Rabbit Hole on Mars - Day 29 (Nov 29) 1311 words

Chapter 29

“You want to say anything else, Don?”

“To you, not really,” Don replied.

“Not to me, to all the people I'm streaming this to right now.”

“Jason, no.”

“That's right, buddy. We're live on Mars. Which rover will get to destroy the NASA Opportunity rover first? Everybody start placing your bets.”

“Jason.”

“When the hell is that rover getting over here? Fucking labyrinth just zig zags back and forth. Let me check a few things...looks like Opportunity is moving at half it's speed to get here. I'll bump the speed up myself.”

Scott heard this and tried to readjusted his controls. It was too late. The movement and speed of Opportunity was completely under Jason's control.

“Come on, Scott,” Brian said, “You've got to unhack this guy's control of our rover.”

“Brian, I'm locked out,” Scott said frantically, “All we have control of are Opportunity's optics.”

“You showed those NASA pricks no one needs them to get to Mars. Now, let me tell you what the problem with you is. You want to smash the Opportunity rover for the pity you feel for it. To put the old piece of shit out of its misery. Then there's me, they guy who just want to break shit for the sake of breaking shit. Who is everyone out there rooting for? Is it you or is it me?”

Don moved another row of rocks out of the way, “You are using my technology without my permission. You are a real piece of shit, Jason.”

“Come to the center. Get closer. I've got over thirty thousand viewers right now. They want to get a good look at you. One last good look at least.”

A police car passed the billboard, Don and Adam were hiding behind.

Adam whispered, “I've gotta find a new hiding spot.”

Don nodded with his VR Goggle on.

“What are you going to do up here all alone?” Don asked Jason.

“What were you going to do up here all alone? These are questions to figure out once it's over. Not before the smashing starts.”

“I have my reasons, you're just a tag along.”

“Don, I'm going to smash Frankie to the the littlest bits I can. I'll bury him at the four corners of Mars.”

The van stopped and the sliding door opened.

Don hit Frankie's auto-pilot button, muted his microphone and took off his VR Goggles.

Samantha climbed into the van.
“Sam, no. You can't come with us. This is dangerous. Adam, what did you stop to pick her up for?”

Samantha laughed, “I missed you. Why is the government at your house?”

“Babe, this really isn't a good time to 'hang out.'”

“Don, I'm no side liner when the world is falling down on my man.”

“So stubborn.”

Adam said, “Everybody take a seat, we are heading down the road.”

Don put his VR Goggles back down and looked around the labyrinth. He turned off the mute button.

“Don, we've got all kinds of questions from our audience of over two hundred thousand people.”

“Turn it off, Jason.”

“This is the price of fame.”

Don moved the last row of rocks out of the way so that he could be in the center of the labyrinth with Charlie.

Charlie didn't waste a second, the rover began to swing it's metal fists at Frankie.

“Frankie, play defense,” Don said out loud. Frankie began to catch all the punches thrown by Charlie.

Charlie was on some kind of violent auto-pilot, because Jason wasn't talking. Don wondered what could be happening.

Jason took off his VR Goggles to look out the passenger window in the back seat of the Mini-Cooper.

“That's the van, get up there and run it off the road,” Jason told the driver.

“I don't want to wreck my Mini-Cooper.”

“Dude, I'm about to hold Mars for ransom. I'll get you ten more Mini-Coopers. Now get up there and hit the van.”

Brian was having trouble processing everything as it happened. Both rovers were battling each other for dominance on Mars. Somehow, Opportunity hadn't been targeted yet.

Donna spoke up for the first time in a while, “Why are they fighting at all? I thought we were the target?”

“Hold on now, don't jinx us,” Scott replied.

“You are the target, I'm just taking care of some loose ends,” Jason said.

Scott hit the mute button.

Brian asked Scott, “Can you zoom any closer, we're still in this back corner of the labyrinth.”

“Don just sent us something to download. I'll grab it then zoom in as far as I can.”

Brian walked over to Scott's work station. The download was another song.

Scott asked, “What should I do?”

“What do we have left to do? Just play the goddamn thing.”

The song was entitled, 'Song About Old Roller Coaster' by Bear Vs. Shark

Scott turned the song up and posted the lyrics onto screen two.

As Opportunity's optics zoomed in, Brian saw that Frankie had stopped defending himself. He was actually taking the punches. Receiving dents.

“I knew you couldn't keep up, Don,” Jason said as he used Charlie to throw punches into Frankie's midsection. “All this work to get here. Why did you even bother?”

    And I understand now, it is a color

    These are the people, that I group together.

“Which one do you think we want to win?” Kantpis asked Brian.

“We're fucked either way,” Brian said staring at the lyrics as the song played out.

    Some are snakes,

    Some are poisonous,

“Fight back, Don,” Jason yelled, “Don't disappoint all the people that bet on you!”

Frankie grabbed onto Charlie. First it appeared to be grappling, but then it became clear. Frankie was just hugging Charlie

Inside the van, Don was holding onto Samantha. She was the proxy for Charlie on Earth.

    From Wheels To Motors

A streak of light appeared in the sky behind Charlie. Jason couldn't see it, he was busy yelling at his driver to push the mini van off the road.

    From Wheels To Motors

A capsule opened in the sky and the contents poured out. Air bags deployed around the object and then were discarded.

    From Wheels To Motors

There was the third rover, falling from the sky. Pumpkin cake pan head with arms out stretched, gliding toward both Frankie and Charlie.

    From Wheels To Motors

The song had a pregnant pause, which Don used to look back at Opportunity in the distance. Brian was more confused than ever before. Charlie punched Frankie's cake pan head off the optics. Confused, Jason used Charlie's optics to over his shoulder and up into the sky. There he saw a speeding rover headed right towards himself and Frankie. Jason had just enough time to say one word in a pissed off tone, “Johnny.”

The music in the song hit the crescendo as all three rovers shattered into pieces. At the same time, the Mini-Cooper slammed into the side of Adam's mini-van. They both ran off the road and down into a ditch.

“What just happened,” Brian asked the group.

“It's over,” Donna said, catching her breath.

“No, we're still on Mars and they aren't. Either this all went wrong or we got very lucky.”

“It was a bullseye,” Just Joe said.

“A what?” Scott asked.

“The labyrinth was a bullseye for the third rover. I don't think we were ever intended to make it to the center.”

Kantpis shook his head, “I've got to make some calls, before every law man in Arizona arrests that kid.”