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Part 1-17: Blankets
Willy actually saved us some trouble. I mean, compared to the amount he dished out, he was still very much in the red when it came to his overall trouble ledger, but at least we didn’t have to spend days or weeks agonizing over an invisible foe. Eden was eager, it seemed.
After breakfast we washed up and piled back into Dack’s car, bound for Henderson Recreational Park. It was bigger and had its own wifi, so we figured it was a good place to start. It’s a big ole rectangle situated north of the downtown area, maybe twelve blocks long by three or four wide. The western third of it is wooded, with trails and little ponds. There’s a fat, cylindrical hut in the center of the forest which sells ice cream, and also has wifi. The middle third is dedicated to a baseball field. It points toward the west—hitting a huge home run would put the ball close to the start of the wooded area. The eastern third, behind the ball field, is a grassy open area with two public swimming pools, a little water park and various tennis and basketball courts on the edge. An info kiosk near the pools transmits a second wifi signal.
It was a cheery, late Sunday morning, bright but a little chilly. Summer had not yet settled in. Deluxe brought blankets and a picnic basket, insisting that we had an adequate cover story. We ended up standing in between the ball field and the pool area. It was a common area for people to sit around and chill.
The plan was for me and Fergus to walk around and make note of any potential hazards. Deluxe had a bunch of her gadgets and would see how deep she could get into the park’s wifi, so we could monitor it for the telltale network oddity. Dack would make his calls, and also be in charge of charming attendants at either wifi station should Deluxe desire access to the physical routers.
But all that went south. Fergus saw him first. Deluxe was finishing up arranging our basking spot when he said, “Oh no, look. Coming from the change rooms.”
Being new to the park, it took me a moment to pick out the right buildings. But when I did, it took no time at all to recognize Willy. He strolled straight for us, grinning like a fool. Same clothes again. Any fleeting sense of normality I’d felt earlier was dashed away.
“Everyone, try to, um. Stay calm alright?” Dack tried.
“Got the right park at least, right? Am I right?” Fergus barked a laugh at himself.
There were a few other people out and about. A fast count put twenty or so in the field, no one close by, or within earshot unless we shouted. It seemed too sparse for anything disastrous.
“I should assemble a biometric scanner, would help in determining our friend’s composition,” said Deluxe. “Or maybe we can convince him to do an EEG.”
“Get his blood type and mother’s maiden name while you’re at it,” I said, not taking my eyes off the approaching man. His grin did not falter.
“The EEG would be much more helpful, I’d think.”
I was going to tell her to can it, but I could hear Willy’s footsteps in the grass now. My throat was too dry. Why did I feel more scared of this creature in a cheery park than I did in a shadowy, derelict building in the dead of night? Maybe it was because he least felt like he belonged in that place. Here, out among people on a nice day… it was like seeing a feral dog slink into a daycare.
He walked up to me and stood an arm’s length away. The grin remained, unchanged. It took a lot of energy to not take a step backwards. After a long moment, Deluxe cleared her throat.
Another second went by, and the grin melted away to a neutral expression.
“Alena. Bisk,” it said.
“Yeah,” I managed.
“Help.” It extended an arm, like it wanted me to shake its hand.
“Um, did you… let Persi go? Clearly Willy’s still a part of you. I said we can help but…”
His brows knitted, reminding me of how he looked when I first spoke to him about the wifi in Glenscot’s Cafe. It felt like a year ago.
“Show you. Keys. To help,” it said, and looked at its outstretched hand, then back at me. To anyone watching, it would’ve looked like I was being terribly rude about this introduction.
“What’s going to happen?” I asked it. “We can’t just poof and disappear here in the middle of the park if that’s what you’ve got planned.”
The hand dropped, and Willy/Eden appeared to think about it.
“Hide?” it said, after a minute.
A stiff breeze ripped through the park at that moment, and I hugged myself and shivered, hair blasting all around my eyes.
“Here, I’ve made an idea. Look,” said Deluxe.
I walked backwards, refusing to let Willy out of my sight, until I could see what she was up to. She was holding up one of her many blankets.
“A blanket?” I said.
“You two cozy up under here, like a pair of chilly chums,” she said. “We’ll sit all around. Unlikely that you’ll be spotted if you phase out.”
“Nope, no, no way,” I said. But even as the objection flew out of my mouth, I knew it was the best bet we had. Unless we could convince Willy to go sneak into the woods with us. But something about being out in the open felt better, like we had the home field advantage. But maybe the woods were safer… I bit my lip, now unsure.
“Show you. Now,” Willy said, and again stuck out his hand. I saw some people glancing our way. Panic snapped at me, so I shut off my debating brain and plopped down beside the picnic basket.
“Okay! Okay. Come, sit. Show me.”
Willy blinked, and for a second I was sure it didn’t understand, but then he tottered over beside me and took his sweet time getting his butt to the ground. His arm brushed mine. It felt like a human arm. I did not look and tried to pretend it was just Fergus or Dack. An open palm floated over and hovered above my lap.
“Bon voyage. Be safe,” said Deluxe, as she draped the blanket around us.
“See you on the other side,” I said, and wove my fingers between his.
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