking place with anyone outside the city. Your friend will see and hear only what the city allows.”