Two True by Katherine Tate

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Two True, Part 3
by Katherine Tate

True sat on the log, where in reality she'd been found, her body shaking uncontrollably with fear. She was crying. She couldn't seem to take her eyes off the place where her Dad had been standing. Where he'd fallen over, bleeding, and where he finally disappeared by leaving the program.

What if he was dead? Life without Dad was unthinkable. But far, far worse was the feeling of guilt because if he was dead, well, then it was she who had killed him. She could not leave VR now.

If she went back and he was dead then not only would everyone blame her (and rightly so) but there would be no Dad. But if she didn't go back and he was alive then he would think that she'd wanted him dead. He wouldn't come back in to get her now. They were probably packing up camp in preparation to leave and she would remain on the hill, next to this log until she died of starvation or went stark raving mad. True had heard stories of people who had gone insane from abusing VR. She had lost track of time but she felt it had been quite a while since she'd entered the program.

True had been going around in circles with these thoughts since her father's disappearance. She couldn't get her hands to stop shaking. She couldn't think straight at all. Maybe she already was crazy.

"Stop blubbering!" her own voice commanded. True swung around, startled, to face herself.

"You tried to kill him!" she choked out, accusingly.

"That's what you wanted, wasn't it?" her image asked.

"No." True whispered horrified. Then more strongly, "No! Never!"

Her own eyes gave her a look of disbelief. True felt as though she was looking in a mirror, except there was something not quite right about those eyes.

"Well, " the image stated matter of factly, "if you hadn't wanted it, then I wouldn't have done it. I am you, you know."

True stood up shakily. She was becoming a little annoyed at the perfect image of herself.

"You are NOT me. I would NOT stab Dad. I would NOT." The image gave a shrug, as though it didn't really matter to her one way or the other.

True had made up her mind. She was leaving this place. It hadn't been much fun to begin with and now it was simply a nightmare. And she had to know what had happened to Dad. If he was still alive she had to explain that it hadn't been her with the knife.

As though the image could read her mind, and maybe she could, she broke into True's thoughts.

"I wouldn't be so hasty to leave, if I were you." The image laughed delightedly at the irony of those words.

"Why not?" True asked, cautiously.

"'Cos you can't go without me, and I'm not ready to go yet."

True tried to decide if her image was bluffing. It would be the sort of thing she would do. Could she take the risk? What would happen if she ended the program without the image's consent?

"When are you going to be ready?" True asked. But her image did not respond, and instead turned and ran away from her. True did not follow. Her hands had stopped shaking, but her mind was still in turmoil.

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Danziger was preparing to enter the program again. His reluctance was mostly due to the fact that he wasn't sure if he was going to enter at the same point he'd left. If that were the case, he'd better find True immediately, or he'd be dead. Julia was trying to set his mind at ease by saying that ending the program when he did also ended that story-line, or words to that effect when Morgan burst in.

Danziger did not want Morgan around. He'd never really wanted Morgan around, because he suspected one day Morgan's selfishness was going to cost the group in a big way. But now, in particular, he didn't want Morgan to witness this second attempt to pry True from the grips of VR, Morgan's VR.

"Get out of here." Danziger said stonily. As usual, Morgan's fear of Danziger made him more jumpy than usual; but he held his ground.

"Wait! Before you go you have to know something!" Now he had everyone's attention.

"What now?!" demanded Danziger. "Haven't you caused enough problems?" Devon held out a restraining arm, which Danziger pushed aside angrily.

"What is it Morgan?" Devon asked calmly, hoping that Danziger's intimidating presence wouldn't cause Morgan to disintegrate into a babbling fool.

"You have to get them both. They have to both come out. Both of them." Morgan did begin to babble as Danziger's eyes narrowed. He felt that those eyes were small spears trying to pierce him.

"Why?" asked Julia.

"They are both True. If only one comes, it won't be the complete person."

Danziger wasn't too sure he wanted to have the other True a part of his daughter and he was thinking that it would probably be a good idea if he left the homicidal one in VR.

"What will happen if only one comes?" asked Devon.

"I don't know." confessed Morgan, "But I'm sure, I know, it won't be good."

There was silence as they all digested this new information, or lack thereof. Abruptly, Devon broke their thoughts.

"Morgan, when you did this, how did you get yourself back together?"

"I don't know." mumbled Morgan. Danziger's patience snapped. He roughly grabbed Morgan by the shoulders and shook him violently.

"Geez, Morgan just once! Just once do something useful! Give me some more information! That's my daughter in there - in your program. Tell me how to help her." But Morgan was nearly jello at this attack.

"I don't know alright!" he wailed. "It just happened. I don't remember how."

"How are you going to tell them apart?" Devon asked Danziger anxiously.

"Well, I'd guess the one with the weapon is probably the one to avoid." he said sarcastically.

"Weapon?" Morgan queiried, surprised.

"How come Danziger didn't split?" asked Julia suddenly.

"It's a conscious decision." Morgan said, calmer now. "What, uh, what kind of weapon did you mean?" But Danziger had turned away from him in disgust. Devon, however, showed renewed interest in Morgan's information.

"Do you mean that True created that image knowingly?" Morgan nodded.

"I don't see how else it could have happened. If the program had gone screwy and was simply reproducing people then there would have been two Danzigers as well."

"Isn't it possible then," Devon hypothesized, "that True will have to consciously decide to bring that image back into herself?"

"The biggest problem," Julia added, "is going to be telling which is which."

"I don't think you should go back there alone." Devon said to Danziger, "Especially after that attack."

"She attacked you!" Morgan cried, "Ohhh!" He was cut off by Danziger's growl,

"Shut up! And get out of here before I drag you into the program and have her assasinate you." Morgan backed up fearfully, but with a final show of bravado,

"You know, this isn't my fault. She shouldn't have taken my set to begin with, which is something everyone seems to have forgotten." Danziger only had to take one step towards him and Morgan disappeared outside the door.

Danziger put the set on.

"I go alone."

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When he first entered the scene Danziger found he was holding his breath. He released it only after examining himself and finding no stab wounds. Ten points for the Doc, he thought. Ahead of him, with her back towards his entrance, sat True. She was obviously upset. He moved swiftly, but with some degree of caution, in her direction.

She didn't hear him and started alarmed when his hand touched her shoulder. She jumped up and backed away.

"True?" he asked, "Are you OK?"

Her eyes were saucers and her faced was streaked. He could tell she'd been crying. She stood about five feet away. He thought maybe she was going to hyperventilate.

"You're alive!" she whispered. "You're not dead." To Danziger, it sounded more like wonderment than disappointment. He gave her a grin and shrugged, trying to make it seem like nothing.

"Sure. 'Course I'm alive. I had to come back and get you."

"You came back for me?" she asked, now truly amazed. How, wondered Danziger, how did they get so far apart from each other? He knelt on his knees to bring himself down to her height so they could look each other in the eyes.

"True, I would never leave you behind. Now, this is not a good place to be. This program is, uh, corrupt in some way, so we have to leave it. Soon. OK?" Danziger was trying hard not to look around for the other True but he was feeling like someone was watching them from behind. One at a time, he told himself. "OK? True?"

"We can't leave." True said, "She won't let me."

"Who won't let you?" asked Danziger, already knowing.

"The other True, the one who," True couldn't meet his eyes, "who stabbed you with the knife."

"Well," Danziger started and was interrupted by,

"Dad! Dad!" he whirled around, standing, and sure enough there was another True running down the hill towards them. "Dad, you're alive!"

She flung herself into his arms her relief pouring out in a flood of tears. His arms wrapped around her instinctively even while he watched the other True, who stood aloof.

"Sure. Hey, hey, take it easy. Ssshhh." He stroked her head. For a moment the three of them stood eyeing each other warily, True's ragged breathing and sniffling the only sound.

Now what, John? Danziger wondered. He'd never thought of having twins and the idea was not very appealing. Somehow he had to figure out which True was which and put them together. But how?

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Devon paced around Danziger's still form becoming increasingly agitated.

"What's happening? He hasn't moved for, for how long?" she demanded of Julia, who remained still watching Devon guardedly.

"Eight minutes." Devon's facial expression asked the question her mouth did not voice. Julia shook her head. "I don't know. True's not moving either. I thought it was just because she'd been in there for so long, but . . ." her voice trailed off as she examined Danziger's motionless, expressionless body with the diaglove. "His vital signs are all normal."

"This is supposed to be comforting!" Devon snapped. Abruptly she grabbed the VR set from Julia's table. "I'm going after him."

Julia moved forward and grabbed Devon's arm as she put the set on her head.

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"No, I'm not sure of anything. But I can't stand here and watch this!" Devon gestured to the Danzigers, both frozen. "How long do we wait for something to happen? Twenty minutes? An hour? A day? They have to come out of there now!"

As Devon entered the program she could hear Julia calling for Alonzo.

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The first thing Devon noticed when she entered the program was that it was raining, hard. The drops were large and almost painful on her head. Boy Danziger wasn't kidding when he said it was REAL! It was dusk and there was no sign of Danziger or True. Devon felt the hair on the back of her neck standing
on end. This place was creepy.

"Danziger!" she called, "True! Where are you guys?" She thought she caught sight of some movement near a tree up the hill. She headed in that direction. "Danziger? True?"

As she neared the person she saw that it was John. He regarded her stonily.

"What are you doing here?" Devon was beginning to feel a little foolish. Perhaps she'd overreacted.

"I was worried about you. You stopped moving. You weren't speaking anymore."

He regarded her evenly. And then shook his head slowly.

"You just couldn't keep your nose out of it could you Adair?"

"What's going on? Did you find them both?"

"Yup."

"And?" Devon was becoming impatient. What was wrong with the man? Did he want to stay in here?

"We have a little bit of a problem." Danziger said. Except it wasn't the man in front of her who spoke. Devon turned, knowing but not wanting to face what she thought she was going to see. John Danziger was walking towards her down the hill, a True on each arm.

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Alonzo helped Julia move Danziger to a lying position on another cot next to True. They both watched Devon anxiously.

"What do you figure's going on in there?" Alonzo asked Julia, noting her tired, worried expression.

Julia shook her head and gave a little laugh that had nothing to do with amusement.

"Who'd have thought that one of our own devices could become a threat like this! And I thought all we had to worry about was Grendlers and Kobas and penal colonists."

"Should I go in?" Alonzo asked.

"No, let's wait for Devon."

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"Oh my God, John. What have you done?" Devon whispered. The Danziger with the two Trues was regarding her with amused eyes; the other scowled. Both Trues stared at the ground miserably.

"Well, Adair, any suggestions?"

Devon realized her mouth was still agape in shock and she shut it abruptly.

"No." she snapped. "But I assume you must have had some reason for doing this to yourself. Why don't you enlighten me?"

One Danziger shrugged with an "I'm sorry" grin. The other, the one she'd first encountered, said roughly, "Since you don't have anything to contribute, why don't you just leave?"

Devon turned back towards him, a little hurt but nothing in the world would make her show him that.

"Hey, Danziger! I'm here to *help* you." He said nothing, eyeing her with hostility.

Devon tried to size up the situation. Which of them was most likely to be the real John, and which was the copy? Her first instinct was to go with the hostile one - she'd seen John be that prickly on many occassions. But then again, the other one was with True and that seemed more likely to be what John would do.

The Danziger with the Trues sat heavily on the ground, massaging his temples gently.

"Man, I have such a headache!"

This surprised Devon. Headaches were a part of reality, not VR. As it was becoming more and more apparent, this was no ordinary VR program.

One True brushed her fingers through his hair. The other held a tight grip on his shoulder, as though she was afraid he would leave without her. Neither appeared openly hostile. Devon could only assume that this meant one of them was masking her true feelings. Great!

"Devon! Devon! Come back here!" Julia's voice cut in on Devon's thoughts. Startled, she looked at the group.

"Go on then." the hostile Danziger said. The other threw her a glance she couldn't interpret.

"Be right back." she said with forced cheerfulness. God what a mess! Devon exited the program.

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