Welcome to Golden, Chapter 7

When he awoke, Billy's head was throbbing. No one was around to greet him on his return and he couldn't remember if anyone had given him his shot of medication when he was pulled out of Golden, but that wasn't unusual. What was new, though, was the intense body aches as if he had a bad case of the flu. Maybe he did have the flu, he thought as he reached for the slimy mixture awaiting him on the bedside table. There was no orange juice, either. He didn't drink his medication right away because of another new feeling, intense nausea.

He made it to the small bathroom attached to his recovery room in time to retch greenish bile into the clean toilet followed by five minutes of dry heaving. Billy turned on the water in the shower as hot as he could stand and got in hoping it would make him feel better.

The shower did help, but only while he was standing under the stream. Once he got out, he began to shake uncontrollably with the chills as he dried off. Once finished, he made it back to the bed and downed the slimy cocktail that was supposed to help his body adjust to the real world. He swallowed the nausea that came with the drink and lay back down and closed his eyes. He felt like hell, not unusual for a return to the real world, but more intense.

Either he was truly sick, or coming back from Golden was taking more and more of a toll on his body. In his mind, he knew it was the latter, and that frightened him.

Two hours later, he woke again, this time feeling better and with someone there to wake him. Billy would have much preferred Jenny's pretty face, but instead it was Ollie who was standing over him like he was late for school.

“You overslept,” Ollie said, judgment dripping from his words. “You are supposed to be vertical no more than two hours after coming out of Golden. Doctor's orders.”

Billy sat up and threw his legs out of the bed. He still felt a little fuzzy.

“Your bedside manner is horrible,” he said. Ollie made his way to the door.

“Come see me when you get cleaned up, we've got some things that need to be worked out.”

Billy rose and found that he felt better than the first time he had awakened, but not by much. He took another shower and dressed, making a mental note to stop by the medical office and talk to the doctors. He wasn't looking forward for the full medical work-up that would come with it, but when it came to his health Billy put aside any annoyance. The first stop, though, would be to talk to Ollie.

Billy figured correctly that in the three hours he had been out that Ollie and Fred had an extended back-and-forth about something. When he got to the control room, Ollie was hovering over the shoulder of some poor computer jockey.

“Jenkins, I know what I said yesterday, but today I'm telling you to go over the base code digit by digit to find any anomalies …” Ollie was saying in a harsh tone. Billy had considered turning around and walking out, but the large engineer saw him before he could leave.

“Ah, Dr. Watson, I'm so glad you could join us.” Billy didn't think Ollie was glad at all.

“I'm at your disposal, Dr. Holmes,” Billy said. Ollie glared at him and motioned for Billy to follow him to his office. Once there, he closed the door and indicated that Billy should take a seat. Ollie sat hard behind his desk and called up something on his computer, occasionally looking up and starting to say something, then stopping. Finally, he gave up and glared at Billy.

“Fred is convinced that the glitches are an indication of a major problem,” Ollie said. “He's been sending me messages for the past couple of hours, telling me to direct my staff to check different aspects of the program, as well as just about everything else. It's a good thing those government guys aren't still around — they'd have a field day with us. Of course, it being Fred, we aren't moving fast enough and he wants answers. I've got no answers for him.”

Billy wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to say. He wanted to ask if Ollie's team had made any headway in finding the problem, but he surmised that would be the wrong thing to ask. Ollie was clearly upset and frustrated. Billy knew what it was like to deal with Fred when he wanted something and wanted it now.

“Why didn't you tell me about your Elvis sightings?” Ollie asked. Apparently Fred snitched on him.

“Elvis? Yeah, well … I did. You blew me off. When they kept happening, I didn't feel the need to waste my time telling you something you apparently didn't want to hear,” Billy said. “It's probably a patient messing around with his avatar.”

Ollie shook his head. “Fred doesn't think so.”

“He didn't say anything to me.”

The engineer stood and looked at a bank of monitors that hung on the wall of his office. Each one flowed with a continuous stream of information that Billy assumed revealed data about Golden.

“Do you know how Golden works, Dr. Watson?” Ollie said. It sounded like a silly question, of course Billy knew how it worked. But he said nothing, sensing that Ollie was asking about the technological aspects of the computer generated town. Billy knew that was much more complex than the tour group bullshit that was handed to residents and other visitors. Billy understood as much as he needed to understand.

“Golden,” Ollie said, “is a prime example of the next step in artificial intelligence. We created a world, Dr. Watson, but we don't have enough eyes and brains to make sure it runs the way it should. So the computer takes over much of the operation. We can create a small boy riding a push-pedal car down the street, but we have a hard time getting him to get out of the way if one of your patients tries to run him down with a car. The computer takes over. The computer senses our residents and makes changes to their experience in Golden based on billions of variables — what they've done in the past, what other patients have done. It learns from the patients and from us to anticipate actions. When it works, you can't tell Golden from the real world. When it doesn't, glitches appear.”

Billy still was not following where this was heading, but kept his ignorance quiet. Ollie would explain in good time.

“Fred seems to think that our glitches are being caused because the computer is distracted,” Ollie said.

“Distracted?”

“He says the computer has its mind on other things that don't necessarily have to do with its job. It's creating its own priorities instead of following ours.”

“Is that even possible?” Billy asked, his headache starting to return. Ollie shrugged.

“Who knows?” he said. “Fred seems to think so and now he's got us looking for all kinds of ghosts in the machine.”

“What does this have to do with Elvis?” Billy asked.

Ollie shrugged again.

“It might just be another glitch or it might be someone messing around with their avatar, we don't know,” he said. He instructed Billy to be more aware of the glitches and whether they occurred more often when Elvis was spotted, not only by him, but by others in Golden. A team of technicians was already inside the program looking for anomalies, Ollie said, but he added that he wasn't optimistic they would find anything.

“You are the only one who is in there with any frequency, and the only one from the outside who has seen Elvis,” Ollie said. “Just keep an eye out for us, Dr. Watson, and let us know if there is anything out of the ordinary going on. And I probably don't have to tell you, but keep this to yourself. I'm not sure how our friends from the government might react.”

Billy agreed to help where he could and took his leave of Ollie. The next stop was to talk to a doctor to see if he had the flu, or whether Golden was destroying his body. He was already sure that it was damaging his mind, but Billy was the most qualified doctor on staff to deal with that. He was more worried about the physiological aspect of Golden’s revolving door.

In his imagination, he knew what the doctor was going to tell him — that the attachment and removal of nanoprobes from his cells were probably killing more and more of them each time. The result would be an order to keep Billy from going into Golden. In the parlance of the old NASA flight surgeons, Billy would be grounded. And not unlike those astronauts of years past, Billy decided that he didn't want to be grounded, especially with government agents lurking around looking for any reason to shut down the town.

He never made it to the doctor's office, instead deciding to check in at his own office.

As he figured, the door was closed off with yellow warning tape. Good thing there was nothing in there I needed, he thought.

“Hey, Sparky. Got the early morning stares?”

Billy nearly jumped out of his skin. It was Jenny, and she was smiling.

“You're in good mood,” he said. She walked to him and awkwardly kissed him on the cheek. Being who he was, he blushed a deep crimson. She had never done that before. “What was that for?”

“I realized something a couple of days ago and this was the first time I've had a chance to show you what that is. Plus, good news. The board's thrown its full backing to us. We got a new lease on life.”

“That's what you realized? That the board would back you up? Don't get me wrong, I would never complain about a pretty girl … excuse me, woman, giving me a kiss on the cheek. But that seems a little excessive.”

“No, that was just a bonus,” she said. “I realized that I'm not in this all alone. That I have someone I can trust. And...”

“Yeah?”

“Someone who I wouldn't mind spending a little more time with. Are you game?”

Just like Jenny, he thought, making a proposal at romance in the same way she would make a presentation to investors. There was one difference, though; her eyes danced and sparkled as she waited for his response. Inside, Billy was wondering what was happening, as if a practical joke were being played on him.

“Isn't that against some sort of corporate rule or something? I mean, you are my supervisor and everything. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble or anything.”

She laughed again.

“Come on, let's go get a drink.”

He followed her out and they agreed to meet at a bar close to Jenny's house. Driving over, Billy became suspicious. Sure, their relationship was close, but Billy had never detected a hint of romance from her. They did things together every now and again, like dinner and a movie, but he never even tried to put his arm around her. Now, she was coming on to him.

It wasn't too long at the bar before Jenny opened up.

“You're my best friend, my father loves you like a son and I find you easy to talk to,” she said after her third dirty martini. “There's no reason we shouldn't hook up. I like you, you like me. It makes sense, you know?”

“Yeah, well, I always thought that. But ...”

“I know, I know. I haven't given you much to go on. I'll be honest. You kind of scare me. Well, not so much you. But the idea of you.”

“I never knew I was an idea.” She smiled, leaned in and gave him a kiss. It was moist and warm and very nice.

“See?” Jenny said. “That's what I'm talking about. We even kiss good, and that's a little scary. I've never been close to anyone, I never let anyone … know me.”

She had moved close to him. Her leg was touching him and Billy was getting distracted.

“You mean … you're a virgin?”

“Oh God, no! I just never wanted to be tied to a guy, you know? I think Fred and his whole dream for Golden messed with my head. I lived my life making his dream happen. The thing about Fred, though, is that he's such a strong personality, that everyone jumps aboard his little crazy train and, despite all the odds, everything turns out okay.”

Jenny downed the rest of her drink and ordered Billy to get her another while she went to the bathroom. As she got out and walked away from him, Billy saw Jenny in a different light. She seemed lighter, not so rigid. That could be the alcohol, but even her smile was looser. It was typical Jenny, she'd come to a decision about something without checking with anyone else who might be affected. She certainly had been groomed to run things, but Billy wondered what it would be like to be in a relationship with her. He didn't mind her take charge attitude at work, it was endearing and admirable.

But …

He had dreamed about having a romantic relationship with Jenny and now that it looked like it was going to happen, he was getting cold feet. Billy was lost in these thoughts when she exited the bathroom and he saw her checking herself in a mirror — she was checking out her own ass. He laughed to himself in the knowledge that he was the only one who could get her to relax enough to truly be herself; a silly, smart girl who was in charge of a multi-billion dollar foundation. Her personality quirks complemented his own very well. He wasn't intimidated by strong women, and there was no denying that they could bring out the best in each other. Billy smiled, this was how it was supposed to be.

Jenny made it back to the table, giving Billy grief about her drink not having been refreshed. She slid in close to him and grabbed his hand. Hers were slightly damp, but still comforting.

“Did I ever tell you about your job interview?” she asked.

“No, of course not.”

“I didn't want to hire you. I told Fred that you were too young, that we needed someone with more knowledge and experience, like a college professor or something. But Fred insisted, he wouldn't consider anyone else after he met with you. I was livid and all he could say was ‘You'll see.’ Man, he used to push my buttons. He knew, though. He knew that you and me...

“And then the other day, when you got all mad. It was kind of sexy. I realized then … that you are a passionate person. That you are willing to fight for something. I also realized … well, after a night or two of not being able to sleep anyway, that you and I belong together.”

And for the first time, Billy saw something he guessed didn't happen that often, if at all. Jenny started to cry. It wasn't a sob, and someone else might mistake it for a cold. But Billy knew, a layer peeled away and he finally saw this strong woman with a little girl's name for who she was.

“I'm tired of being lonely. I don't want to do all this by myself anymore.”

His first instinct was to hug her, his second was to kiss her. His third move — the one he went with — was to make a joke.

“I knew I'd wear you down eventually.”

She laughed hard and squeezed his hand. After the mirth died away, though, there was only the two of them. Billy looked into her blue eyes and leaned in to a kiss they both knew would come. Their mouths fit perfectly with each other, like two puzzle pieces locked together. After they pulled away for a breath, they looked at each other.

“I always wondered what that would be like,” Jenny said. “You don't disappoint, Dr. Watson.”

They ordered another drink and a plate of nachos for dinner, which was especially delicious; but Billy couldn't wait for it to be over. The anticipation of what would come next made him eat too fast, which made him worry about what his gut may do to punish him. They talked about anything and everything. She told him stories, most of which he had already heard, about her mother dying in a car crash when she was seven and how Fred, at first, ignored her grief. In hindsight, she said that was when Fred had decided that she was to play an important part in his dream of making Golden a reality. It was then that he began training her.

Although he was congenial to almost everyone, he was very demanding of his daughter. Bad grades were not necessarily met with punishment, but the loss of privileges. He made sure she remained focused.

“He needed me,” she said. “I'm sure he set Golden as a goal long before I was born, and he trained me as his little administrator when my mother wasn’t in the way to object. I shouldn't be surprised, Gramps and Grams did the same to him — only in showbiz. Those damn McKenzies are a driven, manipulative people. Oh, that reminds me about the good news, the board got a promise from one of the minority stock holders for three billion dollars more in capital.”

“I'd like a raise, please,” Billy said, the alcohol he had drank was making him more jovial.

“Don't get all excited yet, we've got a reprieve, but we have changes we'll have to deal with. I'm not real happy about that, but...”

“What changes?”

“We have to step up the schedule to make Golden completely private. To do that, we'll need at least one hundred paying clients.” She was clearly annoyed at this notion and Billy wasn’t happy either.

“With the charter that means we'd have at least two hundred residents in Golden. I can’t handle any more patients …”

“It’s not just about patients, Billy. We can hire more people, we just don’t have the space to do it. Plus, the board is wanting to get out from underneath that damn charter. If we can’t, you are right; that’ll mean two hundred patients we’ll have to serve. When I explained the issues with all that, they said they wanted to start a second, better Golden to house the paying clients. I don't necessarily disagree, that was the ultimate goal, but instead of ten years, we now have five years.”

This was a challenge, and Billy could see that it was one Jenny would look forward to meeting. He decided not to mention anything about possible Congressional hearings or Elvis sightings. Those were problems that would be confronted soon enough. Tonight would be about them, he thought as he followed her to her apartment. Before he could make it three steps inside, his cell went off with an official sounding electronic blast. He knew by the tone that someone in Golden had died and he hoped to God it wasn't Fred.

“What is it?” Jenny asked, then her cell phone rang. She answered and said “yes” a couple of times and told the caller she would be right there.

“There’s an emergency. Something has happened to Lily Perez. They aren’t sure what, but they need you to get back to Golden.”