The Reality Engine

Hi!

Thank you for reading my story.

A couple of points to know:

I apologize for how late this chapter is, but I had writer's block, and I took a break of a few weeks from writing to recharge my batteries.

I don't like writing wank porn. I want to write full-fleshed stories with plot, character, drama, and tension.

Events in this chapter pick up the morning after the events at the end of chapter 12.

After the close of this chapter, we are officially over halfway done with this story.

My plan has always been to follow a 3 act structure, with 8 chapters in each act, for 24 chapters total, and, one epilogue at the end making up a 25th, and final, chapter. To this point, everything is on course to finish as it should.

Thank you for taking the time, and please be sure to vote and offer any feedback you can.

While compliments are always appreciated, constructive criticism is what most helps me improve.

I know the feedback I've received already has made me think about this story in ways that I never would have before.

If you like what I do, offering feedback is the best thing you can do to help, there is nothing which aids a writer more than seeing the story through someone else's eyes.

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Chapter 13

Scott woke up at 4 AM, and had never felt better in his life. He couldn't sleep, and he jumped out of bed, took a quick shower, changed, and raced off to work as fast as his feet could carry him. As he walked to Water Buffalo Hall, he pondered his strange dream from the night before. He wondered if it meant anything.

He arrived at the empty University square, or at least, Scott thought it was empty. As soon as he set foot in the square, Scott realized he was not alone. A tall man, dressed in a green poncho, a panama hat, blue jeans, and cowboy boots, stepped out from the darkness in front of him.

"Do you know who I am?" the man asked.

"Y-yes," Scott said, frightened out of his mind. "You're Lynx. I'm told you're a member of the prestigious Rozarria Guild, that you're one of the best bounty hunters on planet earth, and that you're at the bottom of at least 3 dozen high profile international murders."

"You're braver than you look," Lynx said. "Most men take one look at me, and run away in terror."

"To be fair, I ran away in terror as well on Monday afternoon," Scott said.

"That you did," Lynx said, with a smile. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to sit and talk for a few minutes. Can you spare the time?"

"S-sure," Scott said, as he and Lynx walked over to one of the benches that was next to the University square, and sat down next to each other.

"After you left Eric yesterday, he called my employer," Lynx said. "I did one final job last night, but as of 1 hour ago, my contract is fulfilled. I've been paid what I was promised, and I am on my way home. You don't have anything further to worry about from me, thanks to Eric."

"That's good to know," Scott said. "Where is home for a man like you?"

"Nepal," Lynx said.

"Why do you live there?" Scott asked.

"For entirely practical reasons," Lynx said. "On average, Nepal is over 10,000 feet, or nearly 2 miles, above sea level, and 8 of the 10 tallest mountains on earth are in that nation. If you're a man who, as you stated, is at the bottom of over 3 dozen high profile international murders, well then, you're a man with powerful enemies. Such a man should make his home in a part of the world with as many natural advantages as possible. These advantages include thin air due to high elevation, plenty of easy to defend high ground, harsh terrain that makes most vehicles unusable and restricts travel to foot, and a series of mountain caves that makes hiding and setting up ambushes easy. In the mountains I call home, I can overcome a 100 to 1 manpower deficit, and that keeps my enemies from coming after my family."

"I see," Scott said. "I know you were assigned to follow me, but why reveal yourself now? Doesn't that violate some code of professional ethics?"

"No," Lynx said. "It's only an ethics violation if I tell you the name of my employer. You already know what the job was, so there's no issue in discussing that with you. Scott, there is something you must know, the gifts you have, they are special, and there are many in this world who will try to take advantage of you, and use your gifts for their own ends. Eric is one of the good ones, his focus is entirely on how to benefit humanity at large. Very few in this world are like him."

"You know Eric?" Scott asked.

"Something I'm sure he didn't mention to you yesterday is that I've worked for him in the past," Lynx said. "I've never killed anyone under a contract with him, but there was some unpleasantness that resulted. Eric is closely tied in with the intelligence and defense agencies in Washington DC, so you can imagine what kind of shady business takes place in the name of Uncle Sam."

"Sounds to me like you think Eric is a good person, who has to do questionable things sometimes because of the nature of the business," Scott said.

"It's the way of things," Lynx said, with a smile. "My employer obtained an inferior version of Eric's invisibility technology, which I am sure Eric mentioned to you already, and I was the one who killed Juan Benoite on Friday night at Bleakly Manor. I was there, just as you were, and once Chad struck Juan on the head, I grabbed hold of his gun, pointed it in the right location, and fired."

"My God, why confess a murder to me?" Scott asked.

"What do you think will happen if you call the police, and they arrest me?" Lynx asked, smiling. "Do you know how many assassinations I've undertaken for the CIA alone over the years? There is no way Washington is going to let someone with my knowledge of where the bodies are buried ever sit in a jail cell, or face a trial."

"They could kill you," Scott pointed out.

"That's why you always have a dead man's switch in my line of work," Lynx said. "They know I am the best in the world at what I do, and I know that no one else in the world can pay me as well as they can. I know all about their unspeakable acts, and they know all about mine. We need each other. Mutually assured destruction is the name of the game in the top-secret world of espionage. There is strong motivation for both of us to do whatever is required to help each other, because we both have all the blackmail material on each other we will ever need. They will do everything they can to preserve my personal liberty, and I will do the same thing for them. If I ever step out of line and become a problem for them, they can tell my most powerful enemies exactly where I live, and exactly when I'm not home. You catch my meaning?"

"Your family?" Scott asked.

Lynx nodded, "family is really the entire problem. The bond we have with each other can become a liability if it's not handled properly. You put a lot on the line to help Liandra on Friday night, and speaking as a man who knows what it means to risk it all, I was very impressed."

"Yeah, I've never really had friends until I came here," Scott said. "Never had success with women until I came here either. That makes everything harder, in a way."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Lynx said. "I was born, and spent most of my childhood, in Greece. My dad was a deadbeat, and my mom died when I was very young. I was on my own from the time I was four, and I grew up thinking I didn't need others to survive. It didn't help matters that the part of Greece I grew up in had a lot of broken homes and a lot of poverty. People there saw others as a burden on life. I did too, for a long time."

"What changed your mind?" Scott asked.

"My mentor, Darius," Lynx said. "He was the one who told me that the people in your life can be a liability or a benefit based on how wisely you choose them. Choose who you surround yourself with poorly, and you're better off alone. Choose wisely, and you are far stronger together than you could ever be alone. You have chosen wisely, Scott, and you and your friends are better off together."

"I never thought of it that way before," Scott said, as the gears started to turn in his mind.

"A man with the gifts you have must be exceptionally careful who he chooses to call his friend," Lynx replied. "My most recent employer is a very poor judge of character, who wants your abilities purely for his own selfish reasons. I asked him what those were, and while he wouldn't tell me, I know enough of the lay of the land to make a good guess. If you want the entire story, I suggest you ask Eric the next time you see him."

"I will be sure to do that," Scott said.

"I want to help you, if you need me for anything," Lynx said. "I will give you the phone number of the Rozarria Guild headquarters. If you call, and leave a message for me, they will forward it to me right away. Use this only in an extreme emergency. We're all rooting for you, Scott, even I am."

Scott handed Lynx his phone, and Lynx input the contact information. With a hearty hand-shake, Lynx dashed off into the early morning darkness, as Scott continued to walk to Water Buffalo Hall. When he arrived at his work station, a bit after 5 AM, Scott dove into his labor for the day.

Lynx's words rang in his head like an omen. Scott understood that strength in numbers was created by choosing one's friends with great care. He felt completely in tune with his labor; he experienced neither frustration nor anger when equations didn't lead to results. Scott would try again, and be sure to choose his new input variables more carefully. He knew the answers were coming, and it was a matter of when, and not if. It was all a matter of choosing complementary input variables, which created strongly bound solution sets.

Before Scott knew where he was, there was a knock on the door to the lab. He glanced up from his work, it was 12:30 PM, and that knock meant Lory had brought lunch. Scott opened the door for her, and led her to the familiar lunch table where they both sat down. Lory handed Scott his food, and they talked, while he ate.

Scott told her about the night before, how they had sealed the deal with Elizabeth and Jessica, and were now waiting on Saturday night to bring its magic.

"You did good, Scott," Lory said, with a wide smile. "How are you holding up?"

"I've never had as much energy as I came to work with this morning," Scott said. "I got so much done. I think I might have made another breakthrough. It's too early to tell, and a lot of work still remains, but, I think I've solved this new challenge."

"Didn't you tell me that you solved the last one only a week ago?" Lory asked, surprised. She didn't know the exact mechanics of how the reality engine worked, but she had seen plenty of frustrated prior assistants who had been unable to get anything to make sense.

"You remember the first solution was a suggestion made by Dr. Karlov, and the second was one made by Adol," Scott said. "I think the third was something a friend of mine named Lynx told me: numbers are only an advantage if they are picked wisely."

"So, birds of a feather flock together?" Lory asked.

"Exactly, how did you know?" Scott asked.

"A youth spent in church around my grandpa," Lory said, laughing. "You ever hear the old saw that you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with? My grandpa says that all the time. If a person wants to be exceptional at anything, spend as much time as you can around people who are better than you at it. Being around them will raise your average."

"Is that right?" Scott asked, intrigued.

"My cousin Malcolm wanted to get a football scholarship to Wassamatta U some years back," Lory said. "So he spent all his summers practicing with older, better player. It worked out for him. By the time he finished High School, he was really good at football, and he got a full ride at Wassamatta U. He only accomplished it because he spent time with people who were better at football than he was."

"I'm going to the game this Saturday against Tick Tock Tech," Scott said. "What can you tell me about Wassamatta U football?"

"Well, for one thing, the team nickname is the pigeons," Lory said, laughing. "It really is the Wassamatta U Pigeons. The team plays in Rocky Kanute Stadium, named after the legendary former head coach."

"Was he the head coach of the 1963 championship team?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Lory asked.

"Wassamatta U seems to be obsessed with that 1963 championship season, so it wasn't much of a guess," Scott said.

"Yeah, they are," Lory said. "You'll have a great time at the game, and Scott, be sure that you get the campus tour on Saturday morning if there's time for it. It's well worth it."

"Have you taken it?" Scott asked.

"Uh-huh," Lory said. "Between the two of us, Wassamatta U has a ton of strange and odd history to it. Did you know that the name of the University was changed right after that 1963 season?"

"Huh?" Scott asked. "No, I didn't know that. What was it and why was it changed?"

"It used to be Wossamotta U, O, then A, then O, then another A, instead of four straight A's," Lory said. "If you want to know why they changed it, ask Adol to give you the campus tour, and to explain it. Everyone knows the story of what happened right after the last regular season game of that fabled 1963 season, but there's no one who tells the story as well as a Wassamatta U student."

Scott finished his lunch, he got up, and escorted Lory to the door of the lab.

"Same time Tuesday?" Scott asked.

"I look forward to it," Lory said, as she gave Scott a hug, and left. As soon as she was gone, Scott went back to his work.

4 PM came by in Fuggville, and Ingred, Shauna, and Calvin drove into the parking lot of Edgar Jonesy High School. They made for the administrative office, which was empty, except for one lone, hard-working employee: Ingred's sister, Belize.

"Hey sis," Ingred said, as the two sisters hugged. Calvin looked Belize up and down with a quizzical look on his face: she was dressed in a short skirt, a revealing blouse, and high heels. This was probably good attire for a night on the town, or dinner, dancing, and drinks, but it was also not work appropriate attire.

"Hey, if you're here to see Principal Acker, he stepped out for a moment, and will be back soon," Belize said.

Calvin noticed that Belize's desk, which was covered in term papers, exams, and homework, was right next to the principal's office.

"We're here to talk to Mr. Bennet," Ingred said, as Belize raised an eye-brow in surprise. "It won't take long, and I just wanted to stop by and say hi to you first."

"Okay, well go ahead, and I'll see you at home later," Belize said. Ingred, Shauna, and Calvin left the administrative building to head over to Mr. Bennet's classroom. The school was completely empty this time of day, without a single student as far as the eye could see. Ingred had her cell phone out, and was adjusting settings on it the entire way to Mr. Bennet's class room.

"What does your sister do?" Calvin asked.

"She's a grader," Ingred said, looking up from her phone. "Teachers collect homework, exams, and papers, and turn them over to her, along with an answer key, and she grades all of them. There is a small staff of full-time graders who work out of Taft Hall opposite the administrative building."

"I didn't know that from my time here," Calvin said. "Now that you mention it, it does make sense. It lets teachers focus on the lesson plan and instruction. Why is your sister's desk next to the principal's office while all her co-workers are in Taft Hall?"

"The same reason why she comes to work dressed like a tramp," Ingred said, laughing. "Mr. Acker has a hard on for my sister. She isn't qualified to be a grader, which requires at least an associate's degree, but she got the job because Principal Acker is a dirty, old man who loves the sight of her flesh. Use whatever edge you can to get ahead in life, you know?"

"Have they had sex?" Calvin asked.

"No," Ingred said, as she continued to fiddle with her phone. "He wants to, and she'd let him if he asked her, but so long as he can't work up the courage, she's not going to make an offer. She's got a good job, that pays more than minimum wage, on a High School diploma. She's not going to raise the bar of what's expected of her unless she has to."

"That's smart," Calvin said.

"Leveraging one's sex appeal to gain a comfortable life isn't easy," Ingred said, with a laugh.

Calvin was struck by how different Ingred was from the woman he had met the night before at Bible Study. Gone was the good girl routine, where she detailed how her nude video had been leaked to the masses with tears in her eyes and shame in her voice. Ingred was now openly proud of her sister dressing to impress in order to gain the favor of a powerful man. The more Calvin thought about it, the more certain he was that no one had stolen Ingred's nude video. Calvin was growing increasingly certain that Ingred had made it, and leaked it herself, so that all the men knew exactly how impressive her sexual assets were. However, Calvin was not yet at a point where he had enough evidence to make an accusation comfortably, and he was unsure if any purpose would be served by making it all. Calvin was certain that Belize was in on the scheme, but he was also sure that Shauna and Mia had no clue what Ingred had done, nor any understanding of why Ingred had done it.

Ingred didn't even bother to knock on the door to Mr. Bennet's class-room, she turned the handle and barged right in. As Calvin and Shauna entered the class-room behind her, they saw Mr. Bennet was watching something on his cell phone.

"Aha! Caught you red-handed!" Ingred said, in her moment of triumph, as Mr. Bennet tried to hide what he was watching. Mr. Bennet failed to conceal what he had been watching, and the screen turned over as he fumbled with the phone in his hands, and Shauna and Calvin both saw that it was the video of Ingred.

"Ingred!" Mr. Bennet exclaimed, turning white as a sheet, and desperately trying to turn off his phone's video player. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you watching?" Ingred demanded, as she ripped the phone away from him. She showed it to Calvin and Shauna, and there was no mistaking it, it was the video in question. "You just can't get enough of my body, can you, you pervert? Three and a half months ago, I finished my assignment with you and graduated, and you're still perving on me!"

Calvin and Shauna exchanged a look, and Shauna was very confused, in particular. Shauna had expected Ingred to shed a few tears and express fear and confusion, but she was, instead, in her element. Ingred was downright excited that they had caught Mr. Bennet watching her video. Shauna did not understand what was going on.

"I'm sorry, Ingred, it was a moment of weakness on my part," Mr. Bennet said.

"How many of these moments of weakness have you had?" Ingred asked, smiling. "Do they happen every morning in the shower?"

Shauna turned to Calvin, and shot him a confused expression. Calvin reached down to his crotch, and made a jerking motion with his hand, and Shauna smiled to show she understood.

"Well. . .," Mr. Bennet said, but a glance at his face showed clearly that the answer was yes.

"You are a pervert!" Ingred declared. "Fapping to your former student in the shower every morning, and every afternoon after school. I'm a person, with thoughts and feelings, you know, not just a fap-toy to amuse your depraved imagination."

"I know, and I'm sorry," Mr. Bennet said. "Please don't tell anyone, I'll do anything."